Amazon Echo Studio (2nd generation) and Echo Dot Max review: Bigger sound, bigger price

Amazon’s speakers have A new look — and new leaders — with the brand’s latest lineup of Echo devices. Amazon hardware dropped In September he announced the coming limits of Alexa powered speakersBut the strange thing is that none of them were from the fifth generation Echo. Instead, Amazon has turned to two specific speakers: the Echo Dot, now called the Echo Dot Max and costing what its flagship full-sized Echo device used to, and the immersive speaker that is the Echo Studio, now in its second generation.

Amazon may finally be planning to narrow down its lineup to focus on the best of the best. We did I’ve long recommended the Echo Dot and Echo Studio As some of the best of Amazon’s crowded Echo lineup, and No other smart speaker maker does Offers many options. Several Echo models have also been limited to being unavailable this year, including the display-equipped Echo Show 10 (which the new-generation Echo Show 8 and 11, due out in November, appear poised to replace) and the once-flagship Echo. There is still a lot of scope, and perhaps Amazon’s new strategy is to take advantage of the higher price of the popular Echo Dot model, and allow speakers like Echo pop Take the role of the cheap option.

Will it pay off? Will Amazon’s lineup finally become more focused? We’ll have to wait and see. For now, it’s safe to say that the new Echo Dot Max and the 2nd Gen Echo Studio are both great at audio performance and at doing what a smart speaker does best: answer questions, especially with… Amazon’s newest assistant, Alexa+Included right out of the box. But it costs a lot more than the flagship Echo and Echo Dot used to.

New profile

Photo: Nina Farrell

The Echo speakers get a new design with these two models: a circular body with a notched center, reminiscent of a speaker’s dust cap. In this indentation you will now find the volume buttons and the mute button. At the top there’s now a touch control, which you can tap to pause or resume the music instantly. (There are options in the app to turn off the touch controls if they’re not right up your alley.) The lighted ring that tells you when Alexa is listening is now around that indentation, and both models have a smart home hub built into them, which the Studio previously had but the older Echo Dots didn’t.