Echo Dot (5th generation)
$ 129
Description
Echo Dot (5th generation, 2022 release) intelligent Bluetooth speaker with Alexa | Charcoal
- This bundle includes 1 Echo Dot (5th generation, 2022 release) and 1 Amazon Smart Plug- everything you need to start your smart home.
- Our best-sounding Echo Dot yet: enjoy an improved audio experience compared to any previous Echo Dot with Alexa for more distinct vocals, deeper bass, and vibrant sound in any room.
- Your favorite music and content: play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, or via Bluetooth throughout your home.
- Alexa is happy to help: ask Alexa for the weather forecast, set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions, and even tell jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
- Keep your home comfortable: control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by indoor temperature sensors. Create ways to automatically start an intelligent fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
- Do more with device pairing: fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms. Create a home cinema system with Fire TV.
- Designed to protect your privacy: built with multiple layers of privacy protection and control, including a Microphone Off button that electronically disconnects the microphones.
- Climate Pledge Friendly: we integrated sustainability in the design of this device, with 99% of packaging coming from responsibly managed forests or recycled sources, 95% use of post-consumer recycled fabric, and 55% post-consumer recycled plastics.
Our best-sounding Echo Dot yet: enjoy an improved audio experience compared to any previous Echo Dot with Alexa for more apparent vocal, precise per bass, and vibrant sound in any room. Your favorite music and content: play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, or via Bluetooth throughout your home. Alexa is happy to help: ask Alexa for the weather forecast, set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions, and even tell jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm. Keep your home comfortable: control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by indoor temperature sensors. Create ways to t an intelligent fan intelligentomatically if the inside temperature exceeds your comfort zone. Do more with device pairing: fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms. Create a home cinema system with Fire TV. Designed to protect your privacy: built with multiple layers of privacy protection and control, including a Microphone Off button that electronically disconnects the microphones. Climate Pledge Friendly: we integrated sustainability in the design of this device, with 99% of packaging coming from responsibly managed forests or recycled sources, 95% use of post-consumer recycled fabric, and 55% post-consumer recycled plastics.
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Sandie –
You need this in your lifr
What’s not to love about these devices. I’ve got them all over the house and continue to buy them as presents.Never heard any negative feedback as they are simply amazing.If you don’t own one, you simply have no idea just how much this will simplify your life.
4seasonbackpacking –
For blink doorbell
Works well with blink CCTV setup and doorbell.
Amazon Customer –
Great price
I just love it !
Mr. M. A. Cumming –
Prefer the gen 3 but it’s OK
Doesn’t hear me as well as the gen 3 or 4 but it’s still a good smart speaker. Probably needs a software update.
Mob –
Alexa
Can’t believe the technology.
Inayah –
Clear sound
I decided to upgrade my old one and I’m not disappointed. The sound is clearer and I can connect it to the old one.
Tim OTim O –
Good but comes with a white power lead
Good product but be aware it comes with a white power lead and plug, not a matching black one.
One person found this helpful
Ruth jackson –
Works well
Good but not got it working yet with door bell
Nathan Jones –
loses pairing too easily.
Sound quality excellent.
Robert Gabryelski –
Super
Everything is good
marcus –
Nice sound works well unobtrusive
I like how it looks it’s small but with nice sound and I got at a great price att. If you want it for a bedside device you can get with a clock. It’s a great little device and I can highly recommend.
Amazon Customer –
Much improved sound – why did I buy the blue
Everything about the new version is great, except the way it looks – in blue anyway. You may not think it is that important but I think it is about the ugliest looking device I’ve seen since about 1990, that’s even before I plugged in the white cable and adaptor – white? why white. Wish I stuck to charcoal. Ah well, I suppose I can hide it away under my Mr Blobby tea cosy.
2 people found this helpful
Maz –
Purchased as a gift
I bought this as a gift and my understanding is that the recipient likes it. I heard it play the radio and the sound quality was pleasant. Bass was surprisingly full given the small dimensions of the sphere.
Suleyman –
Seemed to be hard so set up foe beginners
i purchased it for children overseas so that they have someone to communicate, but found a little tricky to set up. but it got my voice accurately and give clear assistance. Could not connect to my Iphone but Samsung. one speaker but pretty much loud.
Nikki Duncan-Webster –
Great sound
I bought this as a gift for my Mum. She had the original Echo, this is far superior. She wanted something that had a good sound but will still help her with things like spellings etc.We were going to buy an alternative but so pleased we didn’t change.
Mandi Moo –
Great
Bought this and have had great sound out of it and it’s easy to set up definitely worth getting .. The only problem is two weeks later the price went up quite a lot than what I paid for it when I got it
UDAI PATEL –
I’m stiil learning myself
I can’t fault it. I purchased it thinking it was just gimmick, how wrong was I.
R. ALLAN –
Beter Than Expected
A simply excellent device,quite straightforward to set up,and very good sound quality for it’s size,Alexa responds well,and we can enjoy Greatest Hits Radio and update on our local weather!,quite brilliant!.
Michael –
A wee bit glitchy.
I mainly use it for the radio, but does have the tendency to play up. I have premium absolute and it still plays adverts occasionally also the voice recognition isn’t great, but then I am Scottish hehe.
sophie jonessophie jones –
Powerful
Powerful considering the size of it. We bought it to link with our google doorbell, was a little fiddly to begin with but once set up it’s been great. Really happy with it.
Muhammad asad –
Bluetooth issue
I got a very good deal. Me and my friend ordered. Both of us have same issue. When connected as bluetooth audio, the sound has weird constant distortion. I tried checking wifi connection and tried troubleshooting but could not figure out could not fix.Other than that the quality is nice and its fun to have it. Connects very smoothly to other amazon devices.
Mrs Sandy P Broadhead –
Echo Dot
It was a birthday present for my friend and she just loved . i have the old dot thinking of getting myself the new one as its a lot better
Paulo S. –
I’m impressed.
Good sound quality. You can feel the base
Good product for its size and price.
Cliente Amazon –
I recommend it
a great way to introduce yourself into a smart home system
Amazon Customer –
Good Value
Fantastic that I am able to access BBC sounds
Szeto –
Peefect
Easy to setup and use. No complain at all.
Nemar Manalo –
Happy with the purchase!
Trying to put alexa in all of our bedrooms. Happy with the item.
RBowman –
Brilliant
Fantastic, wish that I’d bought one long ago.
claire –
Great sound
Brought as a present, well loved
D –
Fantastic Gadget, Fantastic Gadget, Fantastic Gad……
This is a great little gadget, you can do so much with it and the sound reproduction is very good as is the volume levels.I have two of these smaller “Dots” now, one with a clock in the bedroom and the other is in the kitchen.Oh and they can often be bought for a great price as well, just keep any eye out.
Adrian Williams –
Temperamental and thick
I sort of like the Alexa but there’s still a lot of work to do.Good:- Can hear you easily and clearly for the most part, and comprehends simple commands with a decent degree of accuracy. Fairly fast responses- Good at simple tasks, e.g. “Turn the light on, set timer for 15 minutes, cancel my current timer, take two minutes off my timer, add five minutes to my timer, snooze alarm for 15 minutes, remind me to clean the oven at 5pm, tell me the time, tell me how much time is left on my timer, add cheese to shopping list, remove cheese from shopping list.”- It will tell you if you try to add a duplicate item to any list- It can buy things for you from Amazon without you needing to look at them, as long as you’re happy to buy whatever the Amazon recommendation is for the product you specified- It can answer some basic questions perfectly well, especially mathematical problems, the kind people struggle with (e.g. “what’s 12 per cent of 40” “what day will it be on 4 March, 2024”.- A great way to set recurring reminders without having to pick a phone up and type them, or check your phone for them- A great way to wake up in the morning, with music from Amazon music, or a radio station etc, at a set time- A great way to access radio stations without fiddling with a dial- A great way to shuffle music you like within a theme from Amazon music (free version). Specific songs if you have premium- A great device for playing relaxing sounds, like rain, for about two hours to help you sleep- Great hands free task setting, letting you keep going with whatever you are doing- Good hearing, can usually hear you from across the room (in a fairly quiet room) if you speak up- Good voice recognition – you can make commands while watching TV without it getting confused as you what you are saying and what is background chatter- Good with location based weather and temperature updates, as well as traffic updates on specific roads. It can also tell you about current train strikes. Once you set your location you can ask ‘what’s the weather like here’ and get a forecast for your area etc- Can give you a news briefing on command from one of a few sources, including BBC and Sky- Can connect to your smart devices and plugs, and turn them on and off hands freeBad:- Very bad at answering nuanced questions. Alexa has given me quite the wrong answer several times. It takes it answers from a questionable search engine (Bing?) and Amazon/Alexa answers, which is just not good. For example, I asked it if I could put my wooden plate in the microwave; Alexa said yes, and ruined the plate. Google is much better for those kinds of questions.- Struggles with long or compound sentences even when they are important or common, such as “set an alarm for every Thursday at 10am”.- Very bad at deleting future reminders and alarms. Commands such as ‘cancel my Thursday alarm’ often don’t work. It also does not recognise the simple construction ‘cancel my next alarm’, requiring you to be specific, which can take ages or may require you to remember specifics you don’t recall precisely. It may also then list all your alarms, which is a classic example of Alexa rattling on at length uselessly, forcing you to cut it off (Alexa, stop!) and give up on the command (you can do it via the Alexa app instead). It is similarly bad with notifications, for the same reason- Cannot understand some common and normal commands, such as “set a reminder to pay rent at 10am on the last day of every month” – it does not understand the concept of ‘the last day of the month’.- Babbles on with excessive and irrelevant detail when asked some questions- Struggles to recognise the difference between a command and a question, e.g. ‘can you cook chicken from frozen’ may sometimes cause Alexa to tell you she doesn’t know how to do that, or that she isn’t connected to an appropriate appliance- Often gives you entirely different answers when you rephrase the question very slightly. Often requires you to repeat the same request in several ways to get a proper answer. The top answer is mysteriously chosen – again, Google is better at picking the best answer to a question- Has an unfortunate tendency to stop playing music if you tap it or knock it, regardless of whether you want this- Cannot answer questions about its own status, such as ‘what are you doing, why have you stopped’ or an accurate answer to ‘are you ok’ (it says yes even when there’s clearly something wrong).- Sometimes struggles to recognise certain words, and the names of lists – will sometimes ends up adding new lists or bizarrely adding the name of your list to your shopping list, as if it’s a product- Is not great with regional accents, even my factory standard southern RP – mistook the term ‘space heater’ for ‘space eater’ and gave me a very odd definition indeed!- Speaks when unwanted, just to apologise and give a boring explanation for stopping playing music (‘Sorry, Amazon stopped playing music because there was no activity on your device’). Repeats this every time- Stops playing music randomly, or stops due to inactivity even though ‘inactivity’ is to be expected when you’re using your Alexa as a radio while busy doing something else- Often does not react to the instruction to ‘resume’ (music) on the first try and requires you to shout at it- Cannot do compound commands, such as “turn on the light and the dehumidifier”. These instructions must be made one by one, which can be time consuming- Totally ballsed up playback of a well established podcast, jumping back to an earlier point for no reason (with no ability to restore). I think Amazon music is likely to blame here, I have found it questionable on other devices, too- Often the volume is much louder than you expect and commands to turn it down frequently fall on deaf ears. It does not appear to be a very consistent volume.
79 people found this helpful
Craig LawsCraig Laws –
It takes the best selling smart speaker and makes it just a little bit better
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Two years have passed since I reviewed the Amazon Echo Dot Gen 4 and now we have the new Echo Dot Gen 5 so it’s time to revisit the world of Alexa.If you’re familiar with Echo and Alexa, you’ll only be interested in the first part of this review and you can ignore everything after my device appraisal. I’m sure, though, that many people may be new to smart speakers so I’ve also added sections on how to install the Alexa app, how to set up your new speaker and what you can subsequently do with the Echo Dot. My apologies for going over things that you might already know and a lot of this repeats from my previous review, but there will be for which this is new territory.The Device:The Echo speakers have been around for many years now, and despite the best efforts of Google and Apple, Amazon’s Alexa still remains the smart assistant of choice. The most popular of all smart speakers is the Echo Dot. Other bigger and better sounding speakers are available including Amazon’s own larger Echo, but the Echo Dot has always hit a nice sweet spot of performance and affordability. The first couple of generations of Echo Dots were clearly toes in the water to see if we were ready for smart assistants. They gave us a glimpse of what could be achievable, but they didn’t sound particularly good. We’ve still got a couple of Generation 2 Echo Dots that live in the garage and shed, and they really do sound tinny and weak. That changed with the Generation 3 Echo Dot, of which we have seven around the house, as they sounded so much better. The sound was deeper and the volume could go much higher before losing fidelity. The microphone was also improved, and the entire experience with using Alexa made a big step forward.Two years ago I bought an Echo Dot Generation 4 on release day, and shortly afterwards followed that up with the larger Echo. And today, the Generation 5 arrived. I’ve spent several hours since then playing with it, testing it out alongside my existing speakers and the very similar Generation 4.So, what’s different between the Gen 4 and 5? Well, visually, not very much. The only real difference I could spot was the loss of an auxiliary port from the rear of the new device. Beyond that, no difference at all. I read from the press releases that the 5 is sonically much improved over the 4, but in side-by-side testing I struggled to see much difference between the two. If anything, I felt that Alexa’s voice when she’s talking to you seems like she’s stood a little further away. But it still sounds great. Not just great for the money, but great in general.We have much bigger and better speakers in our house, but when listening to music we almost always play it through the Echo Dots. I’ve got a Bose speaker right next to the Dot in my office, but always use the Dot for music. I work from home and I’m in my office 9-16 hours per day, and the Echo Dot is on for most of that time. If you want the absolute best sound, you’re likely to want to spend much more on a dedicated sound system, but for general, everyday use, the Echo Dot is brilliant. Sound remained stable even at maximum volume, and just as good I found Alexa was able to hear my commands despite cranking the volume up.Something new to the Generation 5 is the introduction of “tap to pause”. A quick tap on the dome of the Echo will pause your music. A simple addition, but so welcome. When someone rings me when I’m working a quick tap is so much better than yelling at Alexa to shut up before I can accept the call. Another tap will resume the music.I have to say, even two years down the line, I still prefer the shape of the Echo Dot Gen 3. I just preferred the puck-shape, and it sat lower to the ground so didn’t obstruct the view of the monitors on my desk. The buttons for volume, action and turning off the microphone are on top of the globe are raised characters resembling a games controller. The status light is around the base of the speaker rather than the top on Gen 3 and earlier devices.Setting up the Echo is, as usual, very simple. If you have a previous Alexa system them it connects straight to your existing network with no input at all. If it’s your first Echo device and assuming you have the Alexa app you go to Devices, Add, Amazon Echo, and wait for it to connect. The work of moments, and then it’s ready to go. Like the Gen 3 and 4 it uses its own power cable rather than a USB cable as the Gen 1 & 2 used.So, the verdict? The RRP, and reviewed price, is £54.99 which is £5 more than the outgoing Gen 4. The tap to pause feature almost makes up that £5 for me. I read in early press releases that the new Gen 5 can also be used as a Wi-fi repeater in compatible mesh systems such as the Eero range, but I didn’t see anything further mention that in the Amazon sales page and I’ve not been able to test that out. Just like the Gen 4 before it, the Gen 5 will almost certainly become the biggest selling smart speaker on the market. I’ve been more than happy with it in my early time with it and find it to be a great albeit minor evolution of the previous Dot.Once again though, the only real competition to Echo Dot is its own predecessors. The Gen 3 Echo Dot is still available at the time of writing. It’s almost as good to listen to, and I think looks nicer. It’s also quite a bit cheaper. Is the Gen 5 that much better than the Gen 3 to warrant the price premium? I’m not so sure, but I do like to keep up with the latest releases where possible.Taken in isolation, the Gen 5 Amazon Echo Dot is an excellent smart speaker. I gave the Gen 3 and Gen 4 a five-star review, and the Gen 5 gets the same accolade. It will undoubtedly go on to be the best-selling product of its type.How to set it up you Echo device:If you’re new to the world of Alexa then you may be wondering how easy it is to set up an Echo device. If you’ve ordered from Amazon, they’ll helpfully email you a guide to setting it up. You’ll need the Amazon Alexa app, available from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Download and wait for it to install, and then open it up. The app gives help on various subjects if you tap the question mark in the top right corner of the home screen. The guide on setting up your new Echo Dot is found in this area by selecting Alexa Devices, then Echo Dot, and Set Up Your Echo Dot.As a quick overview though, plug in your Echo Dot (after a short period the status light will turn orange to show it is in Setup mode) and then open the Alexa app. On the bottom menus select “Devices”. On the Devices screen, tap the “+” button in the top right and choose “Add Device”. Select “Amazon Echo” and then “Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus and more”. Assuming your Echo is plugged in and the status light is orange, select “Yes”. The app will then search for your new Echo Dot and complete the setup. The whole process takes only a few moments, and then you’re ready to get creative with Skills and Routines.What you can do with Alexa:A smart speaker is actually quite dumb to start with. It’s when you start adding things that it becomes truly smart in my view. On its own, you’ll be able to ask Alexa questions, play a few games, set up alarms and reminders and get a weather forecast; the general things you’d expect from a home assistant. Remember to always begin every command with the wake word, “Alexa…”, which can be altered to “Amazon”, “Echo” or “Computer” if you wish. To do certain things and play games you need to enable “Skills & Games”, which is found in the “More” menu at the bottom of the app. In there, you’ll find hundreds of things you can do with Alexa. For example, I regularly play the BBC quiz shows Pointless and Tenable. “Alexa, what is the weather forecast” or “Alexa, give me a ten-minute countdown” are examples of simple commands.As I say though, the Echo is just the gateway to a vast array of smart applications. How smart it goes depends on how far you want to go and how much to spend. What starts out as a single Echo device can quickly expand to a device in every room, attached to smart devices such as light bulbs, sockets, central heating and cameras. The first thing you may wish to use your speaker for is playing music. Echo is compatible with most of the main music streaming services such as Apple and Spotify, and of course Amazon Music. With your Echo you get access to Amazon Music’s free service, which is actually pretty good. It is limited, and you won’t find all of your favourite artists, but I recommend you try it out for a week or two as it might be good enough for your requirements. If not, I do highly recommend upgrading to Amazon Music Unlimited, or better still Amazon Music Unlimited Family which can be shared with multiple family members (not necessarily in the same household). I’ve not encountered many songs that aren’t on there. I used to have my iPhone full of mp3 music, but now I stream everything. “Alexa, play some 80’s rock” and I’m good for hours. If you have multiple speakers you can have the music played to one, many or all of them for house-wide coverage.Philips Hue lightbulbs are fantastic devices. They’re very expensive compared to a standard LED bulb, but once you buy one and use it in conjunction with Alexa voice control you soon become hooked. We’re up to 30 Hue bulbs now, and I don’t regret a single purchase.Smart sockets, such as Amazon’s own models or the TP-Link Kasa models, that I recommend, are great for controlling things like Christmas lights and lamps.Your central heating can be controlled by Alexa if you have a suitable smart thermostat. I can ask “Alexa, what’s the temperature in the house?”, and having determined that it’s too cold, if my wife not wrapped head to toe in fleece blankets wasn’t enough, I can then say “Alexa, set the house to 20 degrees”.Some door bells and cameras, such as Ring products, work with Alexa voice control also. “Alexa, show me the front door” and she’ll bring up live video on a suitable device like a Fire tablet or an Echo Show.Many televisions also have Alexa integration too. Our LG OLED can be controlled by its built in Alexa.A comprehensive smart home/automation is expensive, I’m not going to sugar that pill, but if it’s something that interests you then look out for these extra products on Black Friday deals would be my tip. All the devices I’ve mentioned and shown on my reviews were purchased from Amazon.I’ll leave it there though as I’ve waffled long enough. I hope you consider giving the Echo Dot a try. I’m of the opinion that the worth of a gadget is in how much you use it, and we use our Echoes and Alexa frequently every day.
840 people found this helpful
catlady –
Surprisingly easy to use although…
I bought this, in all fairness, because I wanted a cheap little speaker for the kitchen.Tye sound quality is ok, nothing special, the bass is lacking, and cannot find a graphic equaliser anywhere in the settings.The logic behind what is displayed as standard in the app and what you have to go searching for, and then end up googling where it is, baffles me.During the setup it asks you to select your preferred music streaming service, obviously Amazon prime music is the default, but in that section you can also set up pod adts and radio stations you prefer, … however…. It only lets you select one, before the setup kicks you onto the next topic, and when you go back in, after setup is completed, you cannot find podcasts, radio or even music anywhere in the many icons, so I googled, and it is hidden behind 3 layers of other, unrelated options.Why??It will s first and foremost a speaker and yet anything you want to listen to is hidden away in the bowels of unrelated options??However, once set up, favourite providers selected, all you have to do is say “Alexa…play my ” insert name of music provider” + ” insert name of playlist” and it does.You can say Alexa pause music, Alex continue playing, in fact I am not sure that one is an official command, it is simply what I said, when whilst finalising where exactly in the kitchen thedpeaker would sound best and not be in the way, I accidentally pushed something that made the music stop, so in a panic I thought oops I have messed up some important setting, so blurted out Alexa, please continue playing music, and it did, so I have stuck with that command .If you are young or have other Alexa things, this might all be second nature, but as my home set up was set up by my son, and is mainly Google, I was actually really pleased I managed to get so far, all on my own.Things you need to know: 1: your broadband/ network password, it needs it to set up.2: your music service, podcast service, radio service passwords, it asks for these during setup, something my Google system didn’t as far as I remember.3: it is a plug in speaker, however, Amazon sell seperately a base for it that is rechargeable, I think it is designed so that you take the speaker and the base with you outside. Personally I am waiting for that to be on sale as currently the base aline costs £20 more than the 5th gen speaker.Problems…It has the option of adding items to a shopping list.I thought I would try it out on getting the Alexa 5th gen speaker to shop on Amazon, made sense to me, first so that the minimum amount of issues should arise….I learnt the command ” Alexa buy ” whatever” on amazon.co UK, and it came back with the item i had previously bought, which is what I actually wanted, it told me the price and Said it had popped it in my Amazon shopping basket, it then said if I wanted to buy it now I should say ” buy it now”, which I did, and then it made it’s little action beep sound and i pootled along. I then did it again for another item.Later that day, I happened to be checking the delivery time for something I had bought on Amazon on my computer, and I noticed the basket showed I had two items in it.I checked the basket and it was the two items that i had asked Alexa to” buy it now”.I checked my order history and , nope, Alexa had not bought it now, it had just popped them into the basket.If I hadn’t logged in to check a previous order, I wouldn’t have received the items that I had asked Alexa to ” buy it now”.So, perhaps teething issues or mayhap I should have said ” Alexa… buy it now” but each time it made that little beep sound it makes when it carries out a command so I thought I had achieved my goal, that the Alexa had understood and carried out the command, so that is why I mention it here, in case anyone else has the same issues.I have some smart home devices that, at the time of setting up this little speaker, I didn’t want to get into, so skipped that bit of the setup, however….I recently added two new devices , a smart lightbulb and another item from the same company.During these set ups of these devices using that manufacturers app, it asked to link to my Google and my Alexa, and it went well.The second setup was even quicker as that manufacturers app just linked all by itself after the first item, and Alexa spoke and said it had linked with this new smart home device from a completely different company, however..It did this, when I had turned the mic off / privacy mode on ( there is a privacy button on the top of the speaker, well there are 4 buttons, all odd shapes, certainly not industry standard logos accepted for things like on/ off or up/ down.)This is touted in the 5 th gen as the privacy button, which ensures you privacy and makes the light at the bottom of the speaker turn red, however as I mentioned, it linked and spoke to me whilst in this privacy mode.Also, the red light changes colour all by itself if I am having a conversation with someone in the kitchen, it goes yellow, blue and back to red whilst we talk, and then settles to red again if we stop, my friend noticed it so we played a game to see if indeed it was us speaking that made the colours change, and it was, which it shouldn’t, because Amazon state that with the privacy button pressed, and the speaker light is red, the microphone should be completely off, so… How did the speaker hear we were talking to change colour when we talked and go red every time we stopped???I really only caved into buying an Alexa when they adversed the privacy features, as I really don’t want anyone or anything listening in on my conversations.Google use a secrecy, local processing ( i.e. what you say never leaves your device to be processed/ listened to elsewhere, it gets privately processed on your device only.Amazon Alexa doesn’t.All requests go via the web, through their cloud farms, and may or may not go to various government bodies, listened to by actual people.I don’t like this.So I popped it in a cupboard.It only comes out and switched on when I want it on.It is vaguely possible that there is something wrong with mine, however if you do buy one, try the ” secret whispers ” game my friend and I played…1. Press tye privacy button to on, wait for the speaker to go red.2. Wait 5 minutes just to be sure.3. Start talking and watch the lights change.4. Stop talking and watch it go back to red.Repeat 3 & 4 , getting quieter and quieter until you are just whispering.If you get the same result, i.e. the speaker colour changes in privacy mode, when you talk .. I can highly recommend the cupboard technique.Hope some of this waffle is useful to someone.
188 people found this helpful
J. BARRETT –
As on offer
I got one of the Amazon upgrade offers to buy this and as another dot would be a useful addition I took advantage of it.It works just as well as the previous generations. Maybe a bit better in some areas but it is mainly what was already a good product getting marginally better to remain relevant and worth the cost if needing to buy a new dot today.For me though the fact it has an inbuilt temperature monitor is a new feature I have found useful to trigger routines and allow controls in a property not attached to the gas mains.Running heating from electric space heaters is the most expensive option available but this paired with either a smart space heater or the correctly rated smart plug gives you that extra control to manage costs.It and other smart monitors have saved me money with my electric bill actually being slightly less than last year without being cold.So for me at least, another good echo device with added functionality that is useful helps saves me money.Unless on sale I wouldn’t purchase simply to replace the last generation dot myself, but if I need a new dot I would be happy with this and appreciate the upgrades it gives.So if today you are thinking of buying a new echo dot, this is a nice looking product, that connects easily to Wi-Fi and Alexa connected devices, that gives you voice control via a good voice recognition system, allows for centralised timings and routines with multiple smart products from various manufacturers and produces decent sound quality at a decent price with some added extras.I’ve been happy with Alexa and echo devices for my smart home management. This item does not disappoint, but rather enhances that for me.
9 people found this helpful
Pyromaniac –
Under her spell
I have 3 echos and a view in my living room and have linked her to a virgin media server that provides multi room synced music at a decent level from my extensive collection on my phone as well as Spotify, she is now in control of my 3 blink cameras, house lights, heating, t.v., stereo and security sensors and I love the control over all my integrated systems at my whim from inside or out as the app turns your phone into a vioce controlled remote that can be used to control and monitor your home from near or far. It also has built in sensors that let you know if a room is occupied or not and the room temp.The sound is like that of an old school ghetto blaster
Steve Wentworth –
Good but…
I got this on offer to replace an Echo Dot 3rd gen. The sound quality is much better than the 3rd gen but not much different to the 4th gen. Compared to the 4th gen Echo Dot it has more bass out of the box but nothing that I can’t seem to get from the 4th gen by using the graphic equaliser to adjust the sound (you can adjust the sound either in the Alexa app or simply asking Alexa to increase or decrease the bass, midrange or treble). I’ve also noticed that it sounds like it’s got some kind of distortion reduction built in as you can hear bass being reduced or subtle volume changes when vocals start.I don’t think it justifies the price increase, especially as the headphone jack has been removed. What I used to like about older models is that you could connect better quality speakers to the Echo via the headphone jack but now you have to have Bluetooth speakers which means the music is compressed and doesn’t always sound as good.I like the built-in temperature sensor. This can be handy to trigger a fan to come on at certain temperatures during the summer or an aircon unit. I also like the fact this can be used as a motion detector. It’s not as reliable as a Hue motion detector but it works most of the time.What I am looking forward to, is being able to use this as a WiFi repeater for eero. It’s showing up in my eero app as compatible but as usual it looks like we’ll have to wait for this option to be switched on, even though USA and Canada have this feature already.I got this Echo on offer and for the price I paid I’m very happy with it.
9 people found this helpful
Paul –
Faulty item Amazon refuse to replace after a few weeks
Very poor customer service from Amazon. Faulty speaker after a few weeks. Spoke to Amazon chat who said would send a replacement and I would return the faulty item. Nothing arrived. Checked my account and they have arranged a repair, this was not what was agreed. Spoke on chat to Amazon messed me about for an hour going from one person to another with no help. Cannot recommend buying this product.Update, Amazon customer service called and arranged a replacement which was fine. Took a while to get to this point however. Update review score to reflect this.
One person found this helpful
Ryan –
Lot of sound for a little thing
After setting up, I was pleasantly surprised the the sound volume and fidelity this little speaker could put out.It’s in a room where I have a connected speaker, now via Bluetooth, but used to connect via audio cable, but that connection has been removed on this generation so bear that in mind.Otherwise, it’s a great little thing packed full of smart tech features and options, like an inbuilt thermometer, an Eero mesh extender, and sonic detection so you could literally have it setup to turn lights on when you walk in the room.Would highly recommend it.
M. Hall –
A Great Little Unit!
I’m really impressed with this, the design, the compact size and the sound is fabulous for something so small. I’ve already got a Dot Gen 2, a Dot Gen 3, plus other Echo smart speakers including Echo Studios. However, this latest version of the Dot is the best of the Dot series. It looks good and the sound is rich and full and with clarity and detail…of course it isn’t going to match a big hi fi system with a powerful amp and big speakers but it certainly made me think wow when I first turned it on. Listening to a variety of radio stations has made my DAB radio redundant as the sound from the Dot is better. I also have it linked to a smart socket and a lamp so at night when anyone walks within a few feet from the Dot the light switches on, clever! Highly recommended.
4 people found this helpful
Mike Daymond. –
Dissapointed no BBC Radio on more than one Alexa device
I am not one for leaving reviews after purchasing an item but did want to share this with others thinking of getting an Alexa device.Purchased 2 of these so as to be able to listen to BBC Radio 2 on both devices at the same time in different areas of the house & office, unfortunately Alexa is unable to do this, although you can ask Alexa to play Radio 2 via BBC sounds on individual devices they are then not synced and are playing at different times, I am very disapointed at this as was the main reason for purchasing, I am led to believe this was something that used to be possible by using TuneIn but this is no longer available for reasons unknown to me.I would think in this day and age of modern technology we live in this would be a simple fix but on reading the feedback in the Alexa forums this is a problem a lot of people are struggling with and openly complaining about, might be about time Amazon did something about it!!On a positive the voice recognition is excellent, the devices look great and have no problem in playing my playlists on both Amazon music and Spotify, overall I like the product but can only give it a 4 due to the issue with BBC radio, if this is sorted I would certainly give Alexa a 5.
10 people found this helpful
JULIE RICHARDSON –
Love my Alexa
Have wanted an echo dot for some time and got this one at a great price. It’s easy to set up and there is an app for your mobile to help with your preferences. It’s great to come home after work and ask for your favorite music to be played, news headlines and weather forecast. It does more complex tasks but you need compatible plugs and lightbulbs.
El Diablo –
Echo Dot
Purchased the Echo Dot 3 a couple of years ago and and signed up to hear music that I like to listen to,Saw this one at a reduced price and wanted one for listening in my garage or shed glad I did,Absolutely pleased with it.
Smithers –
Alexa gets better
Was purchased to replace Sonos one with Alex’s. Which never really integrated very well. This works great. Better understanding of voices too. But could do with a hard cover over cloth for kitchen use.
Simon –
Frustraiting!!!! ***UPDATE***
***UPDATE*** CUSTOMER SUPPORT GAVE ADVICE TO UNPLUG ROUTER FOR FIVE MINUTES & THE DOTS THEN TURN ALL BACK ON TO RESET. WORKS PERFECTLY NOW.THANK YOUNormal dots in the house all work fine. Got two of these & neither respond to STOP. Have ask it to turn off in one minute!!!
T JONES –
Surprisingly really good quality for such a small device
The sound quality is good and there’s plenty of loudness if needed. I now have two off these, one in the kitchen and one in the living room. I love the idea that I can have music, news or what ever I’m listening to coming out of both speakers simultaneously, really handy at Christmas when listening to Christmas songs!
Amazon Customer –
My best friend
I absolutely love Alexa. I use it everyday and have also bought it for my friends and family.It is easy to use and the sound quality is amazing. I got it for 25£ and definitely worth every penny. It makes me laugh and has so many different functions. Brilliant.
Amazon Customer –
I love Alexa
This is the only piece of kit that I can speak to that has internet access. I don’t have to type anything, just ask Alexa almost any question, and get an internet based response. She / he is brilliant.
Susana Vas Aldea –
Looks great and is super useful
We have Alexa’s around the house so that we don’t have to yell and can simply ‘drop in’ to each room. Also love asking Alexa general questions like you would google. Great price too.
fozia –
Seems great
This isn’t my 1st alexa but my 1st echo dot.Looks good – smart cool looking The sound is very good. I asked it to play the ocean sound. & it did.Haven’t got any plugs yet fir alexa to turn off or on yet. But I’m sure it will. I’m happy with my buy. Plays great sound of music What’s not to like. Though do often wonder with these smart gadgets if they eves drop. One never cam be to carful Otherwise well worth it.
One person found this helpful
james powers –
Best
I have all the echos and the sound of the 5th generation dot is the best.Only down fall is that it will not act as a wifi extender in the Uk. They dont know when the uk will get this update. Knocked it down a star as this is why i bought it to act as a wifi extender.
popov666 –
Sounds good and surprising features.
I bought this for my wife and I’m really pleased with it. I remember the first transistor radio’s with their tinny sound. This is so much better. We love telling Alexa to create a shopping list. Really pleased.
Mike McG –
Fantastic value for money. Sound so much better than the earlier versions.
I bought this from Amazon when they offered it on a deal – can’t believe the value. Amazon are the exact opposite to Apple – Apple set their prices as high as they think they can possibly get away with, Amazon do the opposite, they set their prices as low as possible and then they reduce those prices throughout the year with special offers – Amazon appear to want as many people as possible using their systems.This was my 7th Amazon Echo device, ranging from a Dot 2 to a Echo Studio – I wouldn’t be without them.Unlimited radio stations, Audible books, unlimited music, information source, alarms and timers et al.
3 people found this helpful
Janey bobs –
Mega sound
Really happy with this had the mini echo dot huge difference in sound and setup
J-147 –
A little disappointed
Kids love them. They only music and ask questions. They use them to drop in with each other when gaming together online in their rooms.But the Alexa app is very buggy and comes up with errors all the time when trying to do things. We also brought a family member one with the intention of being able to drop in on them if emergency or welfare issues. But we cannot get this to work. Have researched online and the instructions which are simple enough, don’t work. I’ve seen many people say the same thing. The family member is in the contacts, recognises the number and email linked to their device. But doesn’t associate it with an Alexa device and therefore the ability to “allow” drop in within their contact as per the instructions doesn’t exist. And therefore won’t work.It would appear all Amazon do is repeat or post their basic instructions, rather than looking into the issue of the contact not being seen as Alexa compatible. Find this quite disappointing. I know we could set them up under the same house hold account. But this means when we do announcements in our house, it would also announce in the family members house and we don’t want that.So good for having in your own house. But wouldn’t bother if you expect to communicate with different Alexa users. We’ve also tried with other Alexa users we know and none of them have blue ticks either.
12 people found this helpful
MAS –
Powerful little speaker
This does what it promises; using the Alexa app it is very easy to set up and give it a “zone”. I bought it as an addition to the larger Echo so I can synch music between rooms. I’m impressed by the sound quality it produces given its size.
One person found this helpful
DINKY –
Great for what I wanted
Using two of these for tv speakers in the bedroom. Makes sound a lot clearer. Easy to use and set up through the Alaxa app. Not too bad watching films with the volume turned up. They do drop from the internet occasionally but straight forward to reconnect.While set together as tv speakers you can still use them to play music etc, one echo dot will respond but music will play through both speakers at the same time.
2 people found this helpful
BungleBear –
Amazing and well worth it!
Update 1: if you play music via Amazon Music App on phone, it plays in both echo dots (if you have two set up). This update will make sense once you have read the review. I can’t say the same for Spotify as don’t use that. I have also added Tapo Smart Bulbs and they work seamlessly. I have also upgraded to the All New Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen and find the sound clarity much better than the 4K Max Fire Stick.I purchased these when they were £24.99…they have also gone down to £29.99….are they worth £54.99? Definitely not! I would suggest keeping an eye on the dots for deals, as the price does go down now and then.These are the first Amazon Echo Dots that I have ever purchased. I was extremely happy with the sound clarity when watching Netflix, Prime,Disney etc via 4K Max Firestick (now upgraded to the new Fire TV Cube). I purchased two and they are my left and right speakers. Obviously these cannot compete with state of the art and high tech sound systems. However, if like me you are happy with upgrading your smart TV sound with good speakers to enhance the sound then these are perfect. They are small and compact and do not take up much space.It took me probably about 10 to 15 minutes to set this up. I know it shouldn’t take this long but I put this down to the fact these on my first ever echos. In the box you get the echo dot, adapter and instruction manuals. The setup is pretty smooth once you know how.The size is compact and small. Can fit in to one hand. Not much on the technical side- just plug it in and set it up. People complaining that they wouldn’t have bought it if they knew it didn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack…umm well here’s a tip- try reading something called a Product Description before buying a umm: product?! If it doesn’t mention it and you can’t see it on the pictures it obviously doesn’t have one! I wanted an Echo Dot with wings on them so it could fly to different rooms, but couldn’t find this in the product description or on the pictures!Pretty spot on with reminders. I have touched upon the sound briefly above. In terms of Alexa, it is very responsive and quick. You can ask Alexa anything. The only downside is when you ask Alexa to play foreign songs by foreign artists, it is hit and miss whether she recognises what you are saying. I would like future editions to take this into account. Please be advised if you purchase two, Alexa only responds via one echo and music is only played via one echo unless you are playing via YouTube through your TV or any other apps via your smart TV. I can’t comment on any other smart features, however, I do plan to use smart light bulbs.You can mute these when you want. You can also control data, history and privacy settings via the app.I would highly recommend the 5th Gen especially if you are looking to upgrade from 3rd Gen or getting your first Dots. Not sure if it is worth upgrading from the 4th gen as I didn’t have those. However, if you want sound clarity and need a speaker system for your TV. You can’t go wrong with these. In fact, they are a good starter kit before you purchase more expensive sound systems as I personally don’t feel I will need to.The more expensive version displays the time. My clock is on the wall above the TV so can’t justify spending extra for that. I would encourage you ro research thoroughly before going for the higher priced version.Very pleased with these.
50 people found this helpful
PAUL W –
Huge improvement in sound quality vs 3rd and 4th generation.
The sound quality and volume is a huge improvement vs 3rd and 4th generations. Voice recognition is good but quite directional compared to 3rd generation. Sometimes responds to the TV which my 3rd Gen didn’t. No line out socket to connect to other devices or stereo speakers. Sound quality is good enough that this isn’t a huge issue. Multi room works well with older models, except for BBC radio stations. This is down to the BBC though as BBC content is now provided via their skill rather than an internet radio or music service.
One person found this helpful
S Barrow –
Good value
It’s a speaker, set up easy
rian –
Why didn’t I get one sooner
Must have in the kitchen great for my whole family, we love it