Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th gen) review: A great all-round package

Amazon's fifth-generation Echo Dot has been connected the marketplace for much than a twelvemonth now, offering amended dependable than its predecessor and a batch of smarts successful a compact, cute, fabric-covered sphere package. It's the astir popular Echo for a reason.

I've been surviving with the talker for the past year, acceptable up successful a bedside pair. I've had 2 variants: the regular Echo Dot and the Echo Dot with Clock. The erstwhile I reviewed erstwhile it was new, the second I've sat connected a while, to spot what it's similar to unrecorded with implicit an extended period. After much than a year, I person immoderate thoughts.

Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen)

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The Echo Dot with Clock (5th gen) is simply a superb bedside assistant. It offers large dependable for its size and price, and the LED show is genuinely utile arsenic a clock, and truthful overmuch more.

Pros

• Sounds large successful a stereo pair
• LED show is genuinely useful
• Responsive to dependable commands, and consistently reliable
• Great price

Cons

• No built-in Zigbee
• Automated LED on/off would marque it overmuch better

Price, specs and availability

The Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th gen) has been disposable to bargain since precocious 2022, and is disposable successful Glacier White and Cloud Blue colour variants. It retails astir $60 successful the US, and £65 successful the UK, but is often discounted during large buying events similar Black Friday and Prime Day.

Clock show

Useful addition, oregon depressing insomnia countdown?

Since the remainder of the talker is the aforesaid arsenic the regular 5th gen Echo Dot, it makes the astir consciousness to commencement with the 1 diagnostic that sets the 'with Clock' variation isolated from the others: the LED timepiece display.

It's a basal thing, but it's 1 that makes a difference. Because - let's look it - the regular Echo Dot isn't perpetually useful. When sat successful its standby state, waiting for a bid and not playing euphony - it's conscionable a passive orb taking up precious abstraction connected a bedside table.

With the Echo Dot with Clock, you get a imperishable timepiece displayed utilizing a elemental grid of LED lights. It's always-on, adjacent astatine nighttime, and tin usage the Echo's built-in ambient airy sensors to observe erstwhile it's dark, and past accommodate the brightness truthful that it's not excessively agleam astatine nighttime. When dimmed, it's inactive easy the brightest happening connected my bedside, but it's besides dim capable that I find it casual to ignore.

That is - of people - isolated from those nights wherever I conscionable can't get to sleep, and it becomes a depressing reminder of however agelong I've not been capable to sleep, and however small clip I person near until morning. At those times, astatine 4am, I'd precise overmuch similar it not to beryllium there.

In the Alexa app for iPhone and Android, you bash get the enactment to manually crook down the brightness if you want, and power disconnected the auto-brightness feature. You tin adjacent power the LED show disconnected wholly if you like. What I'd emotion to spot would beryllium an enactment successful that aforesaid paper to docket it to power disconnected the LED show astatine definite times of the day.

Or - adjacent amended - usage the built-in question sensor to observe erstwhile there's been nary question for a while, and power disconnected the timepiece whenever there's an bare room, oregon erstwhile I'm lying still, asleep. With that feature, it would mean if I woke up successful the nighttime and got up, it'd airy up, and I could cheque the clip easily. Once I was lying down again, it would power off.

Because this diagnostic isn't there, it's 1 crushed wherefore my iPhone, turned horizontal connected its wireless charging stand, is simply a much utile bedside timepiece with its StandBy feature.

Its usefulness goes beyond conscionable being a clock, however. It's susceptible of displaying substance and basal shapes and icons. So erstwhile you inquire astir the weather, it tin amusement a small upwind awesome similar a cloud, alongside the temperature.

When it's playing music, the sanction of the way scrolls crossed the aboveground of the sphere. It tin adjacent amusement small smiley faces and different icons that are due to what you've asked, oregon what it's responded to.

Design, controls and smarts

Simple and intuitive, but a small unsmooth astir the edges

Anyone acquainted with the Amazon Echo - arsenic a merchandise - volition beryllium acquainted with the carnal power strategy connected the apical of the Echo Dot. It's the aforesaid crossed beauteous overmuch each Echo devices, and features the multi-function button, the mute fastener for switching disconnected the mic and the 2 measurement buttons. That's it.

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Press the multi-function fastener to motorboat Alexa, oregon property and clasp it to reset the instrumentality to mill settings. The measurement buttons are self-explanatory, arsenic is the fastener designed to mute the mic. There are other, hidden, controls however.

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One of those is simply a sensor which allows you to pat the apical of the speaker. It tin execute a mates of antithetic tasks. Firstly - it volition snooze your alarm successful the greeting if you've acceptable your Echo to aftermath you up. Secondly - it volition intermission the way you're listening to, and past play it again.

It works good for the astir part, and - erstwhile I got the knack of however overmuch unit it needed and the champion presumption for tapping - it worked consistently each time. I did find astatine the opening I'd often activate it accidentally by knocking the speaker, and besides sometimes recovered erstwhile I deliberately tried to activate it, it wouldn't work. But similar galore things, erstwhile you find the champion mode to enactment it, it does its occupation well.

There are question and somesthesia sensors, which tin beryllium utilized to activate antithetic routines and astute location products. You tin - for lawsuit - acceptable up a regular whereby if your Echo detects a precocious temperature, it volition power connected a fan. Or, you tin person the question sensors acceptable up to motorboat immoderate fig of astute location routines.

As an example, it could beryllium acceptable to power the astute airy bulbs disconnected successful a country wherever it hasn't detected immoderate question for a while. Or you tin person it footwear those lights connected erstwhile it does.

Used successful its basal functionality, giving it dependable commands, I've been truly pleased with however rapidly it responds to its aftermath word. Saying "Echo" usually results successful an almost-instant bluish airy astir the basal to bespeak it's listening. Then it understands and responds accurately each clip I've utilized it, but the times erstwhile it sometimes can't find a opus I'm looking for.

From a astute location perspective, the 1 portion missing is Zigbee. Unlike the bigger Echo models, it won't automatically observe and link to astute location products nearby. But with Alexa's skills, and mounting those up done the Alexa app, it tin power beauteous overmuch everything still.

Sound

Best successful a stereo pair

Something I noted successful the modular Echo Dot reappraisal was however I deliberation the champion mode to acquisition the dependable from this tiny talker is successful a pair. And, a twelvemonth later, I inactive firmly judge that particularly erstwhile you're utilizing it connected a bedside table. You're acold amended disconnected having 1 connected each side, with the 2 speakers acceptable up arsenic a pair, with 1 playing the near transmission and the different playing the close channel.

To maine there's not overmuch amended than waking up precocious connected a weekend, putting connected immoderate relaxed tunes, and being immersed successful that dependable arsenic it's playing astir me, from some sides of my bed.

That's not to accidental the dependable isn't bully from 1 speaker. Its built-in 44mm operator delivers a amazingly balanced dependable profile, acknowledgment to deeper bass than its predecessor. It's inactive a small excessively tiny to decently capable a ample room, but successful a smaller room, it serves perfectly good arsenic a azygous speaker.

Now, it's worthy noting - again - this is an affordable tiny speaker, truthful you're not going to get the implicit best, textured and full-bodied sound. If you privation the champion Echo for dependable quality, you privation the Echo Studio - which costs a batch much and is overmuch bigger. Despite its inclination to suffer immoderate texture successful the little frequencies, the Echo Dot inactive sounds precise bully for its price.

With the stereo setup, however, it tin propulsion the mixed audio tracks successful antithetic directions, adding a much immersive consciousness to the euphony you're listening to. In fact, you tin adjacent acceptable them up successful a brace to enactment arsenic stereo speakers for your Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Amazon's Echo level supports euphony from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify and Tidal, giving you the flexibility to take immoderate of those arsenic your default player. Once you've acceptable a default, a elemental bid to play a playlist, album, opus oregon creator volition automatically take your preferred work provider.

Personally, I usage it with the Apple Music integration and tin usage it successful conscionable astir immoderate mode I privation to. I tin inquire it to shuffle playlists, and it'll play them successful shuffle mode. And - erstwhile playing - I tin usage the Alexa app to skip tracks, play oregon intermission them, oregon I tin usage dependable commands.

The lone happening Echo Dot's missing connected this beforehand is support for AirPlay 2. For Apple merchandise users, it's the 1 other diagnostic that would marque them conscionable that spot much convenient to play euphony through.

Being capable to integrate them into a wireless multi-room strategy made up of different AirPlay-compatible speakers would beryllium superb too. As it stands, the champion - and lone - mode to usage them in a multi-room setup is utilizing different Amazon Echo devices, oregon speakers with Echo/Alexa built in.

Verdict

The fifth-generation Echo Dot was already 1 of my favourite astute location speakers, but the summation of the LED show adds that tiny spot much usefulness to an already precise utile product.

Alexa dependable commands are met with instant recognition, the dependable is balanced, with a decent magnitude of bass - improved further by pairing it with different Echo Dot - and the 'tap to pause/play/silence' diagnostic is truly utile erstwhile my alarm goes disconnected successful the morning.

Yes, it could dependable better, and adding AirPlay enactment would marque it that overmuch much utile for Apple users, but the Echo Dot is inactive a large all-round bundle that doesn't outgo each that much.