Review: Echo Spot

As a visual learner, I find myself forgetting what Alexa says on a frequent basis.

The biggest problem for me is the weather. She starts listing off numbers, and without a visual representation, I barely process all the numbers she's told me (from the highs and lows of the day to the weather advisory I didn't ask for). This is what I like about smart displays. They display the weather information onscreen in addition to sharing it over the speakers. As soon as I see the numbers, no problem! I remember it all.

But smart displays can be distracting and often have cameras. Plus, Alexa's primary lineup of displays shows ads in the slideshow. If you're looking for something in between a smart display and a plain smart speaker, Amazon has added it with the brand-new 2024 Echo Spot.

I like the Echo Spot a lot: It takes my most-used smart display features (weather visuals! a clock!) and leaves everything else behind (no ads!). If the sound were a little better, I'd call it the perfect smart speaker. But this is still a great smart speaker if you want an informational assistant and some visuals without the clutter of a full-on smart display.

Returning Player

Photograph: Ebay; Amazon

This isn't the first time Amazon has had an Echo Spot in its lineup of Amazon Echo speakers. The first generation came out in 2017 and had a somewhat similar design: a rounded body and small screen, with only certain information displayed on said screen. It was discontinued in 2019 and is no longer officially on sale, though it's possible to find the original models on eBay.

Amazon cut some big features in this generation. Most notably, the 2024 Echo Spot doesn't have a camera, so you can't use it for video calling like you can with the old model or any Echo Show device. I think both the Echo Spot and the 5-inch Echo Show 5 ($90) smart displays are too tiny for comfortable video calling anyway, and if you're using it as a bedside alarm clock, you won't want a camera in your bedroom.

The Show 5 is only $10 more than the Echo Spot, but I'd recommend going for the Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) ($150) if you want video features with your smart display. The latest Echo Spot also doesn't have a 3.5-mm audio jack, though it can connect to another speaker via Bluetooth.

The screen also isn't rounded anymore, nor is it a half-circle like it appears; it's a rectangular screen that uses a bezel to look like a half-circle. It reminds me of the Echo Pop (7/10, WIRED Recommends) that came out last spring. It's a fine-enough size for seeing the time or the song you're playing, but you don't get some of the fun rounded clock faces the older Echo Spot had.

Photograph: Nena Farrell

Still, you can customize this little clock screen to a certain degree. There are six clock faces to choose from, as well as six colors. I'd love for there to be more designs in the future, or a way to upload your own clock face, but I'm just a girl with a dream. You can set up alarms with a voice request, and either set a default alarm tone (there are five options on the device itself and many more inside the app) or ask for a specific music request. I asked for lo-fi music, and Alexa pulled Spotify's lo-fi beats playlist for me and woke me up to Ron Quixote's “Hey.”

I hope that eventually you'll be able to buy the Spot in some of the same fun colors as the Echo Pop. Right now, it's available in Amazon's usual black and white, plus a shade of blue, but the Echo Pop's purple and teal are easily the best colors you can buy an Alexa-equipped smart speaker in in.

Goldilocks Approved

Photograph: Nena Farrell

Amazon is touting the Echo Spot as a smart alarm clock, but it has my favorite smart display features with none of the clutter. No distracting slideshow or need to customize the 40-plus onscreen options that Echo Shows have. And best of all, no ads.

Amazon added onscreen ads to the Echo Show slideshows and even the weather report on my Echo Show 8, and they're almost impossible to turn off. The Echo Spot, so far, is ad-free. There's a chance Amazon could add these in the future, but I'm crossing my fingers this screen is too small to make it worth it. I would've said the same about the tiny real estate available on the Show 8's weather page, though, so I know it's not a guarantee.

The Echo Spot can also display your calendar when you ask, scrolling through your four upcoming events in a little list while talking you through it. Again, it's a nice visual companion to the voice assistant, without a large cluttered screen. It is a small screen, so you can't read it from super far away, but I found it handy to read while at my desk or listen to while I got dressed.

Photograph: Nena Farrell

Photograph: Nena Farrell

The only thing missing is smart home control. Unlike regular smart displays or the newer Hub (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the Echo Spot doesn't have a smart home control area on the menu, and I can access rooms or devices only via voice request. It does pull up a little power button onscreen when you ask to control a specific room or device, like “turn on my kitchen,” which you can then tap on and off. But there's no way to access devices or rooms without first using your voice.

While I like seeing the widgets and having smart home control on my larger smart displays, I don't love how distracting a smart display can be in my office or my living room. The scrolling screen is constantly catching my eye when I'd rather not look at it, and often isn't showing me something I need to see right then. The Echo Spot's balance of screen info without rolling clutter makes it a great addition almost anywhere in the house.

Sound Off

Photograph: Nena Farrell

The only thing that the Echo Spot lacks is, unfortunately, good sound.

It sounds fine if you're casually listening to something in the background, and it gets loud enough to fill a bedroom or office. Compared to the significantly cheaper Echo Dot (5th Gen), though, there's some clarity missing. Whether it was Charli XCX's brat or Tracy Chapman's “Fast Car,” I noticed a slightly murky quality to any music it played. The latest Echo Dot has a more vibrant sound, even though both claim to just have one 1.73-inch front-firing speaker. Still, it was fine for background music while I worked or got ready for the day.

Speaking of the Echo Dot, the clock version ($60) is usually my recommendation for a bedroom clock. But I actually found I liked the Spot a little more as my bedside companion. The Spot's screen dimmed nicely in the nighttime like a smart display or an iPhone in Standby Mode, which I preferred in order to keep my room nice and dark at night. (The Dot's LEDs retain the same brightness for night and day.) You can also see your next alarm time underneath the current time, so it was easy to glance over and confirm that my alarm was set for the next morning, or to see how long the snooze would run for. Both devices are camera-free, which is a necessity for any smart device in my bedroom. It's good timing, too, since the fifth-gen Echo Dot with Clock is mostly out of stock on Amazon's website, and Amazon says they don't plan to restock this generation. (We'll see if there's a future generation to come.)

If you want great sound in a small form, or sound that fills the room, this isn't the smart speaker I'd pick. But almost anything else? The Echo Spot does a nice job of nailing my most-used smart display features. It'll be my go-to whenever I want an informational assistant.