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Amazon makes a lot of Echo smart speakers at many different price points. But when it comes to audio performance, even the company's best devices haven't been able to top premium competitors like the Sonos One and Sonos Beam.
The Echo Studio has set out to change that with its Dolby Atmos, 3D sound, and auto-calibrating microphones.
I got a chance to listen to the Studio at Amazon's event. Here are my first impressions of the speaker.
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The Echo Studio is cheaper than most high-end smart speakers.
The Echo Studio is $199.99, and you can preorder it now.
Its $199.99 price tag a good deal more expensive than Amazon's previous flagship smart speaker, the $149.99 Echo Plus. The price puts it squarely on the same turf as the $199 Sonos One, but far below that of the $299 Google Home Max and the $299 HomePod.
Though the Echo Studio isn't a subwoofer, it actually looks more like the Echo Sub than it does the Echo and Echo Plus. It's got the same dark fabric mesh as the Echo Sub and the same fat-trashcan aesthetic.
The Studio sports the same four buttons as most other Echos, which adjust volume, mute and unmute the microphone, and summon Alexa respectively. As is also the case with other Echos' buttons, these are a bit loud and difficult to press for my taste, but that's hardly a dealbreaker.
A few things are unique. First, unlike with traditional Echo speakers, the signature LED ring isn't right around the rim. Instead, it's in the middle of the device, on the far side of the buttons. I don't love this look, as it's harder to see from the side whether you've successfully woken Alexa, and most people aren't frequently staring at their Echo from the top down.
Second, there's a slit right through the middle which improves volume and sound quality. I imagine you'll get used to it if you see this device every day, but it looked a bit ungainly at first glance.
Overall, the Studio isn't something I'd display on my coffee table. But it's also loud enough that it doesn't need to be there — there's a reason the Echo comes in four colors while the Studio only comes in black.
Let's get into the specs. You've got five speakers, including a 5.25-inch woofer, a 1-inch tweeter, and three two-inch mid-range speakers.
The Echo Studio also sports an array of microphones that optimize its audio output to its surroundings. Anyone who's used Sonos' Trueplay will know this isn't a new feature. Until recently, however, you had to do an awkward dance around your room with your phone to set up Trueplay. Amazon has done away with that right off the bat; the Studio calibrates itself by listening to its own output.
The device also packs in the same zigbee-enabled smart home hub that the Echo Plus and Echo Show do. This means that if you have a smart home device that's not Wi-Fi enabled (including many Philips Hue lighting products, for example), the Studio can act as a middleman between it and your router.
At a $199.99 price point, a speaker can't just sound good. It needs to sound great. The Echo Studio does.
In my brief stint with the Studio, I listened to several tracks, including Elton John's "Rocket Man" and Shaed's "Trampoline". They both easily filled the decent-sized demo room at around three-quarters volume.
When I cranked the volume up to max, I actually quickly turned it down; it was so loud that my eardrums couldn't take it.
"Rocket Man" fully embodied the term "surround sound" — no matter where I was in the room, I felt like the song was playing around me.
And even from the opposite end of the demo room, I could feel "Trampoline's" bass pounding through the floor. It wasn't quite the booming experience you'd have with a speaker hooked up to the likes of the Sonos Sub, but it was much better than a standard Echo speaker, and probably on par with the Sonos One.
Note that you'll only get the full Atmos experience from songs that are mixed as such, but regular tracks sounded good too.
Wow. Here’s a demo of the Echo Studio. I could feel the bass pounding fro across the room. Definitely better than any Echo I’ve heard before. pic.twitter.com/5QUx7tmUoq
I can't render a definitive verdict on the Echo Studio until I've spent more time with the device. But if there's one device that finally pushes Amazon over the edge of the "premium smart speaker" category, it's going to be this one.
No question. It sounds great, it looks fine, and the smart home hub is icing on the cake.
