Echo Dot (4th Gen, 2020 release) | Smart speaker with Alexa | Charcoal

I got a Dot with clock to try out the new shaped Echos and really enjoy it. I enjoy it so much I decided to buy a second , without clock , to make a stereo effect when using Alexa for music. Little did I know I can incorporate my full size Echo to enhance the bass , like is a sub woofer. Does it rattle the windows ? No. Does it sound very nice ? Yes About this particular Dot . I got black because of where it'll be located so it would basically disappear but if you're not trying to hide one the other colors are really nice as well. The white isn't bright white but isn't bordering cream either. I really liked the sky blue color of my first one (until I discovered a black Sharpie worked well to make it black while not blocking out the clock ) so it's a nice way to go as well. My last full size Echo was the blue and it is a nice color choice for just about any color scheme room , unlike the white and black that can really become an unwanted drawing of the eyes point but I digress. The buttons on the unit are easy to find and work well . Set up was darn near automatic , much much better than Echo devices just a year ago. The volume can easily fill a room by itself but at a cost of sound quality if its trying to do things by itself. For a large room a big brother Echo will have a lot more oomph and punch whether music or vocal . This Dot will work but sound cheap and Tinny at higher volumes . The 3rd gen Dot doesn't get as loud as this one but was really a little too much in my daughters bedroom when she set it above 5 (50% volume ) . For that size room the 2nd gen Dot was just right. She has a smaller (15'x 15' ) room by far than my 28'x30' den . This one , just like the other 4th gen devices have the microphones near the volume buttons and work very well unless trying to compete with my sound bar they sit on top of . Then they just ignore my attempts to talk with Alexa. At that point I can just talk to the full size Echo by my sofa (across the room ) . You ask any smart device to discern my voice from a tv voice when the tv is inches away and I'm yards away isn't fair so I won't give it a knock but when the sound bar isn't on the Dot can hear me easily even if I speak just above a whisper and the one closest to my den door can hear commands when I first enter the house so by the time I get to the den my lights are lit and I can have music playing if I so choose . Alexa software has really come a long way in 2020 from clunky and not able to discern me from my dog to being able to understand what my 4 year old granddaughter is trying to get to happen and myself practically having a 2 way conversation with it. Catching it on sale and using the interest free 5 payment plan made this one an easy choice that is very budget friendly. The only Echo device cheaper is the Flex but I'd recommend that one only for using Alexa features and routines. The sound and volume on it are not room filling and rich at all . Fine for voice searches and such but not so much even for audio books. For that the Dot more than suffices . If I had to choose 1 Echo device and only 1 it'd be a Dot for it's value and usability . Since I could choose more than 1 ,my most used is the full size 4th gen Echo but I really like the new Dots shape , sound quality , light bar on the bottom , button user friendliness and color choices . If you want a great value , don't need a clock and oomph in your music /audio books listening isn't a must you can't go wrong with this one unless you don't like a device the size of a baseball sitting on your furniture or shelf .

I've been using the Echo Dot 4th Gen with Alexa for over two years now, and I can confidently say it's one of my best purchases. The sleek design in charcoal fits perfectly with my home decor, and the sound quality is surprisingly rich for such a compact speaker. Alexa has become my go-to for everything—from playing my favorite playlists and podcasts to providing quick updates on weather and news. The voice recognition is impressive, even when there’s background noise. I love how it seamlessly integrates with my smart home devices, allowing me to control lights and thermostats with just my voice. Setting up routines has made my daily life so much easier; waking up to gentle music and having my coffee maker turn on automatically is a game-changer. Plus, the added features like reminders and timers have streamlined my cooking and home management. Overall, the Echo Dot 4th Gen has exceeded my expectations. It’s reliable, functional, and has truly become an indispensable part of my daily routine. Highly recommend it to anyone considering a smart speaker!

I have 2 Echo dots 1st generation, 2 Echo dots 3rd generation, and 2 Echo shows (5 and a larger older one). The Echo dot 4th generation is the best ever! Much better audio quality for music (though no where near as good as the Echo Studio) but the BEST IMPROVEMENT IS THAT IT CAN HEAR ME AND UNDERSTAND MY VOICE WHEN I’M IN THE SHOWER LISTENING TO MUSIC. A couple of years ago, I was doing some work while sitting on the floor, I strained my back, and couldn’t get up. All alone at night, stuck on the floor. Reminded me of the “help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” ads. I was about to ask Alexa to call a friend to come help me when I managed to crawl to the sofa and pull myself up. But after that, I put several dots throughout my home so I could have Alexa call for help should I need it. A friend of mine put one in his bathroom so in case he falls in the shower, he can ask Alexa to call for help. Great idea! So I put one in my bathroom too. But the 1st gen dot had trouble understanding me with the water running while listening to music. The 4th generation dot has terrific voice recognition in noisy environments, even with music and water running in the shower . The 4th gen dot also understands me when Im watching tv (my 1st gen dot couldn’t as the dot is placed 5 ft from the tv.) Two of my dots are connected to stereo speakers in rooms where I want stereo sound (bedroom, family room). The rest are fine as is: in Rec room, utility room, garage, living room, basement hallway, etc. My only regret is that Amazon didn’t invent the dots 15 years ago. My mom was legally blind the last 10 years of her life. I think of all the ways Alexa could have helped her. Listen to classical music, set medication reminders, schedule doctor appointments on her calendar with reminders, call for help if needed, listen to audiobooks, get the weather report, news, etc. Alexa could have made her life so much easier and brought her joy listening to music and books. Thank you Amazon for making such an amazing helpful product!

This is my first ever Echo device, so my review is more of the whole system than of just this particular device - as I have nothing to compare it to. The good is most everything. Sound quality is fine for me, as I keep it pretty quiet for the most part. It's in my living room, so I don't normally want it blaring in my face when I am playing music. The voice recognition software seem to work very well. Alexa always recognizes her name, although to my credit I always speak to her clearly and plainly, at a volume slightly higher than my normal conversational one. A normal robot tone, in other words. So I can offer no input on how she does for the "less robotic" speaker. Functionality-wise is where things can use improvement. Although there is still "good" there. I like hearing the weather every morning. Although I can't seem to get the news feed for my morning routine customized the way I like it. And the commands Alexa recognizes seems to be a mixed bag. She knows and does some things I would expect her to, but not all. And if she mis-understands, she normally does what she thinks you are asking for. Which can get annoying. The only other devices I have integrated into the system are my Ring doorbells. So I have no input on how she controls lights, thermostat, etc. As for the Rings, that has been a disappointment. The thing I do most often with my Rings is to 'silence' motion alerts for periods of time when there are people outside in my yard doing activities. So my hope was that instead of going into the Ring app and silencing all three of the devices, one at a time, that Alexa could do all of them at once for me. That is not the case, unfortunately. In summation, I am glad I got this... since I got it on some crazy deal for $10. At the normal price, I would not buy one. Doesn't do enough for me to make it worth the cost, beyond it being a novelty. Although I do use the bluetooth speaker functionality to play music a lot, so it has pretty-much replaced my living-room bluetooth speaker. It's just easier to say "play music" than it is to have to get up, walk over, and turn on my battery operated speaker. Although I do prefer to control the volume of that speaker though the app on my phone, which is easier than constantly saying "Alexa, turn it up/down."

I hesitated and thought very long and hard about having these smart devices in my home for fear of privacy issues. I generally keep up with technology and really wanted an Alexa. HAHA. I received this echo dot from my daughter as a Christmas gift. I have been very pleased with it. The setup was very easy to do and there are so many fun and useful features to be used everyday. I love being able to be hands free and just call out a command. For instance, I can say "Alexa, play classic rock." And I can say, "Alexa, reduce volume by 5%" etc... all while having my hands in clay or in gloves working on a project across the room. Theres no need to go over to a radio and find a channel I want. There are fun options s too. Try asking Alexa to play cat meows or meow like a cat. That's a funny one. You can connect to other Echo dots in other rooms too for a surround sound experience. If you have other Bluetooth speakers that you want to connect to thats an option too and its easy to set up. I wondered if the sound on this echo was going to be good quality before I bought it. I can tell you in my opinion the sound quality is close to a Bose. Echo has a crisp clear quality to it and if you connect other ones from other rooms it gives you an even better surround sound experience. i have only one Echo at the moment but I would say by itself it has a bit of surround sound too. There are alot of accessories to go with this too, which I'll be buying..I can't wait to buy the plugs and bulbs to make my home a smart home. There are holsters for the wall and many other accessories. I am planning on buying one for my bathroom and kitchen to replace my current Bluetooth speakers that are in there simply because of the sound quality and the ability to turn the volume down hands free.

The set up was easy, and this was my first echo, which is now 4 years old. It has been amazingly durable, easy to set up, and re set up after power goes out or when I moved…. It’s also compatible with my newer echos. I am surprised by how much I have integrated it into my daily life…. Playing music, setting alarms, getting reminders. It’s very useful.

After connecting the Echo Dot to my network and using decided to get a second one which I linked to the first one as stereo speakers. No kidding it is actually stereo each speaker is designated to a separate channel which can be switched between left and right. The sound is not bad and depending on placement the “split stereo” is apparent for playing music but not for TV since my TV does not support multiple speakers for stereo only mono when connected through Bluetooth. There is not a balance feature to adjust sound level on left or right but I am fine with that was not expecting great sound for under $40. As far smart functions with Alexa works as advertised and set up very easy. Can turn on TV, adjust sound, change channels as well as turn on lights with smart plugs. Need every smart device is capability with Alexa but quite a few are you need to research if important. I am a Apple user but would say Alexa as good or better than Siri. I am also a Prime member so I play music on Amazon Music but the speaker will support Apple Music if you have a subscription. Sorry Google your Nest speaker could not do that kept going to You Tube music so I returned. Also there is a built in Guard feature which can be turned on to listen for glass breaking and send a notification alert to your phone. I tested with an app (yes there is an app for that) it worked but determined the sound must be within about 10 feet. You also have home and away settings which you can tell Alexa to perform certain functions turn on lights, activate guard etc so it can act as a basic security device somewhat. I sound like a Amazon Echo Dot commercial but there was a lot of technology and features for the price. Still learning Alexa. Overall Impressed with the “speakers”.

Update: OK so now I posted my first ranking review and love of this thong and no joke, now the day after I posted this gleaming review, the coolest feature that I loved and made this thing a treasure to me, no longer works!!! It's as if someone read my post and said, that's too cool and it shouldn't do that! Remove it right away! And now it's gone. I say it's just about garbage again! I'm so disappointed!!!...... First let me start by saying I'm not the most tech advanced person so I get extremely excited by the smallest accomplishments I make with technology. I've had the earlier gen Alexa forever. I got it free with some of my Ring cameras I bought at Best Buy. I plugged it in, setup was a breeze, but I found no real use for it other than asking for the time, weather, or set a timer kind of thing. I recently realized it worked with my Fire TV. After that, I started playing with it and realized I could connect it to my Ring cameras. Then, I realized I could just say "Alexa, show me my garage (or whatever camera I want to see)" and my TV turns on and displays whatever camera I asked to see. Since then, I purchased some Amazon smart plugs, smart bulbs, and Eufy cameras and connected them to Alexa. Now, I turn my lights, cameras, window AC unit, and other appliances off and on with Alexa. To boot, I also discovered I could connect my wifi/ Bluetooth printer and Bose speaker to the Alexa and control them as well. Now, I absolutely love this Alexa and purchased the newer models for everyone in my house and they absolutely love them as much as I do! This is my new go-to gift for everyone in my family.