Best Alexa speaker 2022 | Android Central

Amazon first introduced Alexa to us through its original Echo smart speaker in late 2014. To this day, if you’re looking for the best Alexa speaker, you’re probably going to look first at the company’s Echo line of smart speakers. Many great Alexa-enabled speakers are also made by other companies such as Bose, Sonos, and Ultimate Ears that you may wish to consider. This guide will help you make the best purchase decision as you consider the best Alexa speaker for your household.

What is the best Alexa speaker you can buy today?

Amazon produces most Alexa speakers in the Echo line of smart speakers and smart screen devices like the Echo Show. However, there are several impressive third-party options that you may wish to consider (some of which are compatible with more than one smart voice assistant).

Our top pick is the Amazon Echo (4th Gen). The standard-bearer for the Echo line, the fourth generation, has been completely redesigned with even better speakers, a rounded look, and a built-in Zigbee smart hub to become the goldilocks of Echo smart speakers. It also happens to be just the right size to fill most rooms with great sound without standing out too much or looking like just another piece of techno-junk.

Amazon also has a popular line of smart screen Alexa speakers known as the Echo Show devices. Out of these, our favorite is the middle-child Echo Show 8. It has the benefits of a reasonably large screen, loudspeakers, and built-in privacy controls. It is both more affordable and easier to accommodate for smaller spaces than the larger Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen).

As for the best third-party Alexa speaker, our favorite right now is the Sonos One (Gen 2). The size and form factor is close to what you’d get in an Amazon Echo (3rd Gen) with a more traditional speaker look. The sound quality surpasses most Echo speakers, and it can also work with other smart voice assistants.

Without further ado, here is our detailed list of the best Alexa speakers that you can buy.

1. Amazon Echo (4th Gen): Best overall Alexa speaker

Bottom line: The fourth generation of this smart speaker does a great job carrying the banner of its original Echo namesake. This redesigned version offers much better sound quality than the more ubiquitous Echo Dot at a price less than half of the Echo Studio or even the Sonos One. It also has a soft, spherical, inviting design available in multiple colors, including our favorite, Twilight Blue.

The Amazon Echo is the smart speaker that started it all. This is the fourth iteration of Amazon’s classic smart speaker, and according to our Amazon Echo (4th Gen) review, generation four is far and away the best we’ve ever seen.

The biggest change that most people will notice is that Amazon has done away with the traditional cylindrical design and morphed the new generation of Echos into a spherical shape. Pick whatever metaphor you wish — shotput, bowling ball, astronaut helmet, all apply equally here. However, combined with the new placement of the light ring at the bottom of the device, this looks like an objet d’art rather than a typical piece of tech.

Amazon seriously upgraded the sound quality for this model as well, with the Echo delivering 360-degree audio that’s powered by Dolby. It added a second 0.8-inch front-firing tweeter to its already-capable array of a tweeter and a 3-inch woofer, which makes so much of a difference. It now truly competes on a level playing field with speakers twice as expensive, such as the Sonos One (also on our list below). As with previous generations, you can fine-tune the audio with the available EQ settings from the Alexa app. You can also pair two Echo speakers together for stereo sound or connect them to a Fire TV.

Like the Echo Plus and Echo Studio before it, this fourth-generation Echo has a built-in Zigbee hub to help it better communicate with and control various smart home devices. It’s also powered by Amazon’s new AZ1 Neural Edge processor, which promises speech processing that is twice as fast as before, all while using 85% less memory. The Echo (4th Gen) is one of Amazon’s first Climate Pledge Friendly certified products, made with 50% recycled plastics, 100% recycled fabrics, and 100% recycled die-cast aluminum. Plus, 99% of the packaging is recyclable. It will consume less power than ever with a new low power mode, and a new energy dashboard in the Alexa app can help you monitor your device’s energy usage.

We also love the fabric design, responsive microphones for Alexa voice commands, and playback and mute controls on the top of the device. This is a voice-first product, but it’s good to know there are still tactile and visual cues to help you control this Alexa speaker.

2. Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen): Best value Alexa speaker

Bottom line: The Echo Dot (4th Gen) is Amazon’s most popular Alexa speaker due to its affordable price and the fact that it can do just about everything that the larger, more expensive Echo speakers can do. The only downside is that the audio quality, while improved, doesn’t measure up to the larger device. The upside is that you can purchase two Echo Dots for the price of one Echo, or choose an Echo Dot with Clock.

There is a reason that the Echo Dot (4th Gen) is the most popular Alexa speaker, and it’s not just about the price. Sure, if you’re just starting with smart speakers and Alexa devices in general, it makes sense to get something relatively inexpensive. However, customers have fallen in love with the Echo Dot because of its simple use and how useful it is in their lives.

The Echo Dot is insanely affordable, and the 4th generation-model we have right now is better than ever. It sounds louder and more clear than any Echo Dot before it, thanks in part to the new rounded shape and front-firing orientation of the 1.6-inch speaker. The new fabric design comes in three great colors (Charcoal, Glacier White, and Twilight Blue), much better than the plain black or white offered in the hard plastic versions of previous generations. You can go for the regular Dot or upgrade to a version with an LED capable of showing the time, temperature, and timers for just $10 more. Its new shape takes cues from the larger Echo (4th Gen), and it also sports the same climate-friendly benefits as its sibling device.

Ultimately, this little speaker is such a great value for the price because it performs all of the same Alexa commands found on the more expensive speakers. You’ve got the same tactile buttons at the top of the device and the same light ring at the bottom as on the Echo (4th Gen); the only things that you sacrifice here is the built-in Zigbee hub on the larger Echo and the overall sound quality (though you can use stereo to pair two Echo Dots together for the same price as the larger Echo).

A pro tip when shopping for Echo Dots is to keep an eye out for bundles. Whether you’re buying more than one Echo Dot at once or pairing it with something like a smart plug or Fire TV Stick, you can usually find some sort of promo to save you a bit of coin.

3. Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen): Best value smart screen Alexa speaker

Bottom line: Amazon was one of the first companies in the smart screen speaker space with the original Echo Show, but the Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) is far and away the best value version so far. Its screen is large, its speaker is loud, and it features physical mute and camera shutters.

Sitting in between the Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) and Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) is the Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) Alexa speaker with a smart screen. This is Amazon’s middle-of-the-road smart display, and for some buyers, it just may be the perfect one.

The Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) comes equipped with an 8-inch display with a crisp 1280×800 resolution matching the Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) and besting it with a higher PPI resolution. You get two 2-inch speakers that kick out 10W of power per channel (only slightly smaller than the twin 2.2-inch speakers in the larger Show), along with a massive upgrade in the 13MP camera for video chats. That camera is also able to digitally pan and zoom to keep you in the frame better. When you want some added privacy, there’s a physical shutter that goes over the camera — as things should be.

For the price, the Show 8 is pretty great. When you pit the Echo Show 8 vs. the Echo Show 5, you see that it is larger and sounds better than the Show 5, but is considerably more affordable than the flagship Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen). This device won’t hog all of your desktop or kitchen counter space but will be a valuable visual/voice assistant.

4. Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen): Best premium smart screen Alexa speaker

Bottom line: Amazon has once again raised the bar in smart speaker/smart screen innovation with the Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen). It features a silent, moving screen, dynamic speakers, security features, and the best camera ever on a smart screen device.

Amazon’s first Echo Show screened speaker was a large device with a seven-inch screen, and by the second generation, the company had managed to squeeze in a much larger 10.1-inch screen into a similarly-sized device. It introduced the smaller Echo Show 5 and the aforementioned Echo Show 8, while the Echo Show (2nd Gen) didn’t see any updates for over two years. That is, until fall 2020 when Amazon debuted the impressive Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen).

This new, large, and premium Echo Show device is truly the top-of-the-line in the Echo food chain. It has the biggest and best screen, the best camera by a factor of 3x, and what we called arguably…