Amazon’s latest Echo speakers sound great, and are geared for the future

When you realise that smart speakers are cool, and smart home integrations are great they really have some weight in a modern home. But the reality is these things are used for listening more than anything else, the latest podcast, radio and your music playlists streamed all with your own voice command.

I’ve had Amazon Echo devices sprinkled throughout our home for some time so it made sense when Amazon sent the new models to review, that we swap them out and see – and hear – what’s new.

In reality, this is a generational shift, not obviously a feature rich upgrade, more an incremental one with some features yet to even be realised.

I connected two, the Echo Studio replacing the similarly sized Echo, and the new Echo Dot Max, replacing a previous generation dot.

Amazon Echo Studio – all about the sound.

At $429 the price tag here is nothing short of eye watering. That’s only $50 short of the price of Apple’s big HomePod – and to be frank, I think the HomePod smashes it for sound profile, particularly bass.

That said, the design and build is now up at that benchmark. A new mesh cover has a super premium feel that really starts to justify that price tag.

If you’re not all-in on the Apple ecosystem, this really does stack up as a great option. Especially when you then consider just how much more powerful Alexa is as a voice assistant than Siri.

I played some John Farnham side by side with the old Echo and the difference was utterly noticeable. While I do think the bass is lacking a little, I think the sound profile overall is richer, fuller, thicker.

Switching back to the Echo felt thin, and for music those things matter.

The concave front panel is a nice touch, with the Alexa notification ring lighting up around it, a nice design touch.

An outstanding Amazon Echo speaker, if you can justify the price to yourself.

What matters most here, is the support or capability to support Alexa+ – the AI voice assistant that we should get in Australia in 2026.

Amazon’s Echo Dot Max – perfectly simple.

Again, incremental, but powerful. That same Alexa+ support is waiting for the AI power to drop. But the Dot Max’s real power is it’s size. Perfect for the bedside of desk setup, it has the same concave control panel on the front, and for it’s size – a great sound.

Noticeably better – yes. Remarkably better? Not to my ear.

At a much more meaningful $199 price tag, the sound does matter when you realise there are still Amazon Echo Spot, Dot and Pop devices for well under $100. Those have the worst sound of all the Echo family, so paying double does get you better sound – far better sound. And, that better style mesh outer coating.

I still think those cheaper devices are the perfect smart speaker gateway drug. Amazon Echo Dot Max buyers will most likely be those – like me – upgrading devices in your home because you know how much you use them.

Overall thoughts

Great sound, Great devices, if you know what you want from them. Probably not the best first devices, but outstanding upgrades for any Alexa home.