Amazon Echo Dot (5th generation) review

About the Echo Dot (5th-gen)

• Color: Deep Sea Blue, Charcoal, Glacier White
• Speakers: 1.73” (44m) front-firing speaker
• SIze: 3.9 inches x 3.9 inches x 3.5 inches
• Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Connectivity: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth
• Warranty: 90-day limited warranty and service

What we like

The speaker offers improved audio quality over previous generations

The Echo Dot is outfitted with some intriguing new audio components. Amazon says the full-range driver powering the Echo Dot makes it the “highest excursion speaker of any Echo Dot,” promising improved clarity and up to twice as much bass as the Dot that came before it.

That kind of proclamation is a tall order for any speaker, much less one that weighs in at just under 11 ounces. The reality is that thanks to its diminutive footprint, there’s a ceiling to how dynamic Amazon’s Echo Dot smart speaker (5th generation or otherwise) can sound.

However, audio quality did get a noticeable bump this time around and is more adept at handling tracks with deeper bass notes. Selections from Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino held more weight than they did when sampled on older generations of the Dot, exemplifying that Amazon wasn’t bluffing when it touted strengthened sound quality.

It’s still not a smart speaker capable of holding a candle to options like the Sonos Roam or even the larger Echo (full-sized), though those alternatives will cost two or threefold what a single Dot will ring up at. That said, it’s clear that the Echo is making strides to bolster its sound quality, and the latest edition would make a fine addition to your kitchen for some cooking tunes and controlling your smart home.

It doubles as a Wi-Fi extender for Eero networks

After four iterations of the Echo Dot, Amazon got creative with the latest model when it comes to offering up fresh features. After all, at the end of the day, there’s only so much this little orb can do.

The result? The new Echo Dot can now operate as a mesh Wi-Fi extender for existing Eero networks. (The speaker does not act as an extender for other Wi-Fi networks.)

From there, it requires linking both the Eero router and the Dot in their respective apps. Amazon says the latest generation Echo Dot can add up to 1,000 square feet of coverage to your network. It can also handle speeds up to 100 Mbps which, while not exactly blazing fast, still meets the threshold to stream 4K or HD content on your Fire TV.

It features new tap controls that are easy to use

Elsewhere, the Echo Dot’s new accelerometer allows for a new set of tap gesture controls. You can tap the top of the speaker to enable actions like pausing or playing music, snoozing alarms and ending timers, or even ending calls made through the Dot.

Of course, half the point of the Echo Dot is making hands-free voice commands. But it’s still an added level of convenience to be able to carry out simple commands and tasks without having to say the magic word.

It works as a temperature sensor

The new Dot also has an ambient temperature sensor that is meant to make it easier for the Alexa app to be able to identify a temperature and automatically trigger a correlating response with other smart home devices.

For instance, you could set a threshold of 70 degrees in your home. Whenever the thermostat dips below that, the Echo Dot could recognize that and respond by turning on a smart switch connected to your space heater.

Once the temperature moves back over the threshold, Alexa would turn the switch off. It may not be a feature that every Dot owner uses often, but it does add a neat layer of automation into the mix.

It’s noticeably faster than previous versions

Thanks to a new AZ2 Neural Edge Processor, this new Echo Dot is fast. When following the prompts to ask certain questions during the initial setup, the Dot was verbally tripping over itself to spit the answer out as quickly as possible. Things smoothed out considerably after that, leaving me impressed with how timely it could provide a response to specific questions and prompts.

For instance, I asked three different Echo devices around my home (a first-generation Echo Show, a third-generation Dot, and the fifth-gen Dot) to tell me who was hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend (note, I said “SNL” to the Echo devices). All responded accurately, but the fifth-generation got to the punch far faster than its predecessors.

What we don’t like

The temperature sensor isn’t totally accurate

The ambient temperature sensor is one of the new Echo Dot’s highly touted new features, and the concept itself is an intriguing one. My only issue is that when I tested it, the temperature it consistently registered seemed off the mark. And not just by a degree or two, which would be more understandable.

The Echo Dot routinely clocked in at nine to 10°F colder than both my thermostat temperature and an extra Govee thermostat I had on hand.

This isn’t a monumental issue by any means. But it does mean that if I were to set the Dot to, say, turn a smart plug-connected fan on when it got too warm in my house, it would likely wait several degrees longer than I intended before kicking on some much-needed air flow.

Privacy

Privacy in the age of network-connected devices is quite the oxymoron. To its credit, though, Echo devices do have numerous security settings and features that may give owners a bit more piece of mind.

For instance, you can control when the Dot’s microphone is on and listening for its voice controlled wake word.

You can also view and delete your Alexa voice recordings stored by the device as needed.

Should you buy the Amazon Echo Dot (5th-gen)?

Yes, it’s the best Echo Dot yet

Devices don’t always change tremendously from generation to generation. And to be fair, Amazon didn’t reinvent the wheel by any means with this new Echo Dot. What it did, however, was find multiple ways to improve what was already a solid smart speaker for Alexa users.

Sound quality, while still not up to audiophile standards of bigger, more-audio focused speakers, like the Sonos Roam, has still improved noticeably for a tiny speaker. The features that it has added, namely its ability to double as a mesh Wi-Fi extender and expanded gesture controls, are worthwhile, useful additions to the Dot’s repertoire. And it’s a significantly faster device when it comes to responses and gestures than previous versions.

It’s not a perfect smart speaker. The inconsistencies with its ambient temperature sensor showcase as much. Overall, though, the Echo Dot (5th-gen) adds more than enough to maintain its position as one of the most valuable ways there is to get into the smart home space.