At a look
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Attractive mesh-fabric design
- Volume and mic-mute buttons are far more accessible
- Zigbee and Matter hubs, in addition to Amazon Sidewalk help
- Improved bass response in comparison with the Echo Dot
Cons
- Sound high quality continues to be solely so-so
- No Z-Wave help
- Alexa+ is a piece in progress
Our Verdict
Built for Alexa+ and full of sensible options, the Amazon Echo Dot Max makes for a strong smart-home basis, however that doesn’t imply each Echo Dot proprietor ought to routinely transfer as much as it.
Price When Reviewed
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Price When Reviewed
$99.99
Best Prices Today: Amazon Echo Dot Max
The first wave of “made for Alexa+” units has arrived, and amongst them is Amazon’s flagship Echo speaker—the Echo Dot Max, the successor to the sooner, fourth-generation Amazon Echo speaker.
The Echo Dot Max is each a direct alternative for the greater than six-year-old Echo speaker in addition to an improve over the ever-popular Echo Dot, which continues to be very a lot part of Amazon’s Echo speaker lineup. Amazon has additionally unveiled new Echo Show 8 and 11 smart displays in addition to the music-focused Echo Studio. (We’ll have full evaluations of the eight-inch Echo Show and the Echo Studio quickly.)
I’ve been testing the Echo Dot Max ($99, the identical worth because the older Echo speaker) for roughly two months now—I even have a number of different Echo units scattered round the home, together with the fifth-generation Echo Dot and most up-to-date Echo Show 8—and I’ve additionally been kicking the tires on Alexa+, the AI-enhanced model of Alexa that’s nonetheless in a free early-access mode.
Is the Echo Dot Max an computerized improve from the Echo Dot? Not essentially.
After a pair months with the Echo Dot Max, I’ve blended emotions. The speaker comes full of smart-home performance, together with Zigbee, Matter, and Amazon Sidewalk hubs, though its lack of Z-Wave help retains it from being a common sensible dwelling bridge for hardcore sensible dwelling customers. It’s upgraded audio is definitely higher than that of the $49 Echo Dot, but it surely additionally pales in comparison with some competing sensible audio system on the similar worth level.
And lastly, there’s Alexa+, the AI-enabled revamp of the “classic” Alexa, which arrives with nice promise however loads of tough edges. But whereas the Echo Dot Max was “built for” Alexa+, the AI-upgraded assistant shouldn’t be unique to the speaker—in truth, you should utilize Alexa+ on all of Amazon’s present Echo units, together with the far more reasonably priced Echo Dot.
So, do you have to purchase the Echo Dot Max? Should Echo Dot homeowners pony up for the improve? Here’s the place my head’s at after two months of testing.
Note: Alexa+ can be free whereas in its early preview interval; so for this overview, I’ll be focusing extra on the Echo Dot Max’s {hardware} and options moderately than Alexa+ itself.
Design
Amazon is sticking with the spherical design that it launched in 2020 with the fourth-generation Echo Dot. Come to consider it, all the key sensible audio system are actually formed like softballs, together with the upcoming Google Home Speaker, the Apple HomePod mini, and the Echo Dot Max we’re reviewing right here.
Measuring 4.27 x 4.27 x 3.9 inches (WxDxH) and weighing a bit shy of 18 ounces, the Echo Dot Max is significantly smaller and lighter than the fourth-generation Echo (5.7 x 5.7 x 5.2 inches, 34.2 oz) it’s changing. At the identical time, the Dot Max is simply barely bigger than the present fifth-gen Echo Dot (3.9 x 3.9 x 3.5 inches, 10.7 ounces). The dimension distinction between the Echo Dot Max and Echo Dot is obvious if you place the 2 audio system aspect by aspect, however the Dot Max seems to be decidedly Dot-sized.
The fifth-generation Echo Dot (left) subsequent to its larger sibling, the Echo Dot Max (proper).
Ben Patterson/Foundry
While the fundamental form of the Echo Dot Max hasn’t modified, the small print have developed. Aside from the bigger weave of the material across the Dot Max in comparison with the Dot, the newer speaker (together with its larger sibling, the Echo Studio) strikes the quantity and mic-mute buttons from the highest of the machine to a shallow dish on its face, surrounded by the telltale Alexa ring.
The Dot Max additionally jettisons the Action button, which was primarily used for stopping alarms, timers, and notifications; now, you simply faucet the highest of the speaker to carry out the identical operate, similar as on the fifth-gen Echo Dot (which nonetheless had an Action button).
The Echo Dot Max strikes the quantity and mic-mute buttons from the highest of the machine to a shallow dish on its face, surrounded by the telltale Alexa ring.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Moving the Echo Dot Max’s buttons to a extra seen spot on the speaker was a good suggestion on paper. But whereas the speaker has some heft to it, it’s not heavy sufficient to remain in place if you attempt to press certainly one of its buttons; as a substitute, it can scoot backward with the power of a button-press until you maintain it down together with your different fingers or one other hand.
In the again of the speaker is a barrel-shaped socket for the ability cable, which terminates in a comparatively compact wall wart. As with the fifth-gen Echo Dot, there’s no 3.5mm jack for connecting a wired speaker, that means you’ll need to accept Bluetooth if you wish to pipe the Dot Max’s audio to one other machine.
Setup
Getting Amazon’s numerous Echo audio system up and working has at all times been a breeze, and it’s no completely different for the Echo Dot Max.
First, you plug within the Dot Max; after just a few seconds, the Alexa ring ought to glow yellow, indicating it’s awaiting activation. Then, fireplace up the Alexa app, and the brand new speaker ought to pop up routinely; if not, simply faucet the “+” button within the top-right nook of the display so as to add a brand new machine, then observe the prompts.
Among the setup screens you’ll must traverse are numerous privateness disclosures and terms-of-service agreements. You’ll additionally must designate which room in your house the Dot Max will reside in, as effectively as set default music companies. All advised, the setup course of takes between 5 and 10 minutes.
In the again of the Echo Dot Max is a barrel-shaped socket for the ability cable.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Smart hub connectivity
The Echo Dot Max is taking up from the older, fourth-generation Echo speaker as Amazon’s workhorse sensible speaker, and as with its predecessor, it comes with every part—effectively, virtually every part—you’ll want to attach to your sensible dwelling units.
Aside from Wi-Fi, the Echo Dot Max boasts a Zigbee hub, good for connecting to Zigbee-enabled sensors, gentle bulbs, sensible locks, sensible plugs, remotes, and different low-power sensible units that thrive in mesh-network environments. The Dot Max additionally acts as a bridge machine for Amazon Sidewalk, the so-called “neighborhood” community that leverages different close by Echo and Ring units to attach sensible units that would possibly in any other case be past Wi-Fi vary. Finally, a Thread border router permits the Dot Max to attach Thread-enabled Matter units to the web and to one another.
The lacking hyperlink is—and stays—Z-Wave, a preferred mesh protocol just like Zigbee that gives its personal wealthy ecosystem of units starting from gentle switches and dimmers to sensible locks and storage door openers. Amazon’s earlier flagship Echo audio system are lacking Z-Wave hubs, too. Amazon-owned Ring model does supply some Z-Wave sensors that work with its Ring Alarm and Ring Alarm Pro base stations, however these sensors have lately been supplanted by a new generation based on–you guessed it–Amazon Sidewalk.
While not strictly within the class of sensible hubs, the Echo Dot Max does act as a repeater for Amazon’s line of Eero mesh Wi-Fi routers, boosting their vary by as much as 1,000 sq. toes. It’s price noting that the cheaper Echo Dot will even work as an Eero sign repeater, but it surely lacks the Dot Max’s Zigbee hub and Thread border router options.
Smart sensors
The Echo Dot Max comes loaded with quite a lot of onboard sensible sensors—together with ambient temperature and lightweight sensors—that are primarily aimed at detecting the presence of close by folks. Specifically, Amazon touts its new “Omnisense” expertise, which swimming pools knowledge not simply from the temperature and lightweight sensors but in addition from the Dot Max’s microphone array.
Also out there on the bigger Echo Studio in addition to Amazon’s latest-gen Echo Show shows, Amazon payments Omnisense as a manner to assist Alexa—and significantly Alexa+ — to “intelligently act on various events happening in and around your home,” akin to triggering customized routines for particular folks, or proactively letting you already know that your storage door is unlocked at bedtime.
Alexa+ and sensible dwelling performance
One of the largest attracts of the Echo Dot Max is that it was constructed for Alexa+, the long-awaited AI revamp for Alexa. Specifically, the Echo Dot Max runs on Amazon’s customized AZ3 chip, which powers the speaker’s four-microphone array and is designed to allow extra responsive chat with Alexa+ by filtering out background noise and boosting wake-word sensitivity. You don’t want to stay with “Alexa,” by the best way. You can change it to “Amazon,” “Computer,” “Echo,” or “Ziggy.”
And then there’s Alexa+ itself, a new model of Alexa with generative AI smarts. Still in an early-access section and subsequently free for now (it can finally be included with a Prime subscription, whereas non-Prime customers might want to pay $19.99 a month), Alexa+ guarantees extra pure voice exchanges, agentic performance (that’s, the power to hold out multi-step duties in your behalf), more proficient dealing with of media playback, and smarter smart-home management.
The actuality of Alexa+ is a blended bag. (As Alexa+ continues to be in early entry, I’m not giving it a full overview but.) Sometimes it’s fairly sensible, as when it creates routines primarily based on voice prompts (“Alexa, make a routine that turns the bedroom lights on at 8 a.m.”), or when it appropriately guesses the title of a track primarily based on a imprecise question (“Alexa, what’s the title of that track that was the title observe for the TV present known as The Hills?”). Other occasions, not a lot—and frustratingly, Alexa+’s success and failure for numerous duties modifications over time.
For instance, once I requested Alexa+ to play that tune from The Hills–”Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield—it advised me that it at the moment lacks the performance to play music from such a question on Apple Music, my default music service for Alexa (presumably as a result of Alexa+’s Apple Music API doesn’t have that potential but). When I advised it that the lounge carpet was soiled, hoping it will ship my Roomba out for a fast vacuum job, it as a substitute gave me a treatise about eco-friendly developments in the lounge carpet “industry;” wanting again over the chat logs, I realized Alexa+ had misheard my preliminary remark.
And whereas Alexa+ was capable of shortly create routines primarily based on voice instructions (“Alexa, create a routine that says ‘Welcome to the office’ whenever I enter the room,”), I had a heck of a time getting the routine to set off correctly, and Alexa+ solely provided restricted assist when it comes to debugging the routine.
Amazon has been cautious to level out that Alexa+ continues to be in early entry modem, and that it’s not charging for the AI-enhanced voice assistant. Also, you’ll be able to at all times return to the “classic” Alexa (“Alexa, exit Alexa+”) if you happen to choose it, and the unique Alexa stays fairly succesful at finishing up sensible dwelling instructions, managing purchasing lists, enjoying music, and performing different family duties, albeit with out Alexa+’s loquaciousness. Finally, it’s price noting that Google’s competing Gemini at Home suffers from its personal annoying foibles—and in contrast to Alexa, there’s no reverting again to Google Assistant from Gemini.
Still, in its present kind, Alexa+ elicits as many groans of frustration because it does gasps of pleasure—or no less than, that’s been my expertise over the previous couple of months. As with LLMs like Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Anthropic’s Claude (Amazon is a significant stakeholder in Anthropic), I do anticipate to see enhancements in Alexa+ over time.
The Echo Dot Max with its mic-mute button engaged.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Music playback and audio high quality
Aside from its new AZ3 processor, the Echo Dot Max comes with an all-new acoustic setup, together with a 0.8-inch tweeter and a 2.5-inch high-excursion woofer tuned to ship thrice the bass of the smaller Echo Dot. The speaker may deal with lossless music tracks.
If you want, you’ll be able to create a whole 5.1-channel dwelling theater expertise with as much as 5 Echo Dot Max audio system and an Echo Sub, as long as you pair the audio system with a second-generation Fire TV Strick 4K, the second-gen Fire TV Stick Max, the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, or the Fire TV Cube (3rd-gen).
So, how does the brand new Echo Dot Max really sound? I don’t declare to be an audiophile, however I do have in depth expertise with quite a lot of sensible audio system in addition to Sonos wi-fi audio system, and I discovered the Echo Dot Max’s audio efficiency to be a) higher than the Echo Dot (correctly, given that it’s double the value) and b) nonetheless considerably mediocre. It definitely does pack extra bass than the older Echo Dot, however I nonetheless discovered its general sound a tad small and mushy. At the identical worth level, I a lot choose the clear, detailed, and punchy sound of Google’s Nest Audio speaker, though that machine is for a really completely different ecosystem.
If you’re searching for an Echo speaker that strives for top-shelf audio, think about the $219 Echo Studio (2025 release), which affords a trio of full-range drivers, a woofer, and help for spatial and Dolby Atmos sound. We’ll have a full overview of the Echo Studio quickly.
As far as music streaming help goes, the Echo Dot Max helps Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM, Tidal, and different streaming companies. Two notable omissions: YouTube Music and Qobuz (the latter service’s Qobuz Connect is usually appropriate with higher-end audio units and programs).
Should you purchase the Amazon Echo Dot Max?
The Echo Dot Max is a pure evolution of Amazon’s Echo line of sensible audio system, taking the core of the older Amazon Echo and upgrading it with cutting-edge {hardware}, together with a processor designed particularly for Alexa+.
If you’re beginning your sensible dwelling journey and are able to go all-in on the Alexa ecosystem, the Echo Dot Max makes for an amazing basis. It packs a Zigbee hub, a Matter hub, and an Amazon Sidewalk bridge. Most customers will get by with out Z-Wave help, and you’ll at all times add a separate Z-Wave hub that can work with Alexa. The design with the buttons in entrance can be an enchancment, and its audio efficiency is strong, if in need of superior.
As for Alexa+, it may not be absolutely baked, but it surely’s free for now, and I’m sure it can enhance as time rolls on. If you don’t wish to (finally) pay for Alexa+ otherwise you’re dissatisfied with its talents, you’ll be able to at all times fall again on the “classic” Alexa, which is able to stay free.
Is the Echo Dot Max an computerized improve for Echo Dot homeowners? Not essentially. The Echo Dot helps Alexa+ identical to the Dot Max does, and whereas it lacks the the beefier speaker’s Matter and Zigbee capabilities (which you would possibly already be getting from different units in your house), it can double as an Eero mesh extender (assuming you have got an Eero router or a Ring Alarm Pro and you employ the Eero router inside it).
In brief, the Echo Dot packs loads of warmth for simply $49, it’s steadily on sale, and it stays our Editors’ Choice for finest budget-priced sensible speaker. If you already personal the Echo Dot and produce other units that function Zigbee hubs and/or Thread border routers, it’d make sense to offer the Echo Dot Max a cross.
This overview is a part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart speakers.