Amazon’s original Echo Spot has been sitting on the back corner of the desk in my home office for seven years, since its release in 2017. My initial plan was to put it on my nightstand, but my wife nixed that idea, so ever since, the Echo Spot has been a steady presence in my peripheral vision whenever I’m working at home.
It can be hard sometimes to keep track of which Echo device is which, so to jog your memory, this is the one that was described as “a Magic 8 Ball sliced in half” in one of the first reviews back in 2017.
As an Echo Spot user all these years, I find it pretty handy to have around.
I use the device to ask Alexa to turn the lights on and off in my office. The small circular screen shows the forecast, and alerts me to package deliveries. The Echo Spot also syncs with my nearby Echo Wall Clock via Bluetooth. When someone is at the front door, I can see and talk with the person on the Echo Spot via my Ring doorbell.
That said, some of its core features don’t do much for me.
Yes, it does play music and video, but given the small size of the screen and the relatively meager speakers, I rarely use it for that. Every once in a while, a headline or alert on the screen captures my attention. It’s a nice way to feel connected, in an ambient sort of way. I wouldn’t say that it’s a vital part of my information flow.
But overall, I’m happy to have it as a fixture in my life.
So when Amazon this week released a new version of Echo Spot, at a heavy initial discount ($45 for Prime members, vs. the list price of $80) I decide to try out this new generation of my main Echo device.
Amazingly, this is the first new version of the Echo Spot since its release seven years ago.
And it’s a very different device. At 4.5 inches in diameter, the face of the new Echo Spot is slightly larger than the 3.75-inch diameter of the screen on the original.
Gone is the 2.5-inch-diameter circular screen, replaced by a small rectangular display (2.25 inches by 1.75 inches) that blends into the upper half-oval of the new Echo Spot’s face.
The lower portion of the new device is a front-facing speaker, with a fabric surface, that sounds far better than the relatively tinny audio of its predecessor. Music on the new Echo Spot is much richer, with noticeably more bass.
The color of the graphics can be changed to match or complement the room.
The main function of new Echo Spot’s screen is to serve as a clock face, with optional graphics showing the weather, in addition to the temperature, day, month, and date.
The device integrated seamlessly into my existing setup, connecting to my wireless network using the settings saved in my Amazon account, linking to my Echo Wall Clock via Bluetooth, and letting me use Alexa to control the lights in my office based on my existing setup. Like other Echo devices, it gives a yellow notification when packages arrive.
Also notable is what’s missing. Gone are the rotating headlines and alerts on the screen. The face of the new Echo Spot is basically static, except for when the time or weather changes.
For my purposes, I do miss the forecast that shows the temperature for the next few hours.
Perhaps most noticeably, unlike its predecessor, there is no built-in camera, which might make some people more comfortable putting it next to their beds. Based on my experience, I doubt that anyone used the camera on the original that much. The screen was just too small to make video calls feasible.
Although the new Echo Spot doesn’t support video calling or video feeds from connected smart home cameras or doorbells, it does offer audio features — letting users ask Alexa to make calls or household announcements, use the audio “Drop In” feature to connect with other Alexa-enabled devices, or communicate via audio with a smart doorbell.
I do miss the option for an analog clock face, which is my preference on the original.
In short, it seems perfect for its intended use as a bedside clock, taking away the functions that didn’t make sense for the nightstand, increasing the prominence of the clock itself, and generally simplifying the experience.
Amazon has had its share of fits and starts in its ambitions to rule the nightstand, axing the Halo Rise bedside contraption last year as part of its broader pullback from its health devices business.
In terms of the mix of Amazon products, the new Echo Spot makes a lot of sense. The original was a tweener, trying to do too much without the screen size to do it well. For people like me who want something on their desktop, one of the more recent Echo Show devices with a larger screen would make a lot more sense these days.
Looking back at my Amazon orders, after paying $45 for this new device, I was also reminded of another big difference. The original was $130 — nearly three times as much as the discounted price of the new one.
For my desktop, I’m planning to keep the original Echo Spot for now. At some point in the future, I might upgrade to an Echo Show. In the meantime, the new Echo Spot might just find a home on my nightstand, after all.
https://ift.tt/b50tga4 July 13, 2024 at 01:00PM GeekWire
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