Hands On With Amazon's New Echo Dot, Plus, Input, and More

SEATTLE—Amazon'south new Repeat Dot and Echo Plus are incremental upgrades that bring these models more in-line with the pattern of their larger analogue.

Instead of bare plastic or metal cylinders, the upgraded Echo Dot and Repeat Plus have cloth covers like the Echo, and more than rounded edges on the pinnacle to give them a less stark appearance. The 2 devices likewise characteristic upgraded speaker drivers, and retain all their previous functionality, including 3.5mm audio output for connecting to other speaker systems, and a Zigbee home automation hub in the Echo Plus.

Amazon claims both speakers sound better than their predecessors, but nosotros can't confirm that from limited listening at Amazon's printing event.

Both devices, the Echo Dot and Repeat Plus, keep their previous price tags—$49.99 and $149.99, respectively—and will ship on Oct. 11. The new Echo Show also ships that day; check out our hands on.

Echo Input

The Echo Input is a much more than intriguing Repeat device and the least expensive announced by Amazon on Thursday. It's basically an Echo Dot without a speaker, and relies on a wired or Bluetooth connection with whatever other speaker to provide audio output. Plug the Echo Input into your speaker to give it far-field vocalisation commands with Alexa, without the and so-vestigial presence of the Echo Dot's (presumably) much less powerful speaker.

Since it doesn't need to concur whatever speaker drivers, the Echo Input is perhaps a quarter the height of the Echo Dot. It's a flat black or white plastic disc with curved edges, a 3.5mm sound output, and a micro USB port for power. With no speaker drivers to cover, it lacks the textile speaker grille found on other Echo devices.

The Echo Input will sell $34.99, $15 less than the Repeat Dot, but is not yet available.

Echo Sub

The Repeat Sub is an optional subwoofer for employ with Repeat speakers. Information technology shares the same material-covered, rounded design equally its contemporaries, but stands every bit the largest and heaviest Repeat production because of the mass and volume it requires to function properly as a subwoofer.

It's about twice as tall as the Echo Plus, and three or four times equally wide. It produced a satisfying rumble in Amazon's demo, reaching far past the low frequency range of any other Echo device we've tested. Of course, as a subwoofer that'due south all it's expected to do; it doesn't work on its own and can merely function when wirelessly paired with an Echo speaker or pair of speakers. Nosotros'll accept a better sense of its functioning later on we exam it in PC Labs, but at $129.99, information technology seems like a small investment to add power to your Repeat speakers. It ships on Oct. 11.

Echo Link

The Echo Link and Echo Link Amp are the two audiophile-specific products in Amazon's lineup. They're wireless receivers, the latter with a built-in ii-channel 60-watt amp, designed for connecting to your high-terminate stereo system.

Amazon Echo Sub, Link Amp, Link, and Input

They're a significant departure from the other Repeat devices in terms of design, with plain, black, blocky chassis instead of rounded, textile-covered profiles. They characteristic multiple wired audio connections for hooking up to a receiver or unpowered speakers, including analog, coax, optical, 3.5mm headphone and subwoofer outputs, and analog, optical and coax inputs, along with an Ethernet port for wired network connectivity.

For all of their connections, the Echo Link and Repeat Link Amp don't have microphones; if you want to integrate them into your Alexa-powered multi-room system yous need to employ some other Echo device with a microphone. They're also among the about expensive of the new Echo devices, at $199.99 and $299.99, respectively, merely neither is on auction yet.

Until then, perhaps Amazon could involvement you in an Alexa-powered microwave?