ALEXASPEAKERS
92 AUGUST 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 378
LIKETHEORIGINALEcho Plus, this updated
model wants to be all things to all Echo
owners. An integrated ZigBee smart hub can
put it even closer to the centre of your smart
home setup than cheaper Echo speakers, and
sound quality is prioritised, too.
This time,there’s also abuilt-in
thermometer to tell the temperature of the
room it’s in, which should make smart
thermostat features all the more effective.
Even with its remarkably similar physical
design, it’s even clearer than before that the
Echo Plus isn’t just an Echo with nicer-
sounding tweeters; it’s afully distinct device
with its own standout features.
LOWINFLATION
It’s worth reflecting on the journeyAmazon
has come on pricing in just afew short years.
The original Echo would set you back £150,
before the second-generation model slashed
that feeto£90. The Echo Plus, aimed at smart
homeowners after better audio quality,still
managed to undercut the original Echo,
coming in at £140. This new version,
impressively,maintains that enticing price.
While the previous Echo Plus kept the tall
cylindrical design of the original Echo,the
metallic look is officially gone from Amazon’s
closet with this new model. The new Echo
Plus copies the look of the Echo 2nd
Generation but with its very own softerspin:
it’s dumpier and fabric covered, intended to
stand out less obviously in the home.
It’s generally an improvement, but the
change comes with the same disappointing
casualty as the main Echo: you can’t twist
the topofthe speaker to adjust the volume.
AMAZON EchoPlus
2ndGeneration
★★★★★
£140•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
WithanintegratedZigBeehubandimproved
soundquality,thelatestEchoPlusisawinner
The big circular status LED is still
there,but the physical buttons on
topare the only waytoalter the
volume without raising your voice,
which is apity.
In fact, put the Echo and the
Echo Plus side by side and you
might struggle to tell the
difference.The Echo Plus is
slightly fatter–11mm fatter, to
be exact –and it has rounded
edges at the topinstead of
sharp ones, but that’s it.
There’s still aline-out
connection on the back, so you
can output the audio from the
Echo Plus to another speaker.
This time,however,you can
switch to line-in, meaning you
can playmusic directly from
another source.
Regarding audio quality,you get aboost
from the new Echo Plus: while you’re looking
at (or listening to)the same 0.8in tweeter
from the previous generation model, the
wooferhas bulked up from 2.5in to 3in.
Therefore,the higher frequencies will sound
the same,but the bass notes should sound
deeper and richer.
In practice,that’s exactly what the Echo
Plus 2nd Generation achieves. Compared to
the standard Echo,the sound quality is
immediately markedly better,with rich, warm
notes and decent bass replacing the
somewhat harsh and thin output that the
Echo is prone to delivering.
GRACEAND NOISE
It’s loud, too–almost unfeasibly so fora
speaker this size –but bear in mind that it
distorts if you turn it up toohigh, and the
higher-frequency notes tend to eclipse the
bass when pushed. This is aspeaker for
listening to at quiet to medium levels; it’s
not much of aparty speaker.
We also wouldn’t sayitsounds as good,
in general, as the Sonos One.Still, it’s a
fair bit cheaper,and is amuch better
standalone speaker than most other
Echo speakers. The latest Echo Show,
of all things, comes close but doesn’t
control its bass quiteaswell.
Thanks to its ZigBee hub,the Echo
Plus can also talk directly to many
smart home devices –from Philips Hue
bulbs to your Hive Thermostat –without
needing any additional hubs. This isn’t
quitesouseful now that smart home
manufacturers are adding Alexa voice
controls to their products themselves, but
it’s still likely to save on faff.
The Echo Plus’s built-in thermometer
adds another dimension to this, and allows
forautomated actions based on room
temperatures. Alexa can judge when aroom
is getting toohot and automatically turn on
asmart fan; likewise,ifit’s toocold, Alexa
can turn on aheater.
As before,however,it’s best that you
make the Echo Plus your first step in making
asmart home.Ifyou already have a
smorgasbord of compatible devices, you’ll
have to reset all of them to pairing mode
before Alexa will acknowledge them. Youonly
have to do this once,ofcourse,but it’s still a
bit of apain.
JOINTHE HUB
Once again, Amazon has offered steady,solid
improvements with the Echo Plus. Sound
quality,styling and features are all on the up.
It’s therefore aworthy purchase,although
unlike the original Echo Plus when it launched,
it’s not your only choice of Echo product if
you want both extensive smart home control
and high-quality music playback. The Echo
Show also contains aZigBee hub,and because
it has ascreen, using it to control smart home
equipment can be even more intuitive.
It’s not outright better than the Echo Plus,
as sound quality,though high, isn’t quitea
match, and it’s more expensive,too.Still, you
should look at both before making achoice.
