Amazon's original Echo Spot had most of the functionality of its Echo Show smart displays. The 2024 Echo Spot ($79.99) is more of a successor to the discontinued Echo Dot With Clock. The smart speaker offers full Alexa voice functionality, displays helpful information like the time and weather on a small screen, and even supports touch controls for some smart home devices. It also delivers reasonable audio quality for its size, though it lacks a camera and the ability to play videos. The Echo Spot is still worth buying if you want a simple smart clock for your bedside or desk, though most people are better off with the $89.99 Echo Show 5 for a full-on smart display or the $99.99 4th-Gen Echo for a more powerful smart speaker.
Design: Like Half an Egg With Half a Screen
With an oblong profile that looks like an egg cut in half width-wise, the Echo Spot closely resembles the $39.99 Echo Pop. It's just slightly bigger overall at 4.4 by 4.5 by 4.1 inches (HWD) compared with the Pop (3.6 by 3.9 by 3.3 inches). The Spot is available in Black or Glacier White like the Pop, though it trades the Pop's Lavender Bloom and Midnight Teal options for an Ocean Blue finish (the version pictured in this review).
A speaker grille on the bottom and a semicircular glossy black panel on the top split the upward-angled front surface. The flat base has a rubber foot that keeps the device stable on a table or nightstand, while the back has a single recessed port for the included 15W power adapter. A $29.99 charging stand is available in Charcoal or Glacier White; it has two USB-C ports and one USB-A port for charging other devices. Rounding out the design are far-field microphones, along with volume up, volume down, and mute buttons at the top.
On the audio front, the Echo Spot has a 1.73-inch forward-firing mono driver. This is the same size as the one for the $49.99 Echo Dot. For reference, the standard Echo has a more advanced setup with a 3-inch woofer and dual 0.8-inch front-firing tweeters.
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For connectivity and streaming, the Spot offers dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (Amazon doesn't specify the version or available codecs). It also supports the Amazon Sidewalk shared network for expanding the functionality of Alexa devices, Ring cameras, and other Amazon products and services, though I generally recommend deactivating this feature for security reasons. The Spot can function as a Wi-Fi hub for Matter devices, but it can’t serve as an Eero Wi-Fi mesh node like the Echo Dot and Echo Pop.
Setting up the Echo Spot via the Alexa app (available for Android and iOS) is easy. When you plug in the device, a QR code appears on its screen that you can scan with your phone. Doing so brings up a guide in the Alexa app for connecting the Spot to your Wi-Fi network and linking it to your Amazon account. After that, the Echo Spot appears in your device list along with any other Echo or Alexa-compatible smart home products in your home.
Display: Simple, But Effective
Although the Echo Spot’s color touch screen is distinctive, it doesn't quite turn the Spot into a smart display. The panel disappears against the glossy black surface on the front to give the illusion that the entire half-circle panel is a screen, but only a 2.83-inch square area is actually usable. It's bright and vivid enough that text and icons remain visible from a few feet away in both dark and light environments, though visibility drops if you move to the side. The meager resolution of 320 by 240 pixels is underwhelming.
As mentioned, the Spot's display is more an evolution of the Echo Dot With Clock than of the original Echo Spot. Amazon doesn't intend for you to use the Spot for visual communication or content; it doesn't have a camera or support any type of video playback, after all. But it does show more information than Echo Dot With Clock and supports basic touch controls. I found the ability to see the time and weather at a glance, tell what music is playing, and make simple adjustments to smart devices very convenient.
Smart Features: Alexa Is Mostly for Voice
As an Echo device, the Spot is built around Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. Say, “Alexa,” followed by a command, and the Spot will respond. (You can also choose “Amazon,” “Computer,” “Echo,” or “Ziggy” as the wake word).
Asking Alexa to play music is the most obvious use for a smart speaker. This works with Amazon Music and Audible, along with other music streaming services such as Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify, and Tidal. You must link your streaming service account via the Alexa app for this function to work. Album art appears as a tiny thumbnail in the middle of the screen when music is playing, along with playback controls below it.
You can also ask Alexa for news and weather reports, sports scores, currency and stock prices, and broader requests like unit conversions. Very limited supporting information appears on the Spot’s screen, though you do get icons and temperatures if you ask for the weather or a plain number value if you ask how much a foreign currency is worth. Otherwise, Alexa’s responses are exclusively vocal.
Alexa supports voice calls on the Spot, including directly to phone numbers in North America and the United Kingdom over Skype and through Alexa’s Drop In service. Without a camera, however, you can’t make video calls over Zoom or any other service like on a smart display.
If you have Alexa-compatible smart home devices, you can connect them via the Alexa app and control them through the Spot. Alexa works with most major brands of smart lights, smart plugs, smart locks, and smart thermostats. You can’t access home security camera feeds, though; as mentioned, the Spot doesn’t support video playback.
All the features I tried worked very well in testing. Whether I asked Alexa to adjust a light in my apartment, call a phone number, give me a weather report, convert yen to US dollars, or play music, I got the correct response promptly. A brightness slider for the smart bulb appeared on the screen when I toggled the light, while the temperature and converted yen value showed up when I asked for them.
Sound Quality: Decent Audio With Little Bass
Small speakers don't typically provide much bass, and the Echo Spot is no different. Due to the front-facing driver, you will get the best audio experience if you sit directly in front of it.
The kick drum hits and bass synth notes on our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” sound poppy and have no thump whatsoever. They also start to distort at the maximum volume level. The Echo Dot performs identically here, though the standard Echo captures the lows more fully.
Yes' “Roundabout” sounds much better on the Spot. The opening acoustic guitar notes get a good sense of low-mid resonance, while some treble clarity is present to bring out the string texture. The bass, high-hat, guitar, and vocals all remain distinct in this busy mix and benefit from strong detail when the track fully kicks in. The highs do dip a bit, however, which pushes the guitar strums a bit behind the bass and vocals. I'm reasonably pleased with the audio quality given the speaker's small size, especially since it can get loud enough to fill up my living without distortion.
You should stream over Wi-Fi via Alexa rather than from your phone over Bluetooth if you want the best audio quality. Music I streamed from my iPhone in testing seemed noticeably less detailed and hollower than that over Wi-Fi.
Verdict: A Quality Smart Speaker With a Small Screen
The 2024 Amazon Echo Spot gives up some of the smart display features from its predecessor, but it works well as a smart speaker. It sounds as good as the Echo Dot, has a more useful display than the Echo Dot With Clock, offers basic smart home controls, and responds reliably to Alexa commands. Overall, it's a worthwhile purchase for a desk or a nightstand if you just want a modern, Amazon-centric take on the clock radio. Just don't forget that you can get a full smart display experience from the Echo Show 5 or better audio from the standard Echo speaker for just slightly more money.
While its display isn't too impressive, the 2024 Amazon Echo Spot performs quite well as a smart speaker, provides useful bits of information, and offers basic smart home controls.
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