Amazon revealed the new Echo Spot as it mades a major refresh across its portfolio of Echo devices. Not only is there a new Echo and the enhanced Echo Plus, but the addition of the Echo Spot sees a diversification that takes Alexa into another room of the house, with a new set of features.
While the Echo has found its natural place around the kitchen - bettered by the Echo Show that adds a useful display to the arrangement meaning you can do a whole lot more without whipping your phone out of your pocket - the prominence of those devices makes them a little overbearing for the bedroom.
Say hello to the Echo Spot.
Amazon Echo Spot preview: Design
- 2.5-inch circular display
- About the size of a softball
- Designed to sit on your bedside table
The ball-shaped device is about the size of a softball and designed to sit on your bedside table or even in the kitchen or elsewhere. It features a colour touchscreen 2.5-inches in diameter, a camera for video calling and speaker in the base.
There's Bluetooth and an audio line out for those wanting to hook-up to other sound systems, just as there are in the new Echos too. Like other Echo devices, the Spot has Alexa built-in and can be seen as a merging of the company's Echo Show and Echo Dot for this all-new smaller form factor.
With a flattened bottom, which is where the speaker openings sit, the Echo Spot is very much like the 2009 Chumby. That device was ahead of its time, offering to pull in a load of information to keep you always informed. Like the Chumby, the Echo Spot wins on the cute factor, avoiding the harshness of the larger Echo devices, but giving you convenience of both Alexa and the visual display.
From a design point of view we can certainly see the appeal: it can replace your dumb bedside clock, give you a whole range of connected features and avoid the need to immediately grab your phone when you wake up. It also provides that essential loop into your Alexaverse, so is fully capable of all the Alexa commands and controls you expect.
It's also a device that makes the functionality of the Dot a bit more interesting. Echo Dot is great, but that's solely about voice control, like a remote portal. The Echo Spot is going to give you a little more to get excited about, because it can show you information without having to be asked.
Amazon Echo Spot preview: Functions and features
- 12 clock faces
- Alexa Calling
- Similar features to the Echo Show
Like the Echo Show, you'll be able to use Echo Dot as an intelligent alarm clock and it will come with 12 different clock faces including a rather snazzy vinyl record one. These can be easily changed via touch and there's no worry about having it shining in your face all night, as then will dim and you can set a do not disturb schedule too.
It's not just about telling the time though. You'll be able to watch video clips, check the weather, sports results, dial into a security camera elsewhere in your house, such as your Ring doorbell or Arlo system, or control smart devices around your house. This is where Alexa really comes into its own, as you'll be able to talk to your Spot to turn on or off the lights, switch on your smart kettle or other tasks.
If you've used any Echo - or Alexa in any form - you won't be surprised to hear that the Echo Spot does everything that the other devices do. It supports all the same commands, so once you get it home, all you have to do is open up your Alexa app, add a new device and off you go.
When it comes to setting alarms or timers, these are specific to the device you set them on, so if you ask your Echo Spot to wake you up at 6am, it won't then trigger alarms across your whole house.
Thanks to the included camera on the front of the Spot, you'll also be able to make video calls to other Spots or Shows, use it as an intercom to talk to other Echo devices in the home, or place calls to other Alexa app or Echo users. This is where the Echo Spot is raising some eyebrows - do you really want a device like that sitting on your bedside table, with the potential to have video calls when you're in bed? Maybe you do, maybe you don't - it really depends what you get up to in your bedroom.
You can disable the camera, as well as being able to mute the Spot as you can with other Echos so it stops listening, via a button on the top.
You can use the Spot to watch videos as we mentioned and this includes those from Amazon Video. If you're a Prime subscriber, you'll be able to catch up on the latest shows wherever you are, accepting that it's going to be pretty small. The video offers three crop levels, so you can watch it as a round video if you want, or zoom out to see the bigger picture.
Of course, the sound coming from the Echo Spot isn't going to blow you away. It's comparable to the Echo Dot so this isn't really going to be the first port of call if you want to listen to music, but if you want to wake up listening to the radio then it's perfectly suited to that job.
You can set your alarms to wake you up to a particular artist or genre, or on a particular radio station.
$129.99
First Impressions
When it comes to design, the Echo Spot is probably the most appealing of the Echo range. It's softer form makes it nicer to look at than the Echo Show, but it's important to recognise the difference between these two devices. While the Show sits nicely in a big family space, the Echo Spot feels more intimate.
Like the Echo Dot, the Spot if a perfect extension to your Echo ecosystem. It's an ideal bedside clock, as long as you take precautions to ensure you don't appear on video or call your friends in the middle of the night - but perhaps that's the appeal.
Echo Spot launched in the US in 2017 and is now available in the UK to pre-order. Priced at £119.99, it sounds like quite a jump for a device that essentially adds a display to an Echo Dot (£49.99), but we can't help feeling that the Spot has bags of bedside appeal.
First published on 28 September 2017.