Amazon Echo Spot (2nd-gen) review

Product name: Introduction

• Connectivity: 2.4 & 5GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Amazon Sidewalk
• Ecosystems: Matter, Alexa

Amazon surprised us all in July 2024 by bringing back a forgotten Echo into the equation: the Echo Spot.

If that name sounds familiar that’s because it is – the original Amazon Echo Spot was launched way back 2017, hot on the heels of the original Echo Show, but was discontinued a couple of years later.

Like the OG Spot, the 2nd-edition, 2024 Echo Spot model is like an Echo Dot / Echo Show hybrid, mixing up the feature set from both to create a product described by Amazon as “sleek new customizable smart alarm clock.”

Therefore it’s got your bedside table in mind but I actually think it works well as a kitchen companion too.

Price-wise, it falls between the likes of the non-display Pop and Dot, and the display-driven Show 5.

At its full price, it’s actually pretty expensive and you may well be better off getting an Echo Show 5 as its much more feature rich.

However, Amazon is always cutting the price of its Echo speakers and the Spot will be no exception to that… in fact, its price was slashed at launch to coincide with Prime Day.

And, at that roughly 60% full price cost, it’s a much more attractive prospect so, if you like to the sound of the 2nd-gen Spot after reading our full review, you may be better to wait until Black Friday or the next Prime Day to take the plunge.

Design and setup

• 2.83-inch display
• Physical buttons up top
• No camera

The 2024 Echo Spot has an angled front and a domed rear with a small, 2.83-inch touchscreen (240 x 320) display at the top. 

The flat face is split into two parts: a speaker grill down the bottom and the star of the show – a semi-circle display – up top. Well, sort of… the display is actually a rectangle within a dark semi-circle, to give the illusion it’s all screen real estate.

In fact, you can actually see a lot of the Echo Pop in its design, with that straight line angled face with the sphere form factor out back, although its 113 mm x 103 mm x 111 mm measurements make it a bit closer to the Dot in terms of size.

Up top you’ll find physical buttons offering volume up, volume down and a mute button and around the back there’s the power socket; there’s no 3.5mm jack, in case you were wondering.

There’s also no camera on board, as there was with the original Spot, so that means no video calling or using the Spot as a part-time security camera as you can with the Show range. But it also means extra privacy for those concerned that Big Tech are spying on them.

When it comes to color options, the Echo Spot comes in Black, Glacier White, or Ocean Blue.

Adding the Echo Spot to your Alexa app and your home Wi-Fi is the usual Echo way although you’ll see the orange Alexa pairing mode light as a graphic on the display rather than an actual light. There’s no light ring on the Spot.

In everyday use

• Amazon Alexa on board for voice commands
• Great display widgets
• No video playback

Alexa is obviously on board for all your voice commands, making it super simple to set alarms, ask for weather reports, play music, check the latest news bulletin or initiate your Alexa Routines.

Alexa boasts a whole host of voice driven capabilities, which I won’t get into in any great detail here.

If you’re looking for specific information as to what Alexa offers you check out some of our key Alexa guides:

Featuring a trio of microphones to pick up voice commands, I found the Spot to be very responsive in terms of hearing me say “Alexa” and the responses were also pretty nippy too.

Powering the show is the same MT8512, AZ1 Neural Edge processor, that is also in the latest Echo Dot and the Echo Pop.

That chip is a few years now, it’s been surpassed by the various AZ2 chips found in the likes of the Show 5 and Show 8, but I have all the latest and greatest – and much more expensive – Echo devices scattered around my home and I can’t say Alexa on the new Spot seemed any less rapid to take action following a voice command.

What is nice with the Spot is that when you ask something, the weather for example, you get a nice little visual on the screen too, to back up the information that Alexa is saying to you.

I really like how you can use touch controls for your smart home devices alongside voice commands too, using these visuals.

For example, I can use a voice command to turn on my smart lighs and then tweak the brightness using the on-screen graphic.

The Spot’s display boasts gradual lighting and a night mode too, so it isn’t too bright overnight when you’re trying to sleep.

I personally prefer the old-skool LED digital clock vibe of the Echo Dot with Clock as a bedside companion, but that’s just a personal preference. I would have no issues sleeping in a room with the Spot set to night mode.

Obviously a key feature of the Spot is smart alarm clock functionality. This sort of stuff is already available across the Echo range – check out our guide to using your Amazon Echo as the perfect alarm clock – but it’s really ramped up with the Spot with the display taking things to the next level.

You can just simply say, “Alexa, set an alarm for 7am” and Alexa then confirm with you, and you’ll see an extra confirmation on the screen.

You can also ask to woken up by a particular song, album, playlist or radio station too, and it works with Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio.

The news can also be used for alarms; just ask “Alexa, wake me up to [news service] at [time].”

When your alarm sounds, just say, “Alexa, stop / turn off” – or whatever you can muster. But don’t forget, “Alexa, snooze,” for that all-important 10 extra minutes.

There’s also the option to use a tap gesture to snooze the alarm too, simply tap the top of the Spot when the alarm starts to get some bonus Zzzzzzs.

There are six clock faces on offer, and you’ll be able to further customize by choosing between 12/24 hour clock and by changing the color schemes. Orange, violet, magenta, lime, teal and blue are all on offer.

You can customize all of this directly on the Spot itself or by using the Alexa app.

As I’ve mentioned, there’s no front facing camera, so no video call option; but you will still be able to communicate with other Echo speakers in your house using Drop-Ins and Announcements and you can also make calls with the Echo Spot.

Another thing you don’t get is any video action at all. No playing Prime Video, no YouTube, no photos, no camera feeds and no visuals when a smart doorbell is triggered… not even a Ring Doorbell.

The original Spot was essentially a very small Show and was capable of an array of video skills but there’s none of that on the Spot.

For Prime video watching that makes sense but it’s a shame there’s no security or video doorbell action. Even a snapshot when a doorbell announcement is made would be good.

However, that also means that there’s no annoying Alexa suggestions or Amazon adverts either, which is a plus point.

Hardware and audio quality

The Echo Spot has a full range 1.73-inch front-firing directional speaker, which is the same size driver as what is offered on the Echo Dot and Echo Dot with Clock. 

It’s pretty adept across the audio spectrum at louder volumes and its bass fills the room on a par with the Dot. It’s nowhere near as full-sounding as the full sized Echo or the likes of the Apple HomePod Mini but those two costs a considerable chunk more.

This audio performance won’t impress anyone who is serious about their audio but it’ll do the job on a bedside table, kitchen counter or office desk for some casual listening.

When listening to music the display kicks in with some nice visuals. You actually get two different screens for music playback; one with album artwork and track info and one, after you tap, for controls like track skipping.

The older Echo Dot actually trumps the newer Spot, slightly, on the connectivity front as it is able to extend your home Wi-Fi using Eero built-in.

Aside from that extra option on the Dot though, they are much of a muchness for connectivity.

Both operate over dual band, 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi, both can act as Matter controllers (Wi-Fi only) and both can tap into Amazon’s Sidewalk network. There’s no Thread, unfortunately.

However, while the Spot does boast a motion sensor, which is useful for routines and automations, there’s no temperature sensor included.

Final thoughts

The Echo Spot is a perfectly capable smart speaker with a nice little display that makes it a great option for anyone looking for an Alexa powered smart alarm clock.

However, it’s not much cheaper than the Echo Show 5, which offers a whole lot more so I’d recommend only taking the Spot plunge if you’re looking for a smart alarm clock specifically and only buying when Amazon has cut the price… which the retail giant is likely to do often.

How we test

When we publish our reviews, you can rest assured that they are the result of “living with” long term tests.

Smart speaker usually live within, or even control, a smart home ecosystem, or a range of products that – supposedly – all work in harmony. Therefore, it’s impossible to use a connected speaker for a week and deliver a verdict.

Because we’re testing smart home kit all day, everyday, we know what matters and how a particular smart speaker compares to alternatives that you might also be considering.

Our reviews are comprehensive, objective and fair and, of course, we are never paid directly to review a device.

Read our review process for smart speakers to learn more.