The 5th generation of the Echo Dot with clock has more sensors and an improved LED display. The smart home speaker with Alexa also improves the sound and offers more bass again. At the same price as its predecessor, it is a successful new edition.
Table of contents
- What's new in the Echo Dot with clock< ol>
- New audio driver for Echo Dot
- Now with temperature sensor for smart homes
- Accelerometer for music control
- AZ2 SoC for more local processing
- Improved, brighter LED display
- AC WLAN and Bluetooth
- Four buttons and a light ring
With the 5th generation of the Echo Dot and Echo Dot with clock, which are identical except for the LED display, Amazon has once again improved the sound of the small Echo speaker and introduced functions that were previously available on the larger Echo of the 4th generation (test ) were reserved. The new models should not only offer twice as much bass, but now also have a temperature and acceleration sensor that can be used for control. The Echo Dot with clock used in this test also has an improved, finer resolution LED display.
The new Echo Dot is available in deep sea blue, anthracite and white for EUR 59.99*, while the new model with a clock is available in grey-blue and white for EUR 69.99*. The price has thus remained unchanged compared to the fourth generation, which was launched two years ago. In addition to the Echo Dot with clock, buyers receive a 15-watt power adapter and a quick start guide.
What's new in the Echo Dot with clock
New audio driver for Echo Dot
With the 5th generation, Amazon is sticking to the spherical design of the small Alexa speaker with a diameter of 100 mm and a height of 89 mm, but has made changes on the inside. The sound should be better again thanks to a redesigned audio architecture. Instead of the 4th Gen Echo Dot's 41mm audio driver, the new 5th Gen Echo Dot uses a slightly larger 44mm full-range driver. It should offer more bass, but also be able to reproduce voices more clearly. Like its predecessor, this speaker emits forward at an angle, so the Echo Dot's orientation is important to the sound. The connector for the barrel connector of the power supply is on the back.
Echo Dot (5th gen.) with clock: AC adapter with barrel connector
Echo Dot (5th gen) with watch
Echo Dot (5th gen) . Gen.) with clockNow with a temperature sensor for the smart home
Up to now, only the larger Echo had a temperature sensor that could be used to control smart home devices via the room temperature. The new Echo Dot and the new Echo Dot with clock now also feature it, so they too can be used to trigger routines in the smart home by accessing the value of the temperature sensor.
Accelerometer for music control
What is also new in the small loudspeakers is an acceleration sensor, which is used to implement the tap control. This allows users to tap the outside of the device to pause or play music, turn off the alarm, or end a call. If the music is paused, this is also signaled on the LED display by a pause symbol. It doesn't matter where you tap against the 5th Gen Echo Dot to pause or resume the music. It also doesn't matter whether you just type lightly or knock harder on the speaker. If desired, the function can be deactivated in the Alexa app in the settings of the Echo Dot. If a song is played, the title and artist are now scrolled across the display once. So far, only the snooze function of the alarm clock could be activated using a technically differently implemented tap control on a current Echo, Echo Dot or Echo Dot with clock (test).
Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: tap control to pause and resume music< /figure>
AZ2 SoC for more local processing
Echo Dot and Echo Dot with clock are powered by the AZ2 Neural Edge processor, which is also used in the smart display Echo Show 15 (test), for example. This allows more interactions to be handled directly on the device – enabling faster responses to some of the most common requests to Alexa and immediate responses to tap gestures. However, the 5th generation Echo Dot cannot be used without an internet connection.
Improved, brighter LED display
The new Echo Dot with Clock has an improved LED display, which consists of 5 x 21 or 105 small fields, allowing for better display of symbols and text. In addition to the song title and artist, a cloud is displayed for the weather and symbols for maximum and minimum values for the temperature. This may be helpful in a noisy environment, but in everyday life the voice responses are faster and more useful. The LED display is also visibly brighter than its predecessor, but the brightness can again be adjusted in ten levels and also automatically adapts to the ambient light if desired. So it doesn't dazzle at night and is pleasantly dark or can be switched off completely. This is also possible again by voice command. In addition to the time, the display also uses small dots to indicate whether an alarm clock or timer has been set.
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Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock
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Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: Improved LED display scrolls weather forecast
Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: Improved LED display scrolls weather forecast
Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: Song title scrolls on LED display
Echo Dot (5th gen.) with clock: The song title scrolls on the LED display
Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: The song title scrolls on the LED display
Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: Improved LED display shows the weather forecast as scrolling textAC-WLAN and Bluetooth
Echo Dot and Echo Dot with clock also support WiFi 5 in the 5th generation (dual-band WiFi according to 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with 2.4 and 5 GHz). In addition, Bluetooth is again integrated into both speakers, so that music playback is not only possible via streaming services via WLAN, but songs can also be transferred from a smartphone or tablet to an Echo Dot via Bluetooth at any time. To make the Echo's Bluetooth discoverable and connect, just say the voice command “Alexa, turn on Bluetooth.” Services such as Apple's AirPlay or AirPlay 2 or Google's Chromecast are not supported by Amazon.
Four buttons and one light ring
The Echo Dot with clock weighs 349 g and offers the four buttons on the top that are now familiar from the Alexa speakers. In addition to the action button to call up Alexa, these are a volume up and down button and a button to deactivate the microphone. The light ring is still circular in the lower area, so that it shines on the surface on which the Echo Dot is standing. The ring of light can shine in different colors, which already give the user an indication of whether there is a notification, a call is in progress or there is a problem. The familiar blue signals that Alexa is listening and processing voice input. Orange indicates setup mode, yellow indicates a notification, red indicates microphone is off, purple indicates do not disturb mode, and green indicates an incoming or ongoing call.
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Echo Dot (5th Gen) with Clock: Improved LED Display
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Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: Improved LED display shows the outside temperatureStart-up via the Alexa app
As before, commissioning via the Alexa app takes just a few minutes if you already have an Amazon account and the app is already set up. The Echo Dot is automatically recognized when it has power and the app is opened. Wi-Fi networks already known to Amazon are automatically connected and the Echo Dot now also automatically switches between them when its location changes without having to set it up again.
The Echo Dot (with clock) can also be set up as a stereo pair or integrated into a multi-room setup to play music on multiple Echo speakers simultaneously and in sync. In all of these respects, however, nothing has changed compared to its predecessor, which is why it will only be briefly touched upon here.
The new Echo Dot sounds better again
The statement that the 5th generation Echo Dot sounds better than its predecessor can also be confirmed in the test. However, the improvements not only relate to a more voluminous bass, but overall it sounds a bit finer. In addition, it is immediately noticeable that the new Echo Dot plays much louder than the 4th generation Echo Dot. A medium volume on the 4th generation Echo Dot, i.e. 5 out of 10, corresponds roughly to a volume of 3 out of 10 on the 5th generation representative.
Compared to a HomePod mini from Apple, the test subject sounds more neutral, with the 5th generation Echo Dot the bass and treble are more emphasized in comparison. Overall, the HomePod mini is still slightly ahead, but the gap is getting smaller.
Nevertheless, the new model does not change the fact that the bass no longer acts as a powerful, deep bass at maximum volume and the treble also suffers greatly. At a volume of 10 out of 10, you don't want to listen to music even with the Echo Dot. The Echo Dot and the Echo Dot with clock remain speakers in the 5th generation, which can be placed in the kitchen, bathroom or on the bedside table to listen to music or podcasts at normal volume. If you want to listen to music regularly and well, you can use larger speakers like the Echo Studio.
Comparison of power consumption
With a maximum output of 15 watts, the power supply provides a rough framework for the power consumption of the new Echo Dot with clock. In addition to its predecessor, the 4th generation Echo Dot with clock, a comparison is also made with the 4th generation Echo Dot and the Nest Mini.
At 0.2 watts in standby with the display activated, the new Echo Dot with clock has a slightly higher power consumption than its predecessor. In addition to the new screen, more and more powerful hardware is installed with the temperature sensor and the acceleration sensor as well as the AZ2.
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Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock
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Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: LED display scrolls through song title
Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock: Improved LED display shows the outside temperatureDuring music playback, the new audio driver makes itself felt, because at maximum volume the power consumption for bass now increases to up to 4.6 watts. A minimum of around 1.2 to 1.3 watts is consumed.
It is again annoying that the Echo Dot with the clock, deactivated microphones and a permanently red LED has an even higher power consumption in standby, which is then 0.4 watts.
Conclusion
The Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock offers meaningful improvements. In addition to an improved display that is brighter and shows more, it now also has a temperature sensor and can improve the sound – both in terms of quality and volume. However, the user does not notice anything about the faster AZ2 SoC, at least in Germany. The “extended tap control”, as Amazon calls the control of playback by tapping the device, gives the app the impression that even more can be offered here in the future, with the user being able to individually select the function that is triggered in this way becomes. The item for switching on and off refers to “the function selected below”, where only the playback control is located so far. Even apart from the new functions, the Echo speakers with ultrasonic motion detection, which can be used for smart home routines to switch on the light, for example, offer the general possibility of smart home control based on noise, drop-in between the devices as well as calls and broad support for music streaming services.
But the more functions a device has, the more complicated it becomes to use. With the Echo Dot, you also have to make sure that you don't ask how warm it is if you actually want to address the temperature sensor in the device and don't want to hear the current outside temperature according to the weather report. It is also incomprehensible that the weather forecast is shown on the display, but not the room temperature currently measured by the sensor in the device.
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Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock
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Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock
Echo Dot (5th Gen) with Clock: Improved LED display scrolls weather forecast
Echo Dot (5th Gen) with Clock: Improved LED display scrolls weather forecast
Echo Dot (5th gen.) with clock: Improved LED display shows the outside temperature as scrolling textEven with smart home requests to your own Amazon devices such as the Smart Air Quality Monitor (test), Alexa only responds to the Echo Dot with clock with a voice output, but does not show the measured air quality values on the display. The possibilities of the display are therefore only used in a few approaches and are by no means exhausted. Whether it is useful or not is an open question, but if you already partially use the possibilities offered, then you should also keep a closer eye on your own ecosystem and create a closer connection.
Since Amazon has stuck to the price of the two-year-old predecessor, there is no reason to buy the predecessor and not go directly to the Echo Dot (5th generation) with a clock. However, there is no reason to replace the predecessor with the new model. However, if you want to set up another small Echo speaker in the bathroom, kitchen, hallway or bedroom, the Echo Dot (5th Gen.) for 59.99 euros* and the Echo Dot with clock (5th Gen.) for 69 .99 euros* very well advised.
ComputerBase received the Echo Dot (5th Gen.) with clock on loan from Amazon for testing. The manufacturer did not influence the test report and there was no obligation to publish it. There was no NDA.
(*) Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links. In the case of an order via such a link, ComputerBase participates in the sales revenue without increasing the price for the customer.
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