Quick Summary
Two new Echo smart speakers have been announced by Amazon.
Both the Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio share a spherical design, with a control panel on the front. However, the latter is much more powerful and comes with Dolby Atmos and spatial audio support.
Amazon has announced a refresh of its Echo smart speaker lineup with two new models that embrace the AI-powered Alexa+ assistant.
The Echo Dot Max is the smaller of the duo, and runs on Amazon's own AZ3 chip. This gives it the necessary power to run Alexa+, as well up the audio performance. The microphones have been improved too (over previous Echo Dot variants) to better pick up your voice commands.
It is claimed that you get triple the sound performance from its relatively small size, although I'm not sure how that's measured. Needless to say that this is now the standard Echo speaker, so Amazon will have ensured that it delivers a decent amount of oomph.
We won't know until we test one, of course.
As for the Echo Studio, this is said to be the most advanced Echo to date. It supports spatial audio and Dolby Atmos and the design has changed (over previous models) to better match the Dot Max. It also includes a custom woofer for deep bass.
The chipset is a bump up over the Dot Max – to the AZ3 Pro chip.
In terms of price, the Echo Dot Max will cost $99.99 / £99.99, while the 2025 Echo Studio will be $219.99 / £219.99.
They're available to preorder from today, Tuesday 30 September, with shipping to start on 29 October.
It's almost certain that previous versions will be available for less in the forthcoming Prime Big Deal Days event – starting on 7 October.
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