The Best Amazon Echo Smart Speakers of 2021

There are three versions of the 4th-generation Dot: the Dot, the Dot with Clock, and the Dot Kids Edition.

The Dot with Clock has a numerical display on the front that shows the time or status of timers you've set, while the Kids Edition is covered in fun animal designs and comes with a free year of Amazon Kids+ programming and a 2-year guarantee (because kids aren't easy on tech!).

Dots have always had a sleek aesthetic, but the orb-like design of the 4th generation is as minimal as it gets, matching with the larger 4th-gen Echo The Dot looks like a small mesh ball, and with three color options, it will blend nicely with most décor.

While you can't expect mind-blowing sound from a speaker barely larger than a baseball, the Dot allows for a surprisingly decent listening experience, especially when linked with another Dot as a stereo pair. Playing bass-heavy tunes makes for a somewhat disappointing experience, but acoustic tracks sound pretty respectable.

Larger, more expensive Alexa speakers like the Echo Studio will deliver far superior sound quality, but the Dot is certainly sufficient for smart home control, Alexa interactions, and background tunes at dinner.

Read our full review of the Echo Dot

If you’re looking for the best sound quality in the Echo lineup, the Echo Studio is absolutely the best pick. It's also a great choice for smart homes because, like the 4th-gen Echo, it has a built-in Zigbee hub.

This speaker is considerably larger than other Echo speakers, but the additional size allows for deeper bass, better clarity, and immersive sound. The Studio is also unique in this space as it is designed to deliver 3D sound, thanks to its Dolby Atmos compatibility, including an upward-firing driver that bounces sound off your ceiling to better immerse you.

Usually, we think of surround sound in reference to movies, but there is a burgeoning genre of music that takes advantage of 3D-audio technology like that in the Echo Studio to deliver sound that seems to come from everywhere–even above you, though at the present it's limited to a small list of artists and streaming services, such as Amazon Music Unlimited and Tidal.

Regardless of whether you use this speaker to play 3D music, the sound it delivers will be satisfying, and impressively full for a speaker of its size

We knew there was no way the Echo Flex would win this roundup, but it is such a unique offering that we felt it was worth including.

The Echo Flex is slightly larger than a deck of playing cards, and it plugs directly into an outlet like a nightlight. It takes up zero space on the counter, and you can choose to plug an optional motion sensor or smart nightlight into the speaker. The add-ons snap into the top and can be controlled through the Alexa app.

If you’re short on space but you want Alexa in a room, the Flex is an excellent solution. As you would expect for its size, the sound quality is not great. But it’s perfect for controlling your smart home, checking the weather, listening to the news, etc.

The 3rd-gen Dot may be an older model Echo speaker, but it still gives you access to all the standard Alexa features at a fraction of the price of its larger siblings. However, with the price break, you do have to sacrifice sound quality.

The small speaker delivers noticeably low-quality audio playback, though this generation presents a major improvement in that area over its predecessors. Like the 4th-gen Echo Dot, the 3rd-gen has a 3.5mm input on the back and Bluetooth connectivity, so you can easily connect it to any existing speaker for a boost in audio quality.

Given that the price difference between the two speakers is nominal, the 4th-gen Echo Dot is a better buy (if you can swing the small price increase). The only reason to buy the 3rd-gen Echo Dot is if you prefer the hockey puck-like shape to the 4th-gen Echo Dot’s revamped orb design.