The Amazon has finally launched its much-awaited speakers, Amazon Echo (2nd generation). It’s a better-looking speaker than its predecessor and is loaded with all the features you have expected from the Amazon, its Echo range and, most importantly, Alexa-the assistant help.
The launch completely lacks the ‘wow’ factor of the original Echo and on practical terms can’t give a worthy fight to Sonos for sound quality. This speaker is being offered at a price which is 40% less with the same features as its predecessor thus, making it a hot deal and must buy for a smart home! All thanks to Alexa, Amazon’s voice AI- the ultimate talkative assistant, that brought this speaker to life.
Currently, the Amazon offers three models in the speakers range in Australia: the basics $79 Echo Dot, midrange $149 Echo and tall $229 Echo Plus. Their launch shares the spotlight with the local launch of the Amazon Music Unlimited streaming service a gift for music lovers!
Talking about the sizes, the Echo and Echo Dot models are relatively smaller than Google’s Home and Home Mini, with an 8cm space size utility on the floor, makes them compact enough to live on a bedside table, kitchen bench, coffee table or bathroom basin.
While the Echo Plus is somewhat taller than the other two models but it has the same small footprint of 8cm. Meanwhile, the much-awaited range from the house of Google and Apple: Google Home Max and Apple HomePod respectively, will comparatively take up a lot more space, but in return, they’ll deliver much better sound quality-complete Nirvana!
Talking about the buttons and design, the Echo Plus drops the concept of physical volume buttons and made the top of the speaker much like a dial, while all three Echo models have a microphone mute button and an Action button. The style is more attractive and classic than the original Echo model. The status ring turns blue when you have Alexa’s attention or an alarming red when the microphone is disabled.
It comes with an option to change the single word “wake-up” call from “Alexa” to “Amazon”, “Echo” or “Computer” – which might be handy but giving the complete control to a single word is confusing and troublesome at times, especially when the speakers are very sensitive.Also, the voice doesn’t sound quite as natural as Google’s, especially on the tiny Echo Dot; gradually the voice depreciates and turns hollow and only offers two-thirds the volume of the Mini. Podcasts, streaming radio and audio books don’t sound too bad but the difference can be easily noticed when you listen to music.
With any of these devices, Amazon offers a three-month trial of its music service. Unfortunately, Alexa is a little more prone to mistakes than Google Assistant drawing on Google Play Music while choosing artists and playing songs. Also, one has to be more specific as it doesn’t understand the compounded string commands.
The company offers 6 plans initially. Though the company claims about 3 months free trial pack, it doesn’t include it and one has to pay nearly 18$ per month to enjoy the service from day-1. The Alexa’s Flash Bulletin feature is also included here which allow the users to listen to some radio news.
Coming to the performance, music lovers will be disappointed with the Echo Dot. Metal and crashy music with high levels of bass like the Red Hot Chili Peppers sounds creaky and harsh as you increase the volume past seven. The distortion decreases for soft music with low bass, but the lack of bass means that listeners with an ear for quality will surely say a no to this product. But all the Echo speakers have a magic trick in their paraphernalia: the ability to connect to an external speaker via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm audio cable. This makes it easy to give your existing speakers a smart overhaul which gives this range an upper hand over other devices in the market.
Though the Echo model is actually louder than the Google Home: that’s where the distortion and poor sound quality comes into play! The plus model gives a better sound range but fails to deliver once the volume hits above eight. It can be a pick among the music lovers but fails to gather interest over Sonos One.Adding to the plus highlights, Echo speakers support multi-room audio for listening to the same song throughout the house i.e., you can group speakers into multiple zones using the Alexa app, so you can ask her to play music “upstairs” or “balcony” as per your choice. This gives the user a fair edge over making a choice while playing two distinct songs at different points!
The Echo Plus boasts a low-powered Zigbee wireless smart home protocol which allows you to connect to wireless devices and switches maintained over a network.
Overall, Alexa and the Echo speakers show the potential after certain upgrades but, besides, Zigbee and support for external speakers there’s nothing much to give them an upper hand over other speakers available in the market!