Echo
Echo Dot
The Echo Dot is, for the most part, a smaller version of the Echo. Standing at a little over an inch tall (1.3 inches to be exact), while being only a little less wide than the Echo (3.3 inches vs. 3.5 inches), the Dot is only equipped with a 0.6 inch speaker, so its sound is a little tinnier than the Echo. However, at $49.99, and with a great built in microphone, the Dot allows you to have Alexa in any room in your home for very little money. Plus, the Dot comes with a port for aux cables, and has Bluetooth for connecting to other speakers, in case the tinny sound bothers you. For about half the cost of the Echo, the Dot offers all the same great Alexa features, with more portability and opportunity to have them throughout your home. It’s certainly a favorable purchase.
Echo Plus
We went down in size with the Dot — now let’s get bigger. The Echo Plus stands at 9.3 inches tall, allowing it to hold the 2.5 inch woofer from the Echo, but the tweeter gets bigger, going to 0.8 inches, allowing for just slightly better sound. Like the Echo and the Dot, the Echo Plus has all of the great Alexa features, with one big difference. The Echo Plus has a built-in hub for smart home devices. This hub allows for simple setup of these devices, when they’re compatible with the Echo Plus, as ZigBee products are. With the Echo Plus, you’ll have voice-controlled lights, sensors, locks, plugs, and switches in no time. You do have to pay for the privilege; the Echo Plus typically sells for $149.99, but a current deal has it going for $99.99, the same as the Echo. If you want a smart home, this is the right time to go for it! But if you’re not interested in those features, the Echo or the Dot might be your best bets.
Echo Show
Echo Spot
Like the idea of the screen, but don’t need it to be so big? The Echo Spot is here for you. A little shorter and stouter than its brethren at 4.1 inches tall, and 3.8 x 3.6 inches long and wide, the Echo Spot is essentially the Dot to the Echo Show. The advantages of having the smaller screen? In addition to all the streaming the Show can do, the Spot can make itself look like a clock, making it the ideal alarm clock for you in the morning, as it can also show you the weather for the day, and your to-do list with just a question from you. Sporting a smaller speaker, it has better sound than the Dot, but doesn’t measure up to the Echo, the Echo Plus, or the Show. Retailing at $129.99, it’s cheaper than the Show, and might be a more convenient size on end tables or night stands. But again, you have to ask yourself how much the visual aspect improves your Alexa experience, since Alexa was designed to be audio only. It might make more sense for you than the Echo Show, but not quite as much sense as the cheaper Echo, or the much cheaper Echo Dot.
