Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen) review: better looks, better sound, same price

I'm going to cut right to the chase: the new Echo Dot smart speaker is so much better than its predecessor that it would not be totally out of line to replace a whole house of old Echo Dots with new ones. The new Echo Dot looks better, works better, and, most importantly, sounds much better than the prior model. And it still costs the same $ 49.99.

Amazon has upgraded the sound quality of its new devices. It's not so much that it's a lot of a product of the next generation – more improvements are incremental – but the new Echo Dot sounds like a completely different speaker than its predecessor. It's not perfect, but it's easy to buy.

The reason the new Echo Dot is so much better to come down to its new design. It's noticeably larger, which means that it was more powerful, louder, more powerful speaker inside of it. Where the last echo is sounded like a can of tuna filled with angry bees, the new model is surprisingly loud, full, and clear. Whether you're listening to the latest weather report, an audiobook, or cranking a Spotify playlist at full volume, everything sounds better on the new Dot. Not only is it better than the old Dot, but it's markedly better than Google's Home Mini as well. It's richer, fuller, and just more pleasant to listen to.

The new Dot has a 1.6-inch speaker, which is a half-inch larger than the prior model. It's also a lot more powerful: the old Dot used a small 9-watt power adapter and a Micro USB cable; the new one has a beefy 15-watt power brick with a proprietary barrel connector. That's a little annoying since the power of the wallet and you can not use it in your wallet (or in-wall USB port) the nuisance.

The old Dot was excellent for getting in to your home with little effort, but I'd never recommend it for listening to music. (However, based on the fact that Amazon has sold many millions of Dots and music is the number one thing people do with smart speakers, that's exactly what it's most people use it for.) justice to the music you're listening to. It's clear, crisp, never gets muddy, and does not distort, even at full volume.

For a bigger room, you'll want to take advantage of the ability to pair with a second unit to create a true stereo pair. Do this, and you can easily fill a medium to large room with sound. Amazon will even give you a discount if you buy two Echo Dots at the same time. Two Echo Dots in stereo do not have the same amount of punch as Sonos One, but they are not far off. They have true stereo separation and cost significantly less.

You can now adjust the bass, midrange, and treble of the voice with voice commands, but the difference in the sound when you are hard to notice. Bass is what's missing most: though the Echo Dot's new speaker is much larger, it's still relatively small and it can not handle low frequencies that well. To get the bass back, you can add Amazon's new $ 129.99 Echo Sub to the mix, which will restore all the missing thump the Dot lacks. But while I'm totally recommending it, I do not think it's enough. Still, two Echo Dots and an Echo Sub can produce some impressive output for not much more than a single, mono Sonos One sells for.

It's still possible to output the audio to a larger speaker, either over Bluetooth or through a 3.5mm audio cable. But given how much better do you think it is? Amazon's new echo is a better device for it's purpose since it's cheaper and does not even bother with a speaker of its own.

Amazon swapped out the old Dot's seven-microphone array for a simple four-way system to hear your voice commands, but do not notice any difference in performance as a result. The new Dot can hear my voice commands just as easily as the older one, whether I'm close to the device on the other side of the room. When the Dot is playing the music at volume, I do not know how to make voice calls. Dots in stereo, but only one answer to your queries (whichever one is closer to you).

Along with the increase in size and size, Amazon also traded the old Dot's shiny plastic finish for a fabric cover that looks nicer. You can get the new Dot in charcoal, heather gray, or sandstone, which are all basically different levels of gray. It's a little boring, but all the color options are understated and nice looking. You will not find any Google Home Mini-like fun colors here, nor is Amazon selling covers for the new model. But, the most side, the giant Amazon logo on the front has been jettisoned.

Dots in stereo and adjust the equalizer, the new Dot does not necessarily do anything more than the old model. It's still the cheapest and most convenient way for Alexa, which can be used for timers, weather reports, smart home control, audiobooks, music, podcasts, alarms, and countless other things. The new Dot does not add to the experience; it just improves some key aspects of it.

It may seem like I'm going to have a lot of things. The new Dot is not at the same level as a high-end bookshelf speaker, but it is certainly good enough for most people. A single dot is a big gold echo, but it's more than enough to make money more expensive than it is. Dot for multiple rooms.

Have you ever heard of this topic? And when you factor in the Dot's price, which is likely to dip even lower during holiday promotions, it's hard to find fault with Amazon's new entry-level Echo speaker.

Photography by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.