A Closer Look At The Amazon Echo (Fourth Gen)

Mark Preston

When the Amazon Echo first landed back in 2014 a lot of us saw it as a fun, unique novelty item. Since then, smart speakers have become increasingly common in the family home and the technology seems to be accelerating at a lightning-fast pace. We decided to take a look at Amazon’s latest version of the Echo, the 4th Generation model, to see what tricks the company has learned in the last six years and what features you can expect for the latest gen.

Pros and Cons

Pros

We love the new sleek, modern design
Much faster processing than previous generations
Zigbee hub integration covering dozens of smart home devices
Improved bass from the speakers
Alexa is more interactive and natural sounding

Cons

It doesn’t represent a major step up from the Gen 3
Not the best choice for music lovers

Features

This is what you’re all here for, to find out what this piece of kit can do and what’s new, right?

It’s now a Zigbee hub - If you’re not familiar with Zigbee, it’s a widely used alternative to Bluetooth and is used in a host of smart home devices. The Echo Gen 4 uses it to control all of the smart devices in your home, including heating, kitchen appliances, home security, and more. You no longer need to manage your devices using multiple apps, and they can all be voice-controlled through your Echo
It has Amazon’s AZ1 Neural Edge processor - Expect lighting-fast responses and an element of machine learning. With this turned on, Alexa will attempt to ‘learn’ more about your needs, shopping habits, and voice commands to build a personal profile. This should mean the Echo pre-empts some commands to try and make your life easier. If this sounds a little scary, don’t worry, this feature can always be turned off
Much more efficient than the Gen 3 - This device uses 85% less processing power and 20 times less electricity than its previous incarnation. Expect a much faster and more energy-friendly choice
All-neural speech models - Upgrades include improvements to make Alexa sound more natural and mimic a normal conversation more closely. For example, Alexa will wait a few seconds for any follow-up questions and you don’t need to say the word ‘Alexa’ multiple times during an interaction anymore.

Design and Build

We love the stylish new globe design, which fits really well with the decor of a lot of modern homes and apartments. It’s 5.2 inches tall and 5.7 inches wide, a nice compact size that slots easily into any small nooks and crannies around the house. Amazon’s signature glowing blue band has been moved to the bottom of the device, making it less intrusive. If you keep it in your bedroom you shouldn’t notice it at all when you’re trying to get to sleep.

The only downside is that the speakers aren’t a full 360 degrees as you might expect from a globe design like this. You’ll only find two front-facing speakers which you’ll need to bear in mind when placing it. However, this is a minor gripe, and at such a low price we can’t complain it’s not packed with high-end speakers.

How Does It Sound?

Staying on the subject of the speakers, they aren’t that much different from the ones found in the Gen 3 model. There have been some minor improvements to the bass, and the quality is certainly good enough to enjoy music from and entertain guests at house parties, but it lacks that certain pop we were hoping for from a next-gen model.

That being said, the sounds are still warm and vibrant enough for the casual listener. Hardcore music fans might want to upgrade to the more expensive Echo Studio, which is specifically designed for top-notch sound quality. This Gen 4 should be more than enough for the rest of us.

Who Is It For?

This is a perfect first-time buy for anyone that’s been considering a smart speaker but hasn’t made the leap yet. The device is incredibly easy to set up and use, and once you get over the initial strangeness of talking directly to one of your appliances, you’ll find it integrates nicely into your daily life.

We’d recommend the Echo Gen 4 if you already have a lot of smart devices in the home but don’t have a central hub to control them all from yet. Instead of fiddling around with multiple apps on your phone, the Echo will integrate and control all of this tech from one single point. Thankfully, Amazon hasn’t raised the price here, despite adding in more features and improvements when compared to the previous generation.

However, if you already own a Gen 3 model, you might want to stick with it for a little while longer as the number of new features doesn’t quite justify a new purchase yet.

Final Thoughts

This is definitely the best version of the Echo to date, and it’s easy to see why Amazon still retains its number one market position for smart speakers. At such a reasonable price, it’s a great time to pick up a bargain and get in on the future smart home craze.