Echo Dot (4th Gen) | Smart speaker with Alexa | Glacier White

Review:I’m really happy with the new Echo Dot (4th Gen). The sound quality is much better than I expected for its size—clear vocals and decent bass. Alexa responds quickly, and it works great for setting reminders, controlling my smart devices, and playing music. The design looks modern and fits well with my room decor. Overall, it’s a great upgrade and totally worth it!

I got a Dot with clock to try out the new shaped Echos and really enjoy it. I enjoy it so much I decided to buy a second , without clock , to make a stereo effect when using Alexa for music. Little did I know I can incorporate my full size Echo to enhance the bass , like is a sub woofer. Does it rattle the windows ? No. Does it sound very nice ? YesAbout this particular Dot .I got black because of where it'll be located so it would basically disappear but if you're not trying to hide one the other colors are really nice as well. The white isn't bright white but isn't bordering cream either. I really liked the sky blue color of my first one (until I discovered a black Sharpie worked well to make it black while not blocking out the clock ) so it's a nice way to go as well. My last full size Echo was the blue and it is a nice color choice for just about any color scheme room , unlike the white and black that can really become an unwanted drawing of the eyes point but I digress.The buttons on the unit are easy to find and work well . Set up was darn near automatic , much much better than Echo devices just a year ago.The volume can easily fill a room by itself but at a cost of sound quality if its trying to do things by itself. For a large room a big brother Echo will have a lot more oomph and punch whether music or vocal . This Dot will work but sound cheap and Tinny at higher volumes . The 3rd gen Dot doesn't get as loud as this one but was really a little too much in my daughters bedroom when she set it above 5 (50% volume ) . For that size room the 2nd gen Dot was just right. She has a smaller (15'x 15' ) room by far than my 28'x30' den .This one , just like the other 4th gen devices have the microphones near the volume buttons and work very well unless trying to compete with my sound bar they sit on top of . Then they just ignore my attempts to talk with Alexa. At that point I can just talk to the full size Echo by my sofa (across the room ) . You ask any smart device to discern my voice from a tv voice when the tv is inches away and I'm yards away isn't fair so I won't give it a knock but when the sound bar isn't on the Dot can hear me easily even if I speak just above a whisper and the one closest to my den door can hear commands when I first enter the house so by the time I get to the den my lights are lit and I can have music playing if I so choose . Alexa software has really come a long way in 2020 from clunky and not able to discern me from my dog to being able to understand what my 4 year old granddaughter is trying to get to happen and myself practically having a 2 way conversation with it.Catching it on sale and using the interest free 5 payment plan made this one an easy choice that is very budget friendly. The only Echo device cheaper is the Flex but I'd recommend that one only for using Alexa features and routines. The sound and volume on it are not room filling and rich at all . Fine for voice searches and such but not so much even for audio books. For that the Dot more than suffices .If I had to choose 1 Echo device and only 1 it'd be a Dot for it's value and usability . Since I could choose more than 1 ,my most used is the full size 4th gen Echo but I really like the new Dots shape , sound quality , light bar on the bottom , button user friendliness and color choices .If you want a great value , don't need a clock and oomph in your music /audio books listening isn't a must you can't go wrong with this one unless you don't like a device the size of a baseball sitting on your furniture or shelf .

I hesitated and thought very long and hard about having these smart devices in my home for fear of privacy issues. I generally keep up with technology and really wanted an Alexa. HAHA. I received this echo dot from my daughter as a Christmas gift. I have been very pleased with it. The setup was very easy to do and there are so many fun and useful features to be used everyday. I love being able to be hands free and just call out a command. For instance, I can say "Alexa, play classic rock." And I can say, "Alexa, reduce volume by 5%" etc... all while having my hands in clay or in gloves working on a project across the room. Theres no need to go over to a radio and find a channel I want. There are fun options s too. Try asking Alexa to play cat meows or meow like a cat. That's a funny one. You can connect to other Echo dots in other rooms too for a surround sound experience. If you have other Bluetooth speakers that you want to connect to thats an option too and its easy to set up. I wondered if the sound on this echo was going to be good quality before I bought it. I can tell you in my opinion the sound quality is close to a Bose. Echo has a crisp clear quality to it and if you connect other ones from other rooms it gives you an even better surround sound experience. i have only one Echo at the moment but I would say by itself it has a bit of surround sound too. There are alot of accessories to go with this too, which I'll be buying..I can't wait to buy the plugs and bulbs to make my home a smart home. There are holsters for the wall and many other accessories. I am planning on buying one for my bathroom and kitchen to replace my current Bluetooth speakers that are in there simply because of the sound quality and the ability to turn the volume down hands free.