The all-new spherical-shaped design packs a promising audio quality with a center of focus on Alexa. All the users attached with Amazon's echo system for years now, always wait for the upgrades and Amazon never disappoints. The Amazon Echo 4th Gen is worth upgrading and for new users, this is the best device to make your place a smart home.
The Echo 4th Gen was released with a major up-gradation in terms of design. Amazon ditched the hockey-puck shape design to a spherical one for a better sound. It seems similar to the design that Apple unveiled in their HomePod mini.
Design & Features
The all-new tall spherical design measures 5.2 inches tall and 5.7 inches wide. The tall design is all focused on audio while the speakers are similar to the predecessor in size, 1.6 inches. Amazon released Echo Dot which is a similar round design but a smaller and lighter version. Echo housed a 3-inch woofer facing upwards with dual 0.8-inch tweeters facing forwards. Echo’s woofer is pointed towards the front at a 45-degree upward angle. The speaker is a large sphere in fabric and weighs 986 gms. A 3.5 jack is placed in the rear end which acts on both lines in/out with a power adapter. The improved design delivers a loud, crisp sound with improved bass. The all-new Echo has a faster Az1 Neural Edge chip inside for quick response, it will be twice as fast compared to 3rd Gen. It can also be mounted like the previous version, but it might lower the music quality. Especially, if you like to listen to music or podcast then this device is worth upgrading as it supports Dolby Audio, which delivers great sound quality.
The 4th Gen shifted the ring light from top to the bottom which is easily visible from a distance. The buttons are still on top and a new feature tap to snooze is introduced for the alarms. This feature is helpful only if the device is near your bed. Another feature is motion sensing, it can be activated from Alexa App. It uses ‘inaudible ultrasound’ to sense if someone is around. It has a built-in smart home hub Zigbee receiver, which seamlessly connects smart devices. Echo can be used as a single speaker or can be used as a Bluetooth speaker as it has Bluetooth 5.0, it can be even paired with other speakers to enjoy audio on all the devices.
It can be useful for daily routines like making calls, setting timers, reminders, or two-way conversations similar to the previous echo dot. All the smart home devices can easily be controlled with the help of the Alexa App, like controlling your TV, smart bulbs.
Verdict
If you like to play news, music, or podcasts daily and are comfortable with the spherical shape then this is the best choice as it gives the loud and crisp sound with the extra bass. It makes your smart home more easily. All the Echo 3rd Gen users have a good reason to upgrade as the design and additional speaker & features make the gadget worth buying.
