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Which Amazon Echo or Alexa Speaker Is Best for You?

If you’re looking for an Amazon Echo or Alexa speaker, it’s important to choose the one that best fits your needs.

Do you want a speaker that’s small and unobtrusive or one that packs a powerful punch? Do you need a speaker with built-in smart home control or one that’s more focused on music playback?

There are a few different Amazon Echo and Alexa speakers to choose from, so take some time to consider your needs before making a purchase.

Outline of this Article

• Amazon Echo (4th Generation)
• Amazon Echo Dot With Clock (4th Gen)
• Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen)
• Amazon Echo Buds (2021)
• Amazon Echo Studio
• Amazon Echo Sub
• Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition (4th Gen)

Amazon’s ever-growing family of Alexa-enabled devices gives you many ways to bring Alexa into your home. These devices can answer your questions, help you order essentials, set timers, play audio content, and even serve as the control center for your smart home. Here are our favorite Echo- and Alexa-compatible speakers to fit any home and budget.

If you’re looking for a great deal on an Amazon smart speaker, your best bet is to wait for a major sale event like Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day. The company typically offers steep discounts on their devices during these times.

Not sure which smart device is right for you? Grand Gadget Store has some great recommendations in our roundups: Best Smart Speakers, Best Bluetooth Speakers, and Best Amazon Speakers. We also have guides on setting up your Echo speaker, creating Alexa routines, and Alexa skills that are actually fun and useful to help you get started.

Updated September 2022: We’ve updated links and prices. 

Editor’s Note: Amazon has an event on September 28th where we’re expecting new products to be announced. We’ll update this guide once we’ve tested any new items.

Amazon Echo Dot (4th Generation)

Echo Dot (4th generation) | Smart speaker with Alexa (Arabic or English) | Charcoal

The 4th generation Amazon Echo is the best overall smart speaker on the market today. It offers the great sound quality, a wide range of features, and easy set-up and operation. If you’re looking for a smart speaker that does it all, the Echo is the one to get.

The fourth-generation Echo from Amazon (8/10, Grand Gadget Store Recommends) is a notable change from the cylindrical speaker shape of its predecessors. The new speaker ball design is not only more aesthetically pleasing but also allows for better sound quality due to the rounded edges. The new Echo also comes with Amazon’s AZI Neural Edge processor, which helps Alexa recognize speech better than ever.

This is the best smart speaker you can get for around $100. Amazon has improved its digital signal processing and sound quality with each new Echo, and the rounded edges on this model help improve fidelity.

This smart speaker is versatile and can be used in any room in the house. Use it in the kitchen for recipes and timers, in the bedroom for news and weather, or in the bathroom for shower sing-alongs. It’s compact, sounds decent, and is well-suited to everything you’d want a smart speaker to do. If music quality is your top priority, check out the Echo Studio and Sonos One, which are our favorite Alexa speakers for listening to music.

Amazon Echo Dot With Clock (4th Gen)

The Echo Dot with Clock is one of the best alarm clocks on the market and I’ve been using it for years. The digital clock is easy to read in the dark, and you can set it to play your favorite music to wake you up in the morning. The Dot with Clock also tells you the weather forecast as you’re getting dressed for the day. In the kitchen, the display shows you how much time is left on a timer, which is really helpful when you’re cooking.

The latest fourth-generation Dot comes in two models, one with a clock and one without. They look very similar, both being round like the standard Echo (our top pick). This means that the Dot projects sound even farther than before. However, you’ll likely need a bigger speaker if you want to enjoy anything other than background music while you’re getting dressed or cooking.

Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen)

The Echo Show 8 has been our favorite smart display for Alexa for two generations in a row for good reason. We like this size more than the 5- and 10-inch versions; the smaller of which felt like a weird smartphone, and the larger felt like a weird tablet that spins around everywhere. This one is like Goldilocks’ perfect porridge; it’s just big enough that weather updates, video chats, and recipes show up clearly, but compact enough that it doesn’t take up too much valuable countertop space. The 2021 model is nearly identical to the old one but has a much better camera and the ability to use it as a security camera when you’re away from home.

Amazon Echo Buds (2021)

We liked the old Echo Buds, but we’re even bigger fans of the 2021 update (8/10, WIRED Recommends). Amazon’s new earbuds come with wireless charging, noise-canceling tech, and a surprisingly ergonomic fit. Better microphones mean that Alexa voice controls work even in loud environments. The overall experience of using the headphones feels like a future we’ve seen in sci-fi movies. Need to set a timer, check the weather, or see what happened with your favorite sports team? Just ask these earbuds. Best of all, these usually cost $120, but the price has recently dipped to as low as $50, making them an even better value proposition.

Amazon Echo Studio

The Amazon Echo Studio is for those who want the best sound possible from an Alexa device. With 350 watts of power and a downward-firing subwoofer, it produces more low-end than most other speakers its size. Plus, it has an upward-firing midrange speaker in addition to two side-facing ones, which makes the Echo Studio capable of playing 3D audio codecs like Dolby Atmos. In fact, the speaker automatically “upmixes” your music from standard stereo to better fill your space.

You can buy two and pair them to create a soundbar-like Dolby Atmos experience, though I’d probably stick with a standard Atmos soundbar.

Amazon Echo Sub

If you have some small Echo speakers around the house but their bass output isn’t quite enough, consider adding an Echo Sub. This wireless subwoofer can easily integrate with any Amazon-made speaker, and it can make a big difference in the quality of the bass lines. Just be aware that it might also annoy your downstairs neighbors!

Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition (4th Gen)

This edition of the Echo Dot is equipped with parental controls that are simple to use. With these filters, you can set time limits, filter explicit content, and review your child’s activity. The sphere is tiger-colored and comes with a year of Amazon Kids+. This subscription includes thousands of Audible books, special games, and features. After the year is up, you will be charged $3 per month. Alexa can help your kids spell words, play music, or—via another speaker in your home—remind them it’s dinner time.