Amazon Echo Spot review: Smart speaker leveled up

Display: 2.83-inch LCD touchscreen
Audio: 1.73-inch directional speaker
Size: 4.5-inches
Connectivity: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Sensors: Motion sensor and ambient light sensor (ALS)

Amazon’s revamped Echo Spot alarm clock moonlights as a discrete smart speaker with a tiny touchscreen for your bedroom. A cross between the Echo Dot and the Echo Show lineups, the Echo Spot lacks a camera, but has a small basic LCD panel that shows the time, weather, album cover art, and smart home controls with large colorful icons.

At just $80 it's cheaper than the best smart displays we’ve tested but lacks their core features like watching shows, making video calls, and viewing security camera feeds. On the other hand, it offers more visual info than even the best smart speakers . So where does the Echo Spot’s hybrid approach stand amongst the competition and is it worth it? Read on to see if it’s right for you.

Amazon Echo Spot review: Price and availability

Launched in July of 2024, the Echo Spot smart alarm clock costs $79.99. It comes in three colors; Black, Glacier White, and Ocean Blue. It sits between the $59 Echo Dot with Clock smart speaker and the $89 Echo Show 5 smart display.

Amazon Echo Spot review: Design

Much like the Echo Pop , the Echo Spot has a rounded flat front that slants backward to make room for the speaker. The 4.5-inch body fits comfortably in smaller bedroom or office spaces. I appreciate the variety of colors and customizable theming which gives the Spot more personality than other Echo devices. Your focus is immediately drawn to the colorful 2.83-inch LCD touchscreen encased within a half-circle tinted cover glass. Despite its paltry 240 x 230-pixel resolution, both text and icons look sharp even from the other side of a king-sized bed.

Below the screen sits a 1.73-inch directional full-range speaker grille. Flip the Spot around and you’ll find its power port and array of microphones lining the back. On the top sits physical volume up, down, and microphone mute buttons for instant control.

Amazon Echo Spot review: Performance

Just plug the Echo Spot in using its proprietary power plug on the back, scan the QR code that pops up on its face, and it’ll open to the device discovery page in your Alexa app. You’ll get your first taste of the Spot’s unique animations from the start once it searches for your Wi-Fi with a vibrant network signal.

Once connected, you can select from six different clock faces and six colors to match your style. You’ll want to put some effort into this as it’s the main display you’ll see over 90 percent of your day, save for breaking essential info like weather alerts or when album artwork pops up while playing music.

The clock face I chose shows the time and weather at any given moment but adjusts its brightness using a built-in light sensor. This dims down the display brightness at night but it never fully turns off. I’m one of the people who appreciates that when I wake up in the middle of the night but some can find this annoying.

Speaking of music, you’re getting rich audio despite the flat compact shape thanks to the powerful 1.7-inch directional speaker on the front. Every song I threw at the Spot relayed the deepest sound layers often lost in basic car or phone speakers. Whether it was the low synths in the opening of Chappell Roan’s song Good Luck, Babe! or backing strums of The Psychedelic Furs Love My Way , each effect surrounded my head as the clock faced me in bed.

Vocals are slightly more condensed than my full-sized Amazon Echo and the high hats on drums aren’t as crisp. In my opinion, it comes over 90 percent as close to the sound quality, and if you’re lying in front of the Spot while you’re in bed, you’re unlikely to notice much of a difference. With that said, it does lack bass so if you like your thumps, then you’re better shooting for a HomePod 2 or regular Echo smart speaker.

Even the Spot’s  basic alarm clock performance feels ahead of the best alarm clocks. It’s especially helpful for someone whose bedtimes vary each night. I set alarms for whatever time using my voice and ask to be woken up to the music I’m into that day. It takes just under 10 seconds and makes waking up each day feel fresh.

You can use your voice, tap the snooze icon, or turn off the alarm using the touchscreen. But the classic physical tap-to-snooze function works well even in the deepest of stupors.

Amazon Echo Spot review: Features

The original Echo Spot (2017) acted as a smart display with a camera for calls, drop-ins, and watching videos. However, the screen was too small to get much use from the latter. While you’re losing functionality, you can easily see the most essential information and the gorgeous icons which is a much more effective use of this space.

I found the touchscreen useful for checking alarms, tapping on the notification bell to hear updates, and adjusting my Alexa-compatible smart home devices. You can pull up controls for your smart lights, smart thermostat, and smart lock on the fly so you don’t have to wake up the person next to you. Just a few taps can cool down your room in the middle of the night or you can easily access your smart plug to run the A/C if your room gets stuffy.

Despite costing more than the Echo Dot, the Spot loses two helpful smart home functions. The first is a built-in temperature sensor for the room it’s placed in, which is useful to automatically crank up the heat or A/C if you don’t have a probe in your bedroom or office space. The other is the ability to act as a wireless node for an Eero mesh Wi-Fi system. This range extension and automation trigger adds some serious value to the Echo Dot, which the Spot lacks.

Fortunately, the Echo Spot retains Ultrasound Motion Detection, so you can create occupancy routines. These can be as simple as turning on lights when you walk into a room and off when nobody is detected for 30 minutes. This was highly accurate as I added a “Hi” announcement before taking each action to see how long it took for the Spot to recognize my presence. If you can go without the pretty colors and icons you can opt for the Echo Dot offers more smart home value with built-in sensors and functionality.

Amazon Echo Spot review: Verdict

The Echo Spot is a welcome addition to the Echo lineup and works well in a bedroom or office. If you want just a bit more information from your smart speaker without dealing with the ad-bloat or camera of a smart display, this is a convenient device. I love using it in my bedroom but I’d be hesitant to swap out an Echo Show 5 or Echo Show 8 , which can let me make video calls or watch TV from my office desk while I work.

Its lack of smart home sensors is disappointing since they’re found on cheaper, smaller Echos. However, the Echo Spot is an effective alarm clock and smart speaker that doubles down on the essentials while looking good doing so.

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