Which Amazon Echo or Alexa Speaker Is Best for You?
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Best Overall
Amazon Echo (4th Gen)
Best Display
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen)
Best Budget Echo
Echo Dot (5th Gen)
Best for the Bedroom
Echo Spot (2024)
Amazon’s family of Alexa-enabled devices is vast. From the spherical Echo to the swiveling Echo Show 10, you can get Alexa into your home in many ways. These devices can answer your questions, help you order essentials, set timers, play all sorts of audio content, and even function as the control hub for your growing smart home. These are our favorite Amazon Echo- and Alexa-compatible speakers for every home and budget.
The best time to buy any Amazon speaker is during a major sale event like Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day, as there usually are steep discounts. If you’re trying to decide which smart devices might be best for you, be sure to check out WIRED’s picks in our roundups, including the Best Smart Speakers, Best Smart Displays, and Best Bluetooth Speakers. We also have guides on setting up your Echo speaker, creating Alexa routines, and the best tricks an Echo Show can do.
Updated August 2024: We’ve added the Echo Dot (5th Gen) as a budget sound pick, the Echo Spot (2nd Gen) as our new bedside table pick, and a new section on other Amazon Echo speakers we’ve tested.
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If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED
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Photograph: Amazon
Best Overall
Amazon Echo (4th Gen)
Amazon’s fourth-generation Echo (8/10, WIRED Recommends) notably changed the shape of the cylindrical speaker into a speaker ball. Unless you have a personal vendetta against Amazon (you might), this is the best smart speaker you can get for around $100. Amazon has dialed in its digital signal processing and sound quality over the previous three Echos, and the rounded edges here help fidelity. The current Echo comes with Amazon’s AZI Neural Edge processor too, which helps it recognize speech better than ever.
It works in any room in the house. Use it in the kitchen for recipes and timers, in the bedroom for news and weather, or in the bathroom for shower sing-alongs. It’s compact, sounds decent, and is well-suited to everything you’d want a smart speaker to do. If music quality is your priority, scroll to the Echo Studio and Sonos speakers below, which are our favorite Alexa speakers for listening to music.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
Best Display
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen)
The Echo Show 8 has been our favorite smart display for Alexa for three generations in a row, with the 2023 third-gen model as our latest pick. We like this size more than the 5- and 10-inch versions, the smaller of which felt like a weird smartphone, the larger like a weird tablet that spins around everywhere. This one’s like Goldilocks’ perfect porridge: It’s big enough that weather updates, video chats, and recipes show up clearly, but compact enough that it doesn’t take up too much countertop space. Amazon has also added Widgets to the Echo Show 8, so you can choose up to three informative little squares to pop up on the screen.
The third-gen model is a little pricier than the previous one because it adds a smart home hub and spatial audio. If you don’t think you’ll use those abilities, the cheaper second-gen Echo Show 8 ($130) is still a great choice.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
Best Budget Echo
Echo Dot (5th Gen)
The fifth-generation Echo Dot is a great little speaker. It’s got powerful, robust sound for its small size, and works great if you want Alexa handy on a bookshelf or on a small side table. It’s one I always find myself setting up somewhere in my house, whether it’s in my hallway so I can ask quick questions as I move through the house, or in my bedroom as an alarm clock. It’s some of the best sound you can get for this price, especially since it’s often on sale for under $30.
I also like the Echo Dot (5th Gen) with Clock ($60) version that adds an LED clock to the front of the speaker, but that model is starting to go out of stock, and Amazon says they don’t plan to restock this version. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a new Echo Dot soon.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
Best for the Bedroom
Echo Spot (2024)
The second generation Echo Spot (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is back after a few years of being discontinued. It’s a great little bedside companion thanks to its half-circle screen that displays the time, plus any alarms you have set are also visible under the main time. You can customize the clock with a couple different color and face options, and the screen dims nicely when the lights are out to a gentle red that’s easy to red without lighting up the room. I like asking for alarms set to my latest playlist or some lo-fi jams, and it’s easy to set that up with a voice request.
The Spot also does a nice job displaying music, weather, and calendar on the screen when you make voice requests. Unlike the Echo Shows, it doesn’t have a distracting, constantly-moving slideshow that would be annoying for the bedroom, nor does it display ads or have a built-in camera. (Nobody wants a rogue camera in their bedroom.) It does not have fantastic sound but is plenty loud for an alarm or casual listening while you get dressed in the morning.
★ Totally Screen-Free: The Echo Dot (5th Gen) with Clock ($60) was our previous bedroom pick, and it’s still a great choice—if you can find it. Amazon is mostly out of stock, while a lot of other retailers have it at half off, and Amazon has told us they don’t plan to restock this generation. Amazon could announce a new generation soon, and we’ll update this guide if that happens.
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Photograph: Sonos
The Best Non-Amazon Speaker
Sonos Era 100
If your budget can stretch and you want something that does a bit more than Amazon’s own offerings, Sonos’ mainstay smart speaker (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best you’ll find. Our favorite smart speaker now comes with dual tweeters for stereo, has better mics than some of Amazon’s leading speakers, and can be used with virtually any streaming service.
You should also consider the Sonos Era 300 ($449) (9/10, WIRED Recommends), which can function as an Alexa speaker. It supports spatial audio, but it’s much larger and more expensive.
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Photograph: Yamaha
Best Alexa Soundbar
Yamaha ATS-2090
The Yamaha YAS-209, also called the ATS-2090, is a soundbar/wireless subwoofer combo that doubles as a smart speaker for your living room. Alexa is inside, as well as two virtual sound modes, two HDMI ports, Wi-Fi, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth, which makes it exceptionally easy to use. It also sounds quite good for the price, which is why it’s one of our favorite soundbars.
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Photograph: Sonos
Best Compact Soundbar
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
The Sonos Beam is also another great Alexa soundbar because of how compact and easy it is to use. The small, pill-shaped bar will seamlessly work with any other Sonos speakers you have, and you can play music on it when you aren’t bingeing Netflix. It sounds amazing no matter what audio is coming out of it, and it goes head to head with soundbars that are much larger. As it’s made by Sonos, you can switch over to Google Assistant, should you ever decide Amazon’s ecosystem isn’t right for you.
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Photograph: Amazon
Best for Sound
Amazon Echo Studio
Amazon’s Echo Studio (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is for anyone who wants the biggest, boldest sound they can get from an Alexa device. It’s got 350 watts of power and a downward-firing subwoofer that pumps out more low end than most other speakers this size, and it even listens and adjusts the sound to fit your space. There’s an upward-firing midrange speaker in addition to two side-facing ones, which makes the Echo Studio capable of playing 3D audio codecs like Dolby Atmos. In fact, the speaker automatically “upmixes” your music from standard stereo to better fill your space. You can buy two and pair them to create a soundbar-like Dolby Atmos experience, though I’d probably stick with a standard Atmos soundbar.
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Photograph: Joseph Shin
Best for More Bass
Amazon Echo Sub
If you’ve got some small Echo speakers around the house but their bass output isn’t scratching your itch, consider adding an Echo Sub. This wireless subwoofer can easily integrate with any Amazon-made speaker and can do wonders for bringing out your favorite bass lines—or for annoying your downstairs neighbors.
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Photograph: Amazon
Best for Kids
Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition (5th Gen)
This special edition of the Echo Dot is nearly identical to the fifth-gen Dot above, but it has easy-to-use parental controls that allow you to set time limits, filter explicit content, and review activity. The owl- or dragon-colored sphere comes with a year of Amazon Kids+, which includes thousands of Audible books and other special games and features. After that, you’ll be charged $3 per month. Alexa can help your kids spell, play their favorite music, or—via another speaker in your house—remind them of dinner time.
Echo also has the Show 5 Kids ($100), a smart display with parental controls, and Echo Pop Kids ($50), which has two Disney covers to choose from. We haven’t tested either yet, but will update this guide when we do.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
A Simpler, No-Speaker Display
Amazon Echo Hub
The Amazon Echo Hub (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is similar to an Echo Show, but without the speaker. Instead it’s a thin device that feels a bit like a tablet, designed to be mounted on the wall (or placed on a separately-purchased stand, which is how I used it) and used to control your smart home devices. It’s a great choice for anyone who wants something focused on smart home control only. You can still ask Alexa questions and even play music, but the thin speakers aren’t worth playing music from. But you can tell your Echo Hub to play music on a different set of speakers, and even set up default speakers to work with it. It’s a great companion device if you already have a smart home setup.
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Photograph: Sonos
Best Portable Speaker
Sonos Roam
This portable speaker from Sonos (9/10, WIRED Recommends) works great in Bluetooth mode, but if you hook it up to your home’s or vacation spot’s Wi-Fi, you can use it as a portable Alexa speaker. I like to use it to set timers in the kitchen and check the weather on trips to the Oregon coast, and it saw lots of cabin time in the Cascades during a recent winter. This little speaker fits easily in a car cupholder, and it comes with an IP67 dust- and water-resistance rating, so you won’t need to worry about dropping it in the mud.
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Photograph: Bang & Olufsen
Another Good Portable Speaker
Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd Gen)
The Beosound A1 is a durable, beautiful, and great-sounding listening companion that I’ve taken everywhere from ski trips to backyard barbecues with barely a scratch on its metal grille. The second-generation A1 brought Alexa integration, making it easy to use your voice to change songs if it’s connected to the internet. An IP67 rating means you won’t have to worry about taking it anywhere, and with 18 hours of playtime, you won’t be reaching for the charger often. The nifty strap lets you attach it to your backpack or wrist, too. I still prefer the Sonos Roam (it’s cheaper), but if you’ve got the cash and want a bit more bass, the A1 is great.
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Photograph: Amazon
For Alexa on the Go
More Alexa Devices
Why only ask Alexa for help while you’re at home? These accessories let you take your favorite voice assistant with you everywhere.
- Echo Frames (3rd Gen) ($330): WIRED reviews editor Adrienne So was fully prepared to hate these combo eyeglasses and headphones, but she actually liked them a lot. They look good, they’re surprisingly comfortable, and the sound is OK—although a little tinny, since the speakers are placed just next to your ears. You can answer calls while running and going for walks, and the microphone is good enough that she sounded like she was still on her phone. But the charging base is annoying. The glasses’ arms don’t quite fit into the stand, and you have to be careful to balance the frames at two points.
- Echo Buds (2021 Release) ($120): We liked the original Echo Buds, but we’re even bigger fans of the 2021 version (8/10, WIRED Recommends). Amazon’s earbuds come with wireless charging, noise-canceling tech, and a surprisingly ergonomic fit. Better microphones mean that Alexa voice controls work even in loud environments. The overall experience of using the headphones feels like a future we’ve seen in sci-fi movies. Need to set a timer, check the weather, or see what happened with your favorite sports team? Just ask these earbuds. Amazon also has a 2023 version ($50) that is much cheaper, much uglier, and does not have ANC.
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Photograph: Amazon
Other Alexa Speakers
- Amazon Echo Pop for $40: The Echo Pop (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is a perfectly fine little speaker, and the cutest one in Amazon’s lineup. Does it have great sound? No. It’s fine enough for background tunes or if you’re limited to a dorm room, but you’ll get much better sound for a similar size from the Echo Dot (but you’ll pay a little more, and you won’t get as cute of colors!)
- Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) for $90: This smart display is another just-fine option, but it’s too small to be a great display, and the included camera makes it a no for a bedside table; better to go with the above Echo Spot or an Echo Dot.
- Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) for $250: This smart display has big sound, but its wonky shape makes it hard to seamlessly fit into your home. It’s cool that it can follow you around while you speak to it, but also kinda weird. It’s great if you have a big kitchen island you’re always moving around, but not much else.
- Echo Show 15 for $280: This smart display is a good display, but it clearly wants to double as a TV and isn’t very good at it yet. I’m hoping we see better TV-related performance in the future to make it worth adding to a kitchen or office. It does a great job with widgets, though, thanks to the massive 15.6-inch screen.
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Photograph: Amazon
How to Remove Spam From Your Echo Show Screen
If you’re using an Echo Show device, you’ve likely noticed there’s tons of default content the device will show you. Sports scores! Local news! A recipe you might be interested in! It makes the device exhausting and annoying to be near.
Here’s how you can control what you see:
- Swipe down from the top of your Echo Show to pull up the menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings menu, choose Home Content.
- There are upwards of 40 options you can toggle on and off on this menu, and you should remove as many as you can that you don’t use. I usually remove all but weather forecasts and recently played audio.
While you’re able to turn off interest-based ads from third-party skills (this is under Alexa Privacy in the Settings menu), it won’t stop all ads. The only setting that is ad-free is choosing Photo Display mode, which can use either Amazon’s included library of photos or your own. The only downside is that turns it into a digital photo frame, so you won’t even see a clock or features like widgets.
