After success of their previous models, Amazon has finally updated their Echo Dot line with the 5th generation devices. While nothing has changed on the outside, maintaining the spherical body, the inside has received a major overhaul.
Design
The Amazon Echo Dot (5th generation) looks like its predecessor, which is a good thing in my opinion. The design is simple and yet bold enough to still look great as it did when it first launched a few years ago. The fabric-covered Echo Dot is very pleasing to the eye and can fit right in, in any room without any issues.
The new version is available in Charcoal, Glacier White and Deep Sea Blue.
On the top of the orb shaped device, sit the volume controls, an Action button to activate Alexa, and the button to mute the microphone, which when activated, the ring around the base of the device will turn red, as opposed to blue when Alexa is listening.
On the other hand, at the flat bottom, the 3.5mm output audio jack is gone from this model.
Sound quality & features
An improvement to the sound quality to the 5th generation Echo Dot can be immediately felt with the 2x bass increase over the the previous generation. The redesigned audio architecture features a custom full-range driver and the highest excursion speaker of any Echo Dot, delivering clear vocals and deeper bass—all within the same compact, spherical form factor.
If you own the 4th Gen Echo Dot, and place the 5th Gen next to it, you’ll immediately notice the difference is the quality, and feel that overall, there’s a big improvement in the output with deeper vibes, better balance, and smooth audio. I’ll give Amazon major points on this, the speaker delivers a surprisingly great audio experience considering the size and price point.
Setting up the new Echo Dot is a breeze, all you need to do is plug it in, open the Alexa app and select “Add a Device” under “More” then select “Amazon Echo” followed by “Echo, Echo Dot, and more.” From there, follow the instructions to finish setting up your device.
New features for the new version include:
- Ambient temperature sensor whichenables more contextual Alexa experiences, like the ability to ask Alexa to automatically turn on your smart fan when it gets too warm inside.
- Accelerometer enables new tap gesture controls. Simply tap the top of the device to pause and resume music, snooze alarms and end timerswithout asking Alexa.
There are also new gesture controls added to the new Echo Dot, like a quick tap on top to silence / snooze the speaker, If an alarm goes off. The same tap gestures can be used as well to control music (Play/Pause).
Things we tried & enjoyed
Use your voice to play a song or genre through Anghami. You can also pause music without speaking by firmly tapping on the top of your device and tapping again to resume. With multi-room music, you can fill your whole home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms or create an Alexa home theater set-up.
Useful commands:
- “Alexa, resume my audiobook”
- “Alexa, stop playing music in 20 minutes”
- “Alexa, play top hits”
- “Alexa, play rock music upstairs.
- “Alexa, play music everywhere”
Set timers, ask questions, add items to lists, and create calendar events and reminders. Check the weather, and play the news. Access tens of thousands of Alexa skills Sleep Sounds.
Useful commands:
- “Alexa, add milk to the shopping list”
- “Alexa, what is the temperature outside?”
- “Alexa, what MLB games are on?”
- “Alexa, enable the Start my Day Routine”
- “Alexa, tell me the news?”
Prayer Time Reminder are now easier than ever with the integrated spiritual experience to remind you on prayer timings with just a voice command and personalize this feature to best meet your needs and requirements. With this new feature, you can set up routines with Alexa to ensure this feature is recurrent indefinitely, choose to have your reminders setup as an “adhan” calling, and personalize it further to fit your own needs and preferences.
Useful commands:
- o “Alexa, enable prayer times”
- o “Alexa, remind me of prayer times”
- o “Alexa, enable prayer calls”
You can also have the flexibility to stop them whenever you want by simply saying “Alexa, cancel prayer calls”.
Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by the built-in indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically turn on compatible lights when you walk into a room, or start a fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
Useful commands:
- o “Alexa, turn on the light”
- o “Alexa, turn off the lights in an hour”
- o “Alexa, turn on the fan when the room is 71 degrees”
- o “Alexa, turn on the TV”
Of course let’s not forget that there is a ton of other features and integrations that we go used to though the Alex app on your smartphone.
Verdict
Easily recommended as one of the best sounding smart speakers around, price and quality wise.
