Amazon's Echo Dot is one of the best smart speakers on the market. It's not a particularly powerful speaker, but it has a lot of useful features.
In today's article we will make a comparison between the devices.
Echo Dot: The Standard
The Echo Dot is Amazon’s entry-level smart speaker. The current version is the fifth generation—the second Dot with the divisive new spherical design (older models were smaller, puck-shaped speakers). It’s bulkier than the older, flatter Dots, but not as big as it looks in photos; at 3.9 inches wide, it’s only a little bigger than a softball.
The newest Echo Dot has microphones to pick up your Alexa commands and a speaker with a 1.73-inch driver (slightly larger than the fourth-generation’s 1.6-inch speaker) to play back responses and media. As with other Echo speakers, you can add your Echo Dot to larger Alexa speaker setups for multi-room audio. The speaker sounds good given its compact size, but it can’t pack a lot of punch. per on its own – although it does have Bluetooth and a 3.5mm auxiliary port, so you can output the audio through larger speakers.
Amazon has made the Echo Dot a great buy for homes with an Eero Wi-Fi setup. When paired with a compatible Eero setup, the tiny speaker can double as an Eero range extender, covering up to 1,000 square feet of Wi-Fi coverage. That extended Wi-Fi isn’t super fast, capped at just 100 Mbps, but it’s more than enough for basic tasks like streaming video. The same Eero functionality is coming to the fourth-generation Echo Dot speakers “in the coming months.” The fifth-generation model also has a built-in temperature sensor that you can use in Alexa routines (for example, to turn on a connected ceiling fan when the Dot detects that the room temperature has risen above a certain threshold).
Echo Dot with Clock: A Smart, Affordable Upgrade
The creative Echo Dot with Clock is exactly what you think it is: a standard Echo Dot with a simple LED display on the front. By default, the display shows the time, but it can do more than that. New for the latest generation, Amazon has equipped the clock-equipped Dot with a larger dot-matrix display that can show more than just the time or the status of your kitchen timer. The fifth-generation Dot with Clock can also show simple weather readings or information about the media you’re currently playing.
This version of the Echo Dot comes in Glacier White and Cloud Blue, and includes the same Eero Wi-Fi and temperature sensing features as the base Dot model. The luxury of a built-in clock doesn’t come as much of a price tag, either. At $1.60, the Echo Dot with Clock is just $1.10 more expensive than the standard version, and it’s entirely possible we’ll start seeing sales of it in the near future.
If you're buying an Echo Dot to place anywhere you'd benefit from having a visible clock, this model is kind of a no-brainer, assuming your heart isn't set on a dark gray Dot.
Echo Dot Kids: Kid-friendly features and an extended warranty
Hardware-wise, the Echo Dot Kids is exactly the same as the standard Echo Dot: same footprint and same audio quality, but comes in cute animal-themed designs. The latest generation is available as an owl or dragon and includes a year of Amazon Kids+. Kids+ is a subscription service that offers access to kid-friendly content for preschoolers through preteens. For the Echo Dot, this includes Audible audiobooks, educational content, and ad-free radio stations. Kids+ costs $48 per year for Prime members and $79 per year for everyone else. Monthly subscriptions are also available.
Like many of its kid-oriented products, the Echo Dot Kids comes with what Amazon calls a “worry-free guarantee,” which means you can exchange the device for a new one if the original breaks within two years of your purchase. Depending on how hardcore your kids are with electronics, that guarantee could be worth a lot to you.
The Echo Dot Kids costs $160, a $10 premium over the standard Dot (though previous iterations have been frequently discounted, and we expect this one to be soon too). It's worth considering if you're buying a speaker specifically for your child's room, especially if you're worried they might break it.
Buy the standard Echo Dot if…
- You want the cheapest spot.
- You can't live with a white or blue smart speaker.
Amazon Echo Dot (5th generation)
The Echo Dot is Amazon’s smallest and most affordable smart speaker. The fifth generation, which launched in 2022, comes with an improved audio driver for fuller sound, as well as enhanced smart features like Eero Wi-Fi extender functionality and a built-in temperature sensor for Alexa routines.
Buy the Echo Dot with Clock if…
- You want a smart speaker for your nightstand.
- You don't need the Charcoal finish available only on the standard version.
The Amazon Echo Dot with Clock is a regular Echo Dot with—you guessed it—a clock added. The latest generation can display more than just the time: Unlike the fourth-generation model, the 2022 version has a display that can show useful data, like simple weather forecasts.
Buy the Echo Dot Kids if…
- You are buying a child's room
- Your kids would love Amazon Kids+
- Do you really like owls or dragons?
