The new Amazon Echo Spot 2024 is a reimagination of the Alexa assistant smart speaker, clearly a clock with smarts behind it.
The design is an oval shape, cut in about two-thirds of the length, with a flat bottom to sit nicely on flat surfaces.
The bottom half of the front is a 1.73” speaker covered with the fabric found in all other Echo devices.
The top half has a 2.83” (240 x 320 pixels) touchscreen display. Unlike the Echo Show models, This Echo doesn’t have a camera.
Every time you get an updated Echo model, you find it easier to set up. This also applies to the Amazon Echo Spot 2024. You plug it in, and a couple of minutes later, you can add it to your Amazon account using the app on your Android or iOS device. It connects to Wi-Fi, and this generation supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.
The main home is a customisable clock display. You can use the touch screen or the app to choose from a selection of clock styles and different theme colours. Styles include digital and analogue clock faces, with or without weather icons that indicate sun, rain, cloudy, etc.
The display can also show other information. For example, you can ask, “Alexa, what’s the weather?” and the display will show a larger version of the icon with the current temperature. You can then slide left to see the maximum and minimum temperatures forecasted.
It will also display your shopping list if you ask “Alexa, show my shopping list” but it won’t allow you to edit it directly on screen, like the larger Echo Show devices.
If you play music or radio using services like Spotify or TuneIn, the display will change to show the current song or radio station, with on-screen controls to skip or pause the playback.
It won’t show cameras linked to your Alexa account, I guess because of the screen resolution.
You can control display settings, like brightness and night or check for software updates from the touchscreen interface, as well as from the Alexa app.
I will state the obvious here: voice commands aren’t limited to these. You can use any Alexa voice skills or automation through the Amazon Echo Spot 2024.
The sound is really good. Amazon Echo devices have developed their sound technology tremendously over the years, and each device generation seems better than the previous ones. It has a nice bass and medium volume.
You can control the volume using buttons on top of the device or by saying “Alexa, volume up” or “Alexa, volume down.” There is also a privacy button that disables the microphone. Those are the only three physical controls on the device.
There’s no 3.5” jack, but you can pair the Amazon Echo Spot 2024 with other Bluetooth devices if you want to play music from your phone or other sources. You can then control (play, pause, previous, next) these sources using voice, too.
It supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and the Matter home automation standard. A proximity sensor allows you to create routines based on detecting people around you, but it doesn’t have a temperature sensor.
The Amazon Echo Spot 2024 is powered by a MediaTek MT 8519 processor, with 1 GB RAM and 8 GB storage. This combination of hardware and Echo software seems to work well, and the device is responsive, with no delays when answering questions or commands.
Overall, I think the Amazon Echo Spot 2024 is a very cute, attractive device. Its design and functionality make it ideal for your nightstand or home office.
