Amazon’s Alexa devices make up some of the best smart speakers you can buy — the assistant is reactive and fast, the designs are stylish and modern, and there are lots of compatible smart home gadgets from brands like Philips, TP-Link and Sonos.
You’ll need Alexa smart speakers dotted around if you’re looking to modernise your home with futuristic voice-controlled tech. You’ll be able to use them to switch on smart lights and smart plugs, to adjust a smart thermostat, activate a smart coffee machine or even start a smart dishwasher.
If you’re looking for a cheap way to get Alexa smarts in a smaller room, the Amazon Echo Dot is one of the most affordable Alexa speakers you can buy. You can buy it with a clock face or without, depending on where you’ll put it and how much you’d like to spend – the clock face is ideal for a bedside.
The Amazon Echo Dot has an RRP of £55 while the Amazon Echo Dot (with clock) usually sells for £65. In saying that, Echo device deals pop up regularly throughout the year, not just during sales like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday. The Echo Dot was discounted to only £22 towards the end of 2023, and the with-clock model dropped to just £30 during the Amazon Spring Sale in 2024.
Over the last six months or so, I’ve been using the Amazon Echo Dot (with clock) at home. During that time, I’ve used it as my bedroom alarm clock and it’s had a spot in my kitchen.
My biggest takeaway is that this nifty little smart speaker is perfect for solo or small group listening. If you need to know more, this review covers everything from its design and setup to its performance and features.
Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) key specs
| Dimensions | 9.9 x 9.1 x 8.9 cm |
|---|---|
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, WiFi |
| Display | LED |
| Zigbee hub | No |
Amazon Echo Dot review: design and setup
The Amazon Echo Dot is a compact smart speaker shaped like a ball, with a flat plastic base and a fabric-covered mesh design.
I tested the model with an LED display across the front which shows the time, the name of the song playing, the temperature and so on. It’s easily legible even from the other side of the room.
You can buy the Echo Dot in cloud blue or glacier white and if you don’t need the digital clock face, you can buy the regular Echo Dot in dark blue or black.
Like all Alexa speakers, the Echo Dot lights up blue when it hears the wake word and in this case, the Alexa light circles the speaker’s base.
As well as by voice, you can control elements of the speaker using buttons across the top. There are buttons to dial the volume up or turn it down, mute the microphone and call the voice assistant manually or put the speaker into setup mode. Truthfully, I didn’t need to use the buttons much, I relied almost entirely on the voice control.
I had the Echo Dot placed a good distance from the wall socket so was happy with the length of the wire provided in the box. There’s no 3.5mm audio port to connect devices that don’t have Bluetooth or WiFi, though.
Setting it up takes a matter of minutes, all you need to do is download and log in to the Alexa app on your iOS or Android smartphone, plug the speaker in and wait for the orange light. Then just tap the + button in the top right-hand side of the app. Alexa guides you through the process step by step.
The app itself is relatively easy to use. Granted it’s not as simple as the Google Home equivalent, but it’s easy enough to navigate through, although you won’t need to use it very often.
Amazon Echo Dot review: performance and features
Given how small the speaker is, you can’t expect the Amazon Echo Dot to provide room-filling sound to entertain crowds. Instead, you get a solid but softened performance suited to smaller spaces like a bedroom, kitchen or office.
I used the Amazon Echo Dot to listen to music and podcasts in the kitchen and I could still hear it over the kettle boiling and the extractor fan, so the volume goes relatively high. The bass is strong and the treble is crisp, although the soundstage isn’t as wide as you might find on a more accomplished speaker.
Even though it uses front-firing speakers, the round shape of the Dot means you get a similar experience no matter where you stand in relation to it, unlike the Echo Pop which directs sound in one direction.
To activate the voice assistant, utter the wake word “Alexa”. For the most part, the speaker picked up my voice the first time, there have been a few occasions it missed me but only when there was a lot of other noise happening at the same time. It rarely activated without reason either, which can be a problem with some Siri and Google Assistant speakers.
Like any Alexa device, you can use it to find out the weather, set alarms and reminders, control your smart home gadgets, find out the answers to your questions, and the list goes on.
Alexa smarts and an LED display aren’t the only features worth talking about though. The Echo Dot also has built-in motion and temperature sensors. Through Alexa Routines, you can use the sensors to trigger your smart home tech like your lights when you walk in the room, or your thermostat when the room’s temperature drops.
Alexa Routines are really useful and can be used in loads of different ways. For example, when my morning alarm goes off Alexa tells me the weather and turns on the bedside lamp. Or when I say “goodnight Alexa” all of the lights in my house switch off.
For those with an Eero mesh WiFi network, the Echo Dot can act as an extender as well, giving you better connectivity in more corners of the house.
Considering how affordable the device is, these are fantastic perks that will come in handy. But in comparison to the pricier Amazon Echo, the Echo Dot lacks the Zigbee hub integration so you won’t be able to use it as the control centre of your smart home set-up.
Amazon Echo Dot review: verdict
If you buy the Amazon Echo Dot, you can’t expect a wall-shaking sound suited to large living rooms. This is very much a modest speaker for a modest space and its small size means it fits neatly on a bedside table or shelf.
The Echo Dot works perfectly for listening to news headlines and podcasts and it will be fine for playing music on your own or in a small group. I’d recommend using it in your bedroom or office.
What’s great about this little gizmo is that it has lots of cool features built-in, the clock face does more than just show the time, there’s a temperature and motion sensor and it doubles up as an Eero mesh WiFi extender too. It’s fantastic value for money!
Amazon Echo Dot review: also consider
Which smart speaker you buy will depend a lot on what kit you already have at home, but if you’re starting from scratch, you may also want to consider the Apple HomePod Mini or the Google Nest Mini. It’s worth knowing that Apple’s Homekit has much less compatibility with other smart home tech than Alexa or Google Home.
If you’re already set up with Alexa devices and looking for a bedside alarm clock, you could also consider a smart display like the Amazon Echo Show 5. It has a screen to show you the answer to your questions and it doubles up as a digital photo frame.
