The Echo series of smart speakers from Amazon is arguably the best among the competition right now, and the varied sizes and prices also provide something for every budget. New Echo devices usually bring incremental changes over multiple generations, as is the case with the Echo smart speaker that I’m reviewing here. The Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is the latest iteration of the company’s compact and affordable smart speaker, meant for personal desktop or bed-side use.

Priced at Rs. 5,499 in India, the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) looks just like the 4th-generation device, but comes with some useful additions under the hood which should add to its utility and capabilities. Of course, it’s also powered by Alexa, Amazon’s reliable and feature-filled smart voice assistant, and can slot into your existing smart home setup with ease. Is this the best affordable smart speaker you can buy right now? Find out in this review.

The Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) looks and feels almost the same as its predecessor, but is now available in a blue colour option

 

Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) design and specifications

Although the Echo Dot range has evolved and changed a lot over the generations, the aesthetic and visual differences between the Echo Dot (5th Gen) and Echo Dot (4th Gen) are barely noticeable. The newer smart speaker is the same size and dimensions, sticking to the rather neat-looking spherical shape of its predecessor. The 5th-gen speaker does weigh a bit more, but this won’t matter too much since it’s not meant to be portable.

The Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is available in three colours — white and black like before — and a new blue colour option, which in my opinion is the best looking of the lot. The sales package includes a 15W power adapter with a fixed cable to power the smart speaker. Unlike the Echo Input Portable, the Echo Dot doesn’t have a battery and will need to be plugged in at all times to work.

The top of the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) has four physical buttons — two to adjust the volume, an action button for various functions, and a microphone mute button. Interestingly, there is also an accelerometer in the device which allows for detection of taps at the top; this can be used to snooze alarms, stop timers, and even play or pause music. That said, it usually needed a fairly firm whack at the top of the speaker for this to work, and sometimes didn’t even respond immediately, so you might be better off using voice controls instead.

At the bottom of the speaker is the signature Echo light ring which illuminates in different colours when the speaker is listening for commands, muted or disconnected from the Internet. The underside has a grippy, rubber texture to keep the Echo Dot stable when placed on most surfaces. The back has the socket for power; notably, the 3.5mm audio-out socket (which was present on the previous-generation Echo Dot) isn’t there on the 5th-gen device.

The Echo Dot (5th Gen) does away with the 3.5mm audio-out socket

 

For connectivity, the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) works with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi connections. Connectivity was stable and reliable even with the speaker placed far away from my router and connected to a relatively slow 2.4GHz connection. The Echo Dot works with the Alexa app (iOS and Android) for setup, customisation, and other features. However, once set up, you might not need the app too often, since most functionality works on its own on the smart speaker.

Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) features and performance

The Echo Dot range from Amazon has largely been about getting the basics right, offering the full-fledged Alexa experience including calling, personalised responses, and IoT capabilities, along with acceptable sound quality at a convenient size and reasonable price. The 5th-generation Echo Dot steps things up a bit with the addition of motion-detection and temperature sensors, which can be put to use with Alexa Routines for better IoT capabilities.

Of particular note is the temperature sensor — a rather useful addition on an otherwise basic smart speaker — which gives it considerably more advanced smart home capabilities. You can view the indoor temperature of the room in the Alexa app or ask for it specifically through a voice command, but the true utility of it comes into play with Alexa Routines. For example, you can set up a smart fan or AC to turn on when the temperature goes above a certain threshold, if you have compatible devices that work with Alexa.

Another useful addition is motion detection, which can similarly be used with Alexa routines to activate smart home devices such as bulbs or fans when motion is detected in the room that the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is in. All of this makes the new Echo Dot a far more useful smart home controller than the previous device.

The Alexa app on iOS and Android lets you control and configure certain functions on the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen)

 

Alexa on the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is as good as it has always been, and the microphone on the speaker is good enough to pick up the wake word and voice commands reliably in a small or medium-sized room. That said, performance in this regard is best if you’re around three or four feet away at most.

The device has a slightly larger 1.73-inch speaker driver, despite being the same size as its predecessor. While it can get fairly loud for a speaker of its size, the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is best used as a desktop or bedside speaker. I found that keeping the volume low while I was around two feet away was the ideal way to use the device.

Listening to I Could Be The One by Avicii while working, The Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is discreet and simple in its looks, but very capable in the way it sounds. Nicely tuned for music across genres, the device sounded good across the frequency range, but definitely favoured the bass a bit. The shape and size of the speaker makes it ideal for personal listening, but it’s loud enough to be heard in different rooms, even at around the 50 percent volume mark.

I wouldn’t use the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) as my primary home speaker as it just doesn’t sound that good, but it’s impressive as a secondary desktop or bedside audio device, particularly if you’re already used to the Alexa voice assistant and its features. Alexa also supports numerous music streaming services, along with support and understanding of complex instructions that make it work well with just about any service.

Verdict

The Amazon Echo Dot has typically been an entry-level smart speaker meant for small rooms and personal listening, and the 5th-generation device is no different in this regard. Where it does see improvements is in the hardware, and the addition of a couple of sensors which increase its utility as a smart home controller. That said, any improvement is worth it as long as it doesn’t bump up the price too much.

At Rs. 5,499, the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is a worthwhile purchase if you intend to put the new improvements to use in a smart home environment. Alexa itself continues to improve, so the Echo Dot (5th Gen) will only get better over time. If the IoT functions don’t appeal to you too much, you might just find it more sensible to get the Echo Dot (4th Gen) instead; it’s a fair bit more affordable, and almost identical when it comes to the core specifications and capabilities.

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The Apple HomePod range of smart speakers may not be the obvious choice in the category for many buyers, because of its very obvious ecosystem-based optimisations. However, those who are suitably invested in Apple’s hardware will see some benefit to this, particularly the ease with which the smart speaker is able to link and work with other Apple devices. The original HomePod was launched globally in 2018, and five years later it finally sees a successor which promises better features and performance.

Priced at Rs. 32,900, the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) is said to be smarter, better equipped to work with IoT devices, and can also tell you the room temperature and humidity. It’s also considerably larger and more capable than the HomePod mini (Review), the other Apple smart speaker that you can buy right now. Should you buy the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen)? Find out in this review.

The Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) is a bit smaller and lighter than its predecessor

 

Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) design and features

After the original HomePod was officially discontinued in 2021, the only smart speaker from Apple has been the HomePod mini — until now. The Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) is bigger and much more capable than the HomePod mini, although there are some reductions in specifications and potential capabilities when compared to the original HomePod.

Visually though, the new smart speaker is nearly identical to its predecessor, save for small differences in the dimensions and weight. The Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) is available in two colours, black and white, with a fabric-wrapped exterior and light-up touch-sensitive panel at the top. Personally, I’d recommend the black colour option, based on my experience with the white HomePod mini in India, and how quickly it caught grime and started to look a bit dirty.

Another big change in the design is the cable on the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen). Unlike its predecessor, the power cable is detachable on the new smart speaker, although it retains its discreet design that covers the socket entirely and gives it the appearance of being fixed in place. In addition to the cable and the speaker itself, the sales package only has the documentation for the speaker.

As before, there are no physical buttons on the HomePod, with the touch-sensitive top panel providing some physical controls for volume, playback, and invoking Siri. It also provides light-based cues for when the smart speaker is in operation, listening for commands after the ‘Hey Siri’ wake phrase, or processing a voice command to act on it.

Of course, the only way to switch the speaker off is by unplugging it entirely. Voice commands or companion devices can be used to control functions on the HomePod (2nd Gen). There is no physical mute switch for the four-microphone far-field system, but you can mute it through the app if you like.

The HomePod (2nd Gen) works with Apple’s Siri voice assistant for voice commands, and runs on the audioOS platform. The speaker also supports Apple’s AirPlay protocol to work with supported source devices, including an iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV devices, and can be stereo-paired with a second HomePod for true stereo sound. AirPlay also enables multi-room streaming capabilities, and the speaker notably has sensors for temperature and humidity readings as well.

Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) specifications and app

The Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) can be quickly set up and linked to your Apple ID and services by bringing an iOS device close to the speaker. As with the earlier HomePod devices, you will need an iOS device to set it up. After a quick and hassle-free setup process, the speaker is active and linked to your Apple services as per your Apple ID, the most important of which is Apple Music, if you have a subscription. Furthermore, the HomePod supports Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos; the format has plenty of content available on Apple Music.

It’s worth noting that while the HomePod range was earlier limited to just Apple Music to stream tracks, you can now use other services such as Pandora and Deezer through voice commands to Siri. Spotify and YouTube Music also work, provided you’re using an iOS device and AirPlay to initiate the playback. As before, the most convenient and seamless service to use on the HomePod is Apple Music itself.

The Home app on iOS controls and configures the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen), and also gives access to information such as temperature and humidity

 

Once set up, the Home app on iOS controls the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen). All Apple accessories (such as other HomePod speakers or Apple TV streaming devices) linked to your account show up here, along with temperature and humidity details as recorded by the sensors on the HomePod itself (provided your smartphone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the HomePod). You can also get temperature and humidity information by asking Siri through specific voice commands, such as ‘What is the indoor temperature?’.

These sensors can usefully be utilised for home automation functions, if you have supported IoT devices linked to your system. The HomePod also supports the new and upcoming Matter IoT protocol; although not too many products support this right now, this is expected to improve in the coming months. As before, current-generation smart home and IoT functionality and support on the HomePod is fairly limited, and considerably harder to set up than on Alexa or Google Assistant-powered smart speakers.

In terms of specifications, the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) sees a few downgrades as compared to the original HomePod, at least on paper. There is a five-tweeter array (down from seven) and a four-microphone system (down from six), along with a single four-inch woofer. Apple also claims to have computational audio with system sensing for real-time tuning, which presumably tweaks the sound slightly based on the environment, noise levels, and other factors.

For connectivity, there is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5. As is the case on the original HomePod and HomePod mini, you can’t connect a device to the speaker using Bluetooth for audio. The HomePod can stream audio through voice commands over Wi-Fi, or through the Wi-Fi-based AirPlay protocol only. The smart speaker is powered by the S7 chip, which is also used on the Apple Watch Series 7 (Review).

Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) performance

Many might consider the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) a fair bit overpriced, particularly when compared to competing options from brands such as Amazon which are platform-agnostic and don’t really need to function within the same ecosystem as your smartphone and other gear. That said, if you do have an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, or Mac computer, the HomePod (2nd Gen) offers some fairly useful benefits that might make it worth considering.

In my case, I had the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) placed in my living room right below my television, and alongside my Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen). I used it as the default speaker for the Apple TV 4K for much of the duration of my review, and also to listen to music either through AirPlay from my smartphone or through voice commands. Other features such as Siri-based assistance and Apple’s Intercom feature also came in handy on occasion.

The HomePod (2nd Gen) has a detachable power cable

 

What is most notable about the sound quality of the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) is how much more capable it is than the size of the speaker suggests. This isn’t a very large smart speaker, but it produces a loud, refined sound that does somewhat explain why this speaker costs so much more than similarly-sized options from brands such as Amazon and Google.

A single HomePod speaker is also more than capable of handling sound from the Apple TV 4K, and is able to cover a moderate-sized room with ease. Setting the HomePod up as the default speaker for the Apple TV 4K meant that the smart speaker activated flawlessly when needed, and I experienced no issues with latency or connectivity during my review. The sound is also suitably tuned for the purpose, working well with voice-focused content such as Clarkson’s Farm season 2 and Formula 1: Drive to Survive season 5.

Stereo pairing capabilities mean that if you have two Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) speakers, you’ll be able to set them up wirelessly as a stereo pair, further increasing the overall power and drive of the system. Additionally, this would also better benefit the Spatial Audio capabilities of the speaker system. However, it’s worth pointing out here that two HomePod speakers would set you back well over Rs. 60,000, which is more than enough to buy you a decent soundbar with a subwoofer.

This makes a single HomePod setup the more likely one for most buyers of this smart speaker. With one speaker, there wasn’t much of a difference in the sound with compatible Spatial Audio content as compared to regular stereo sound; the soundstage felt a bit more spacious, but the shape and size of the HomePod (2nd Gen) did finally show its limitations, which you wouldn’t typically face with larger and wider speaker systems.

Of course, the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) is much more than just a wireless companion speaker for a streaming box, but it helps that it can handle this function well where most smart speakers barely have similar ecosystem capabilities. Coming to the more obvious use case for a smart speaker, the HomePod excels at its core function as an output device for music. The multi-driver setup and the computational audio tuning seem to help the most here, with the HomePod (2nd Gen) sounding good with just about any track, genre, and volume level.

Although the HomePod (2nd Gen) is expensive, it works quite well with Apple devices

 

With Obsessed by Calvin Harris, the HomePod (2nd Gen) captured the upbeat vibe of the track beautifully, giving the bass just enough drive and thump, while leaving plenty of room for the dancehall-style vocals of singer Shenseea and the deep chorus of Charlie Puth. Switching to the faster, busier Paris (Aeroplane Remix) by Friendly Fires, the HomePod offered a room-filling, immersive listening experience that is arguably better than on most other smart speakers or Wi-Fi speakers I’ve had a chance to test.

There are four microphones on the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen), but they work just fine for the most part in hearing the ‘Hey Siri’ wake phrase and any voice commands that follow. I didn’t have any trouble being understood from anywhere in the room at distances of up to 4m, including when I was looking away from the speaker and talking. There were a couple of occasions where the volume was so loud that I had to speak up for the wake phrase to be heard, but this wasn’t a problem at lower volume levels.

Smart functionality on the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) really only lacks in Apple’s current shortcomings of support for many current-generation IoT devices, particularly those available in India. Other key features, including Siri’s ability to help with contextual responses, or carry out basic functions such as setting timers and alarms, work just fine, and will function in sync with your iPhone and other Apple devices.

Verdict

As far as smart speakers go, the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) is undeniably expensive, and too specific in its functionality for many to even want to consider in India. However, if you have an iPhone and other Apple hardware such as the Apple TV 4K, the HomePod (2nd Gen) fits into this ecosystem as smoothly as the specific Tetris block that you were so eagerly waiting for. It’s a capable audio system for your streaming needs, it syncs and works seamlessly with your iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices, and most importantly, it sounds pretty good.

While smart devices such as the Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) might feel like more bang for your buck, the focus on being device-agnostic does have its drawbacks for specific use cases. The overall appeal of the ecosystem and its interoperability on the HomePod (2nd Gen) are definitely worth considering, although you might want to consider two (or even three) HomePod mini speakers for roughly the same or less money.

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