Amazon Echo 4th Gen

Amazon Echo (4th Gen)

Amazon’s original smart speaker is back with a brand-new look and a bit more power. The fourth-generation Echo finds Amazon ditching the speaker’s cylindrical origins for a more whimsical spherical design. More importantly, it’s phasing out the $150 Echo Plus by putting all of its audio power and additional features, like a built-in smart home hub, into the new Echo. So for just $99.99, the fourth-generation Echo offers better audio performance than ever, the ability to control Zigbee devices, and, of course, Alexa voice assistance. That’s more than you’ll get from any other smart speaker at this price, easily earning the Echo our Editors’ Choice award.

Design and Features of the

Amazon Echo (4th Gen)

The fourth-generation Echo is a near-sphere, measuring 5.2 inches tall and 5.7 inches wide, available in black, blue, or white. Amazon notes that the fabric and aluminum it uses in its Echo speakers are 100-percent recycled materials. It’s a fun new design, and looks similar to Apple’s forthcoming HomePod mini.

The light ring has been moved from the top of the speaker to the base, providing a less direct glow that’s still recognizable by lighting up blue when you speak your chosen wake word for Alexa. The top panel holds buttons for Alexa, volume up, volume down, and mic mute. The back is home to the connector for the power adapter and a 3.5mm audio output.

Amazon Echo (4th Gen) specifications

Unlike the previous-generation Echo speakers that all had a cylindrical design, the Amazon Echo (4th Gen) comes in a spherical shape that gives it an orb-like look. The speaker comes with a 3-inch neodymium woofer and includes two 0.8-inch tweeters. It also features a bright LED light ring at the base of the sphere. For enabling a smarter experience, the new Echo is powered by Amazon’s proprietary AZ1 Neural Edge processor that is built specifically for accelerating machine learning applications. The speaker also includes Dolby Audio processing and is designed to sense the acoustics of your space and fine tunes audio playback accordingly. This is inspired by the Amazon Echo Studio.

Amazon Echo (4th Gen)