ALEXASPEAKERS
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HOWDOYOUfollow up adevice like the
Echo,which almost single-handedly took
voice assistant speakers intothe mainstream?
Amazon’s answer is to make abrand new
Echo that’s smaller,lighter and considerably
cheaper than the original. At £90, when the
original cost £150, the Echo 2nd Generation
seems like afantastic deal.
Stand the new Echo next to the old one
and you can see that it’s about two-thirds the
height –89mm shorter,tobemore specific
–although it’s still roughly the same diameter.
This makes placing the new Echo that little bit
easier,asitwill fit on to most shelves with
ease.The fabric finish also looks better than
the original’s plain plastic, and helps the Echo
blend intoits surroundings much more
successfully than before.Ifyou spend an
extra £10, you can get the even fancier oak,
walnut or metallic casings instead.
TURNAWAY
To get the price down, however,Amazon has
had to cut some features. Most noticeably,
the rotating volume dial at the tophas gone,
replaced with physical buttons seemingly
borrowed from the Echo Dot. That’s a
bearable change,and the separatewake and
mutebuttons are still included, but the old
dial felt more premium and was nicer to use.
The replacement buttons, on the other hand,
are functional but thoroughly basic.
Conversely,Amazon has upgraded the
internals, fitting aDolby-powered speaker
system with a0.6in tweeter and 2.5in woofer.
This should theoretically make it abetter
music speaker than the original Echo,
although some issues remain: it distorts at
high volumes and bass isn’t as pronounced
as it could be,despiteAmazon launching a
firmware upgrade to boost low-level sound.
The 2nd Generation model is good for
mid-level listening and well suited to a
smaller room or kitchen, but the more
expensive Echo Plus and Sonos One both
comfortably beat it on sound quality.
AMAZON Echo2ndGeneration
★★★★★
£90•From http://www.amazon.co.ukVERDICT
Evenifit’snotthebest-soundingsmartspeaker,theEcho
2ndGenerationisaversatileandwell-pricedupdate
Amazon has also added a
3.5mm headphone jack
output next to the power
input, so as with the Echo
Dot you can plug in an
external speaker to improve
audio output. However,this is
aconsiderable amount of
added effort and expense,
regardless of the price drop
from the original Echo.
Why bother with this
model, then? Forone,audio
fidelity isn’t everything on a
smart speaker (although the
Echo 2nd Generation does
outdo the small Echo Spot in
this regard), and compared
to the competition, £90 is a
pretty low price.HOUSE PARTY
There’s no particular benefit
from using Alexa on one of
Amazon’s own devices, but
it’s still agood assistant,
especially –compared to Siri
and Google Home –for smart
home integration. This is
thanks to Alexa’s expandable
range of Skills, which let the smart assistant
do pretty much anything you want, from
turning lights and heating on or off to
controlling security cameras.
This depth of integration also works
brilliantly with Alexa routines, which can be
set to perform multiple actions in response
to asingle phrase.For instance,just say
‘Alexa, good night’ and the Echo can switch
off the lights, lock the door and turn off the
TV.The potential forsheer convenience is
huge,and is avery strong argument in
favour of the Echo valuing smart features
over sound quality.
And that’s just in the smart home
department; Alexa is just as adept at reading
abedtime story or delivering train service
status updates. Google Home tends to
be abit smarter when answering
queries, and is better at
accurately interpreting
speech commands, but
Alexa’s flexibility gives
it an edge.
This is especially
true now that
Amazon has
continued to refine
and add features to itsdigital assistant. One of the best is Drop In,
which allows you to group together
commands and make calls between Echo
devices and apps. It’s particularly useful for
family homes, whether you want to summon
the kids downstairs to have dinner or make a
call to the kitchen on your wayhome from
work. Call quality is superbly clear,too.BACK FOR SECONDS
As apure music speaker,the Echo isn’t quite
up there with the best, or even particularly
close.Compared to the original Echo,let alone
the Echo Plus or the Alexa-powered Sonos
One,the mids are slightly thinner and
harsher-sounding. In fairness, it’s such a
small difference that you’ll only notice the
difference if you’re switching between the two
devices with both stood next to each other,as
we did when testing. Still, if you want asmart
speaker that emphasises the speaker aspect,
you’ll have to spend more elsewhere.
However,the Echo 2nd Generation fills a
mid-range gap in the Echo line,which has
expanded significantly since the original
Echo launch, and makes afine choice if you
want aclear-sounding smart assistant that
you don’t strictly have to plug intoanexternal
hi-fi to occasionally playsome music.ly dq ity dep t; jus dep
abedtime story or delivering train
status updates. Google Home
be abit smarter when
queries, and is bett
accurately interpr
speech comma
Alexa’s flexibi
it an edge.
This is e
true now tha
Amazon ha
continued
and add feat