The fourth generation of the revitalized Echo Dot has arrived, and it comes with a round design that separates it from its younger, dominant predecessors. But while boasting of a completely new look, the latest Echo Dot is the same speaker as the third-gen.
It comes with Alexa on board, stellar power at home smart, great communication features. In some countries, the Alexa Guard feature is available, which will help keep your home more secure.
However, this service is not yet available, we will let you know in the future if this changes soon.
And while we are satisfied with the sound of the new Dot, we have not noticed any improvements made compared to the sound of the previous Dot. Of course, the fourth-generation Echo Dot is technically the best Dot, but only to a limited extent.
Design
Found in Anthracite, Gray Blue and White, the fourth generation Echo Dot makes a huge difference in design.
Instead of the hockey puck design of the last three Echo Dots, the new Dot has a long round shell, much like the new Echo and Dot’s brother, the updated Echo Dot and watch.
Although it has the same 3.9-inch width as the previous Echo, the fourth-generation model, the 3.5-inch Echo Dot is about two inches, making it much larger than before and almost the size of a ball. . In fact, the new Dot seems to be designed for display rather than hidden.
The updated Dot shares the exterior of the old model’s fabric, with Dot’s new fabric covering about two-thirds of the speaker, leaving a blank line behind.
In addition to its new chassis, the fourth-generation Echo Dot moves Alexa light rings from the top of the speaker to its base, throwing a beautiful glow on the surface sitting on it.
Buttons and contacts
Like the previous Echo Dots, the new Dot is equipped with volume up / down, microphone mute, and action buttons visible from the top of the speaker, even though the buttons have been collected more than before. Dots.
When you touch the volume buttons, a white ring appears up or down depending on whether the volume is adjusted up or down.
Pressing the mute button on the microphone causes the Alexa ring to turn red, indicating that Alexa is not listening to your conversation. Pressing the “action” button wakes up Alexa, or you can mute the alarm or reset the speaker by holding it down for 25 seconds.
But since you can wake Alexa up with your voice or ask her to turn off the alarm, most Dot users (myself) have never bothered with the action button.
Speaking of sleep alarms, the new Dot comes with a new “touch to sleep” feature, which actually appeared for the first time in the first generation Echo Dot and clock.
The function does exactly what it says: just tap the top of the speaker with more than one finger (you don’t have to press a button) to sound the alarm for nine minutes, which is very helpful to close your eyes unnecessarily to get up and talk to Alexa.
After the fourth gen Dot, you’ll find a 3.5mm jack jack for connecting a cordless speaker, a missing feature on the smart equivalent equivalent Google Nest Mini speaker.
There is also a power port made of barrel to connect Dot’s five-foot power cord, which (like the old Dot) disconnects the 15-watt power supply.
Setting
My Echo Dot review unit came pre-configured with my Amazon account (an option you can request when ordering a speaker from Amazon.com), which made the setup process much easier.
After connecting Dot, I opened the Alexa app and was immediately greeted with the slogan, “Echo Dot can be fixed.”
I hit ‘Continue’, chose my Wi-Fi network (I didn’t need to enter my password, as I had already done more than I did with the previous Eco installation), and a few seconds later, the boom – Dot was connected and ready to go.
If you are new to Echo and Alexa speakers in general, the installation process is very complicated. After opening Dot, installing the Alexa app and signing in with your Amazon account, simply tap on ‘More> Add Device> Amazon Echo’.
Once the Alexa app has got a speaker, it will guide you through the process of installing it on your Wi-Fi network and help you install the Dot in the room (such as bedroom, kitchen, office, etc.) and verify the address of the place to use it (giving you local weather and directions driving).
Alexa voice commands and smart home controls
The main feature of the Echo Dot is Alexa, and those who are already familiar with Echo speakers know what to expect. Talking, accurate and always friendly, Alexa can answer an alarming number of questions and requests, from weather reports to any curiosity or historical data (e.g.
It can also schedule time and alarms to mark your agenda and tell jokes. In my Echo Dot test, Alexa answered my questions almost instantly, though the same cannot be said of Dot above.
In addition to answering questions and providing weather reports, Alexa is at the forefront of controlling smart home devices. In the latest calculations, more than 100,000 smart devices are compatible with Alexa, and you can come up with many “modes” that affect your smart lights, security cameras, smart locks, and more.
For example, I have a system that turns down the lights on, turns on the TV, and then turns on the A / V receiver when I say “Alexa, popcorn,” or “Alexa, good night” to turn off the light in my room and put in a playlist that touches sleep.
Of course, asking Alexa to turn on the lights will not help you at all if there is no Echo speaker nearby, but that is the beauty of the Echo price. For only 60 euros (and we can expect great Black Friday discounts), placing a dot in each room of your house can be an option.
Not to mention the Alexa Guard feature, another good Dot function, but keep in mind that it is not available. This feature will send an alert to your phone if Alexa hears a smoke alarm or broken glass while you are away.
If you want to know about the work of Alexa Guard Plus, we recommend that you visit this link and click on the ‘Send me an email when launch’ option.
Communication
If you have a lot of Echo speakers in your house, you can ask Alexa on your Dot to “transfer” another Echo speaker, which means you can listen in the room (Alexa on the other hand notifies anyone nearby that a “pass” call is in progress) and talk to anyone who is nearby.
To make an announcement on all Echo speakers at once, simply tap Announce in the Alexa app and say or type a message (“Dinner time!”).
In addition to making calls on other Echo speakers in your home, Alexa can also make house calls, and any calls to numbers in the US, Canada, or Mexico are free.
However, the latter is not yet available. We will be updated to notify you as soon as this change.
Music and sound
From generation to generation, Amazon’s Echo Dot has gradually improved its audio quality, while the new Dot continues to move forward, albeit at a slower pace.
While the fourth-generation Echo Dot driver is a 1.6-inch mono driver that is the same size as the previous model, the new Dot cylinder flies forward rather than up.
Amazon did not provide details on the Echo Dot speaker amplifier, although given that the next gen-gen and its predecessor came with 15-watt power, no doubt the new speaker has great potential for amplification.
No matter, the latest Echo Dot sounds a lot clearer and fuller than the third gen-Dot, (to my ears) it sounds soft and very full.
Listening to the title track from Bruce Springsteen’s The Ghost of Tom Joad, the new Echo Dot did an amazing job delivering unreleased songs of The Boss and its harmonica, and I couldn’t see any deviations even though I was filling the volume to the fullest.
In short, the fourth-gen Echo Dot sounds better than any of the smart $ 50 speakers I’ve tried, even though it is far short of (for example) the Google Nest Audio’s 100 or Amazon Echo Studio’s 200.
Of course, you can always amplify Echo Dot audio by using it with a second Dot as a stereo pair, and / or pairing it with the Echo Sub. Alternatively you can skip the Dot driver preferring a wired or Bluetooth speaker, or you can choose a preferred speaker, similar to another Echo or a compatible Wi-Fi speaker.
You can connect Alexa with a variety of music services, including Amazon Music, HeartRadio, TuneIn, Deezer, and Tidal, and like other Echo speakers, Echo Dot is listed as a Spotify Connect device. In the list of supporting music services, Apple Music and YouTube Music do not exist (not surprisingly).
The decision
There is no doubt that the new Echo Dot is better than the third gen Dot it replaces, but is it that much better? Hmm. Yes, the fourth-generation Echo Dot has better sound quality than its predecessor.
While the latest Dot has an impressive design, beauty is in the viewer’s eye, and I’m sure most Alexa users would like a much lesser look of the old Dot.
The price is also a factor, with the third generation Echo Dot getting a permanent price reduction. The new $60 Echo Dot is sure to see its discounts as we enter the holiday shopping season, but if you want to furnish your home with more dots, the old $50 model is also the way to go.
In other words, no, there is no need to exchange your old Echo Dot for a new one, and if you want to save some money by choosing a cheaper, third-gen, you won’t miss out on much, unless you choose that one. the fourth-generation construction of the Echo Dot.
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