- The name Alexa is synonymous with the term smart speaker because Amazon's Echo is the best one you can buy.
- Amazon has lots of Echos now, but its new Echo is the best choice for most people.
- It's more compact than the original Echo, costs less, and has an Auxiliary port to physically connect to a better sounding speaker.
- If you're thinking about buying an Echo, now is a great time to do so. Amazon Prime Day 2019 is on July 15 and 16, and right now, there are a few Echos on sale as part of the company's early Prime Day deals.
- You can bookmark and check out our full list of Prime Day deals on Insider Picks.
Amazon's Echo was the first smart speaker to find its way into millions of people's homes. Since the original Echo launched in 2014, Amazon has launched several new versions of the original speaker as well as a host of other Echo devices that have Alexa voice control built in.
There are so many different Echos now that we've put together this guide to help you find the best one for your needs. Before we get into the specifics, though, it's worth pointing out that there are some features every Echo has, regardless of its specialty.
All of the Echo models below can control a wide variety smart home accessories using your voice or the Alexa App. Each has access to the thousands of third-party skills developers have made over the past couple of years as well as your Prime Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, or Spotify library. Most Echos have an audio out port to connect to external speakers, too.
In the slides below, we're going to focus on what makes the best Echos stand out, be it the Echo Plus' extra smart-home radio, the Echo Dot's small size, or the Echo Show's screen. For a deeper dive into the smart speaker ecosystem, you can read our full buying guide to smart home speakers on Insider Picks.
Also, note that this guide is for Amazon's Echo smart speakers with Alexa built inside. We have another guide to the best Alexa smart speakers that aren't made by Amazon.
Here are the best Echo devices you can buy in 2019:
- Best Echo overall: Echo
- Best Echo for smart home: Echo Plus
- Best budget Echo speaker: Echo Dot
- Best Echo with a big screen: Echo Show
- Best Echo with a small screen: Echo Show 5
Updated on 07/01/2019 by Malarie Gokey: Updated the Echo smart speakers in this guide to the current models. Added the Echo Show 5. Updated prices and added Prime Day deals.
