Nice-looking ; Easy set-up ; Versatile with ever-growing Skills selection ; Good voice recognition that gets better over time ; Voice control over smart home

Poor sound compared to speakers in price range ; Must remain connected to the mains ; Limited choice of music streaming services

Beefed-up sound Hands-free voice commands Personalized voice profiles Alexa!

Not much is new Basically the Echo Plus No Zigbee

The Amazon Echo (2019) doesn’t feel particular new, given both its form and function is modeled on the existing Echo Plus – but it's still an excellent smart speaker that offers better sound quality than the second-generation Echo.

Balanced and relatively detailed ; Sonic step up on its predecessor ; Full Amazon Alexa compatibility

Soundstage can get busy ; Mediocre timing and organisation ; Dynamically lacking

The new Echo has loads of features and sounds quite good, but the Echo Plus had given us hopes of even more

Great music and list making ; You can shop through it ; Best. Kitchen timer. Ever.

Very middling as a speaker ; Lots of clonky apps ; Echo Dot is better value

Intelligent voice recognition ; Large ecosystem and growing ; Well built

Caters to Prime ; Lackluster sound quality ; Multi-user support lacking

As purely a Bluetooth speaker, the Echo leaves a lot to be desired. Paired with a natural, engrossing AI, however, Amazon's grand experiment in artificial intelligence is one of the most interesting gadgets of recent years.

Value for money ; Build and design upgrades ; Sound quality ; Flexibility of connection ; Alexa voice control's versatility

App is a little slow ; No Zigbee controller (but that doesn't really matter) ; Puts Echo Plus into question

If music is the most important thing for you, then it's hard to ignore the boosted performance of the new Echo. Previous Echos had limitations, but to have a great low price and pleasing sound quality means that the new Echo sweeps those criticisms aside.

Big, bold and much-improved sound ; Effortless(ish) voice control ; Can form part of a stereo set-up

Can get edgy at big volumes ; Bass sounds rather distant from the rest of the music

Can you live without Zigbee? Of course you can

The new Amazon Echo boasts improved sound quality for a reasonable price.

The midrange sound falters, and the Echo doesn't bring much else new to the countertop than its upgraded speakers.

$100 seems like an appropriate price for the new Amazon Echo, but it falls between two obvious categories -- not feeling truly wallet-friendly or technically top-grade.