Spot On, Amazon

For a company  that is pushing hard towards its vision of a voice-controlled, Alexa-powered future, the Echo Spot, an Alexa speaker with a screen almost seemed like a step back in time — slapping on a screen on a voice-first device almost seems like an admission that we aren’t ready for these always-listening-and-ever-ready-to-serve devices, right?

Yes, and no. You see, the Echo Spot is still very much a device that is operated by your voice, but it adds a visual element to most of that interaction. For instance, ask the Spot to play a song or shop for an item, and the Spot will additionally show you album covers or Amazon listings on the screen as well. Looking for what a word means? The Spot will read out the meaning, and the text will flow on the screen as well. In each case, the screen makes the Spot more intuitive to use than any other smart speaker — not only does the screen reduce the learning curve and get you comfortable with the AI assistant faster, it makes the whole experience a lot more dependable and relatable to how we do things right now.

Setting up the Spot is easy — just follow the on-screen instructions, enter your passwords and the device is up and running. The round, sliced-ball design is simple and pleasing, and its small dimensions allow it to sit on your bedside or table, no matter how small they may be. Exuding none of those cold, industrial design vibes that characterise the other smart speakers, the Spot looks downright cute, almost alarm-clock-like, with its round 2.5 inches circular display tilted upwards for easy viewing. In true alarm clock fashion, there are a bunch of clock faces to choose from (from retro to modern), the Spot auto-dims the screen as the day ends, and it can wake you up with music from your Amazon Music library in the morning.

Where the Spot pulls ahead of the rest of the smart speaker segment is courtesy that little circular opening above its screen — a built-in camera that lets you place Alexa video calls directly to other Spots or contacts who have the Alexa app installed, without the complication of starting an app. Calling a regular Echo device? Audio calls work just as well. Want to drop in on an elderly relative or see what a kid is up to when you are elsewhere? Use the arguably unnerving ‘Drop In’ feature to start the video feed from the Spot. If this gets you more than a wee bit paranoid, especially if you have the Spot in your bedroom, you can disable the camera and microphone via a button atop the Spot or — for the truly paranoid — you can even permanently disable these features through the system settings.

Most would like the additional layer of information the screen adds, but would take issue with with the quality of audio the Spot pushes out. Sure, it is loud, but the sound lacks definition — it lacks bass and sounds tinny compared to the Echo/Echo Plus. You can connect it to other Bluetooth/wired speakers, but on its own, the sound is mediocre, more so considering its not-insignificant price. If you have already got another Echo device, you will find the far-field microphones on the Spot aren’t quite as good, so you have to speak up to be heard, especially if loud music is playing.