I have some criticism of the volume and mute buttons on the front. The Echo Dot Max is so light that when I press the controls, I slide the speaker around the shelf it’s on. This problem can easily be solved by wrapping your hand around it and pressing the buttons with your thumb. But if you grab it with your index finger, it probably won’t stay put. I assume you’re supposed to interact with the Echo Dot Max primarily with your voice, but buttons on the top would have prevented this problem. I imagine this isn’t as much of an issue with the similarly styled Echo Studio, simply because it’s much bigger and three times heavier.
Sound quality
I’m a big music fan and have listened to a lot of smart speakers over the years. I was impressed with the Echo devices I tested in 2018, as well as the 2020 Echo I mentioned earlier. Priced at $100, this Echo punched above its weight and sounded significantly better than the similarly priced HomePod Mini and Nest Audio.
Unfortunately, the Echo Dot Max can’t match the features of this older speaker. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds great: better than a standard Echo Dot and in line with what you’d expect from a $100 speaker. It’s slightly louder than my HomePod Mini and offers enough volume to fill a medium-sized room on its own. But if you really want to stream music in a larger room, you’re better off looking at the Echo Studio or something like the Sonos Era 100. You can also pair two Echo Dot Max speakers for stereo playback and higher volume, but I wasn’t able to test this so I can’t say how it works in a larger room.
My biggest complaint with the Echo Dot Max is that the frequencies often seem a little squashed, without strong bass to contrast with the clarity of the mids and highs. It doesn’t offer the most dynamic listening experience. When you look at the difference between the speaker components of the Echo Dot Max and those of the fourth-generation Echo, it’s no surprise. The old speaker combined a 3-inch woofer with two 0.8-inch tweeters, while the Dot Max makes do with a single tweeter and a smaller 2.5-inch woofer.
I want to reiterate that the Echo Dot Max still sounds great! The various beats, electronic glitches and vocals of Lorde’s “What Was That” were evident for the most part, and the modern disco vibe of The Ace’s “Jealous” sounded good and the instrumentation had plenty of punch. The heaviest, guitar-driven fury of albums like the new Deftones album private music and the 33-year-old man Dirty by Alice In Chains rang loud and clear, while the rave vibe of Nine Inch Nails’ “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” was full of life. While the overall sound was quite pleasant, upon further listening I realized that details like a good snapshot of a snare drum could get lost in a storm of guitars.
It is disappointing that Amazon has taken a clear step back on this issue. Like the Echo Studio we just tested, the Echo Dot Max isn’t bad, it’s just disappointing. It’s a little easier to forgive here, as the Dot Max is more of a versatile speaker than something designed for a great listening experience. Again, it sounds good for a $100 smart speaker, but given Amazon’s past success in delivering surprisingly good sound, I expected a lot more here.
Alexa+
The other piece of the puzzle is, of course, Alexa+, Amazon’s long-awaited update to its digital assistant. Somehow, it’s been two years since Amazon first revealed the improvements it was working on with Alexa+. But with these new devices, it’s now pretty easy to get “early access” to the service.
I admit I’m not a big fan of voice assistants. I think this is largely because we don’t have a very smart house. I’ve been a renter for eight months after being a homeowner for nearly a decade, and I still haven’t had much to do with Alexa (or any other voice assistant).
But even without home routines to monitor, lights to control or a smart thermostat to adjust, it was clear how much more conversational and contextual Alexa+ was now. I did a lot of testing during the World Series and got into the habit of asking Alexa what was going on in the series. We had several “conversations” about what happened in the previous night’s game, when the next game was, who the starters were, etc. It was probably the most natural experience I’ve had with a voice assistant, although I still struggle to use my natural language with a speaker. (I’ve definitely said “please” to Alexa more than once.)
Once you’ve set up Alexa+ Early Access, you can use the same updated assistant in the Alexa app on your smartphone, with your voice, or in a chat interface. The chatbot-style Alexa experience is great, but I actually prefer using my voice because I felt it was easier to chat with her and ask her what was on my mind.
Another advantage of Alexa+ is that it is fast and responsive. There are brief pauses while he thinks about an answer, but usually it comes to me so quickly that I don’t feel forced or uncomfortable to continue the conversation in natural language. Speed is a critical factor in a voice assistant’s responsiveness, and Alexa+ on the Echo Dot Max achieves this goal. A combination of Amazon’s AZ3 chip and everything else in the cloud does the job here.
Like any voice assistant, Alexa+ is obviously not perfect. Most basic tasks, such as setting reminders, checking the weather and playing music, work reliably. But asking about specific songs or albums can sometimes backfire. Sometimes Alexa didn’t find the specific album she was looking for, but instead played other songs by the artist. In other cases, the music being created had nothing to do with it. This is a problem I’ve had with all assistants, but I was hoping Alexa+ would be smart enough not to stray too far from the basics.
I asked him about “the band’s latest release, Now, Now.” It’s an EP with the title 01 That’s why I thought Alexa might have a problem with this. It even said “Sure, here’s some new music from Now, Now” and played one of the songs from that version. Not bad, but not quite true. Then I asked, “Can you play the whole album?” It didn’t work. Instead, I ended up with the song “Ain’t it Funky Now,” sung by legendary jazz guitarist and composer Grant Green. Definitely a nice picture, but not quite what I was looking for. Also the “play album” question01 EP“From the band Now, Now” brought me “Laugh Now Cry Later” by Drake. Sigh.
Times were even worse when Alexa+ was simply invented. The Alexa app gives you short suggestions for questions, like “iconic musical duets.” I tapped it, curious to see what it had to offer, and up came a list of “iconic musical duos that have left an indelible mark on the music industry.”
Among them was “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” performed by the late Kurt Cobain and his wife Courtney Love. Happened? News for me! I asked for more information and got a response saying, “There is no official ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ duet.” As far as I know, this came about because Love sang unused lyrics to the iconic song in an episode of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” 60 songs that tell the story of the 90s Podcast, 2023. It’s a perfect example of the arbitrary conclusions AI often jumps to, and it’s a good reminder that Alexa+, like all AI assistants, can make things up sometimes. While it doesn’t happen often, it’s something to be aware of.
Summary
The Echo Dot Max does pretty much what Amazon promises. It sounds better than smaller speakers like the Echo Dot or Pop and is significantly cheaper than the Echo Studio. If you’re interested in music, it’s worth upgrading to the Dot Max instead of the standard Dot. Not only does it offer better sound quality, but it’s also noticeably newer (Dot was last updated in 2022). Thanks to its more advanced processor, it should have a longer lifespan than the standard Dot, making it a better choice for those looking to try out Alexa+.
This recently updated hardware is a reason to consider the Echo Dot Max over similarly priced speakers like the Nest Audio and HomePod Mini, both of which are five years old. And while Alexa+ has had growing pains, it’s currently a better option than Google’s newly launched and untested Gemini for Home or the old, limited Siri that the HomePod Mini still clings to.
But the Echo Dot Max still seems like a missed opportunity to me. The old Echo sounded great and this speaker isn’t all that exciting in comparison. It’s a great way to interact with Alexa+ and enjoy some songs. I just wish it sounded a little better.