Web User - UK (2019-11-13)

Product Test Echo Dot with Clock

24 13 - 26 November 2019

TheEchoDotwithClock

hasthesameprosandcons

astheclocklessversion.

TheLEDdisplayis very

welcome,offeringat-a-

glanceinformationwithout

detracting from the

screen-free functionality

that smart speakers are

designed to offer. Alexa

still isn’t as good as Google

Assistant but this device is

better than the Google

Home Mini, largely thanks

to that clock and its 3.5mm

audio socket.

Echo Dot with Clock

PRODUCTINFO

AmazonEchoDot

withClock

Price:£59.99

BuyfromAmazon:

bit.ly/dotcl488

SPECIFICATIONS

■LEDdisplay

■Dual-band802.11a/b/g/nWi-Fi

■Bluetooth

■ 99 x 99 x43mm

■300g

FOR

✓Clockisexcellentaddition

✓Greatspeakerfortheprice

✓ 3.5mm output

AGAINST

✗ Alexa is weaker than Google

Assistant

OURVERDICT

FEATURES HHHHH

PERFORMANCE HHHHH

EASEOFUSE HHHHH

VALUEFORMONEY HHHHH

The new Echo Dot takes Amazon’s winning formula for its

smallest smart speaker and adds a clock. What’s not to like?

Sound quality and Alexa

The speaker’s sound quality

is as good as last year’s

third-generation Dot and in

line with what you’d expect

from a £50 speaker. It also

retains the 3.5mm audio jack

output, so you can connect it

to a better speaker if you

want to improve the audio.

Alexa, meanwhile, is

identical, which is no surprise

given the smart assistant lives

in the cloud and any advance

in intelligence would affect all

Echo devices at the same

time. Google Assistant is

better at answering questions,

in our opinion, but for the

basics, Alexa is just fine, ably

playing music, radio and

podcasts, connecting with

smart home devices and

telling you about your day.

O

ne of the most common

questions asked of the

Amazon Echo is “What

time is it?”, but voicing this

aloud is not always practical

• if your device is in a shared
  bedroom, for example – and
  it’s actually a lot quicker to
  just look at the time than
  have a conversation about it.
  The new Echo Dot with
  Clock tackles this by
  displaying the time in bright
  LEDs across its side. The
  built-in clock can also show
  timers, display its volume level
  and indicate the temperature
  outdoors. That’s essentially
  the only difference between
  this and last year’s excellent
  Echo Dot.

Clock functions

These extras add a tenner to

the price, bumping up the

base outlay for the Echo Dot

with Clock to £60 (though it’s

on offer at £44.99 as we write

this review).

When switched off, the

device looks exactly like last

year’s model, with the same

chunky dimensions and a

fabric covering that wraps

around the sides. It’s only

when you plug it in that the

new change becomes

apparent.

Underneath the fabric cover

is a segmented LED display

capable of showing a digital

clock and, when required,

other information. It doesn’t

display advanced graphics or

video like an Echo Show, but

it works well and adapts its

brightness to match its

environment.

Amazon clearly has two

rooms in mind for the Echo

Dot with Clock: the kitchen

and the bedroom. The former

is handy for cooking, as the

clock is replaced with a visual

countdown when a timer is

set. In the bedroom, setting

an alarm places a small circle

next to the time and neatly

lets you silence an alarm with

a tap on the top, like the

snooze function on a standard

alarm clock.

The LED display works well and adapts

its brightness to match its environment