Amazon Echo (4th gen, 2020)

Charming new spherical design ; Dazzling LED light ring ; Acts as an Amazon Sidewalk Bridge ; Great sounding audio

Bass strains at highest volume

As powerful as the Echo Plus ; Strong bass for the size ; Built-in smart home hub

High frequencies don't get quite as much finesse as they could ; Alexa can still be awkward to talk to

The fourth-generation Amazon Echo speaker takes the sound quality and smart home hub capabilities of the Echo Plus and puts it in a new round package.

Expansive bass in a small design ; Lots of smart features ; Classy build and finish

Slightly underwhelming treble ; Not fully omnidirectional

Don’t be fooled by its playful design; the new Echo means business, delivering a weighty sound and full command of your smart home

Improved sound ; Easy setup ; Generally available on sale ; Alexa improving all the time

Hard to see the light ring ; Larger footprint ; Echo Studio is the real room-filler

The previous Echo was great value and this newly designed version improves on the offering with new technology, a faster Alexa, and better sound.

Impressive musical performance ; Plenty of bass ; Smart home hub built-in ; Alexa wake-word almost never fails

Midrange is still the weak spot ; Are you a Google household or an Amazon one?

Fuller sound ; Built-in Zigbee hub ; Alexa is more responsive

Light ring not as useful ; Skills still a bit rubbish ; Amazon is always listening

An all-round upgrade that makes the Echo sound smarter than ever

– Brilliant sound, good value for money and ditches the need for an Echo Plus

– Zigbee integration isn’t perfect

Amazon Echo (4th Gen) is comfortably the most fully-featured Alexa smart speaker yet. With greater sound to rival the Google Nest Audio , the tried-and-tested functionality of Alexa, a stylish new design and Zigbee integration, Amazon has nailed its...

Zigbee, Bluetooth LE, and Amazon Sidewalk radios onboard ; Alexa can control a huge number of smart home systems and devices ; Plenty of bang for the buck

Google’s Nest Audio sounds better ; Sonos supports more music-streaming services ; Polarizing industrial design

The Amazon Echo (4th Gen) is a pretty good audio performer, but it’s a smart speaker that’s also equipped with a Zigbee radio. I’m taking a wait-and-see approach to Amazon’s Sidewalk network for now. It sounds promising, but there’s nothing tangible in...