Amazon Echo Studio ProductTestDo you agree? Let us [email protected] 11 -26December 2019 23At £190,there’ snoother
smartspeaker on the
market thatcan compete
with theEcho Studio forits
combination of sound
quality,features and
connectivity.Aswell as
offerin gall the Alexa-
smartsyounormally get
from anEcho device, it
deliversapowerful sound
and can double upas aTV
speaker,which puts itin a
category of itsown.If you’reafter the best
sound possiblefrom a
smart speaker,you’r ebetter
off with Apple’sHomePod,
but theEcho Studioisa
grea toption ifyouwant a
devic ethatdoesita ll in
one affordablepackage.Apple HomePod, £2 79
bit ly/hopo490Sonos One,£199
bit.ly/sonone490and notifications, among
otherthings. On therear of
the device,flanking the power
port,there’sthe 3.5mmjack.
Sound quality
One of theEchoStudio’s key
functions is thatitcanbe
used asaTVspeaker aswe’ve
already mentioned, but it’s
worth pointingout thatthe
devicedoesn’tcome with a
remotecontrol.This means
thattheonlywaytoadjust
thevolume when it’s
connected via the optical
input istoaskAlexa todo it,
orwalk uptoit anduse the
physicalcontrols.Youcan’t
even usethevolumecontrol
in the Alexaapp,although –
oddly–thisoption isavailable
forstreaming music.
This becomesaserious
drawback whenyou’re
engrossed inamovie because
Alexamomentarily mutes the
audiotolistentocommands,
so usingvoicecontroltoturn
thevolume up or down will
interrupt the audio.
Elsewhere,theEchoStudio
works justlikeanyotherEcho
speaker.Setup is quickand
easyviatheAlexaapp and
letsyoumanageconnected
Bluetoothdevices, customise
alarm sounds and set up
speaker groupsformulti-
room audio.
Irrespectiveofwhatyou’re
playing, however,theEcho
Studiostillfalls short on
sound quality.Music isabit
boomycomparedtoApple’s
HomePod and, whenstood
nexttoaset of £160 Dali
Zensor1bookshelf speakers,
it soundsalittle muffledand
lacks crispness,even ifyou
boostthe mids and treble
using the Amazon Alexa
mobileapp.
WheretheEchoStudio
does emphatically deliver,
however,isinthe sheerscale
of thesound thatitgenerates.
Thesoundfrommostsmart
speakers quicklydegenerates
if youcrankupthevolume
but, ifanything,Amazon’s
newspeakersounds more
impressivewhenplayedloud.
If youwantasingle smart
speaker thatcaneasilyfill a
larger livingroom,theEcho
Studio is inaleague of its
ownand, ifyou’reafanof
boosting the bass, it is,
without doubt, the best
optionavailableatthisprice.
AsaTVspeaker,itsuffers
fromthesame problemsas
whenstreaming music.
WatchingaBBC wildlife
documentary,wefoundwe
hadtocrankupthe mid-
range frequenciesasfar as
the Alexaappwould let usto
makethe narration clear
enoughforour taste.However,the scaleofthe
soundwas again impressive,
andyougetconsiderably
moredepth and presence
thanyouwould from most
built-in TV speakers. Onthe
otherhand, ifyou’reusedto
havingyour TV audio
deliveredviaasoundbar
acrossthe bottom ofyour TV,
asingleEchoStudio maybea
lessattractiveoption because
you’ll havetoget usedtothe
soundcoming fromasingle
sourceon either the left or
rightofthe screen.
It’s alsoworth pointingout
thatalthough theEchoStudio
pairswiththe Amazon Fire
TVStick4Kand FireTVCube,
this is only possiblevia
Bluetooth and, when
connected in thisway,itonly
receivesastereosignal.
Connecting the speakerto
your TV viaanoptical cableis
the onlywaytoensure
5.1surroundsound. Overall,
it’s adecent upgrade onyour
TV’sspeakers, butdon’t
expect miracles.PRODUCTINFO
Amazon
Echo Studio
Price:£189.99
Buy fromAmazon:
bit.l y/echstu490SPECIFICATIONS
■3x51mm midrange speakers,
1x25mmtweeter, 1x133mmwoofer
with bass aperture
■3.5mm/mini-optical line in
■Supports Amazon Music(Standard
and HD), Apple Music, Spotify,
Deezer,TuneIn
■Automaticroom adaptation
■FireTVcompatible
■Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
■3.5kg
■206 x175mmFOR
✓Big, bold sound
✓Very well priced
✓ExcellentconnectivityoptionsAGAINST
✗Sound is bass-heavy
✗Lacks some detail in mid-range
✗No remotefor volumecontrolsOURVERDICT HHHHHHHHBETTER
SOUNDGOOGLE
ALTERNATIVE
FEATURES HHHHHHHHHH
PERFORMANCE HHHHHHHHHH
EASE OF USE HHHHHHHHHH
VALUEFOR MONEY HHHHHHHHHHbit.ly/hopo 490