Amazon Echo Plus

VERDICT

Adding asmart home hub to the Echo is aneat idea, but the implementation’s not quite there yet

- David Ludlow

IF THERE’S ONE problem with building a smart home, it’s having lots of different bridges to plug into your network to make everything work. Wouldn’t life be easier if you had one device that could handle everything? That’s what Amazon aims to do with the Echo Plus, which has an integrated Zigbee hub, so you can hook up compatible devices (such as Philips Hue light bulbs) without needing additional hubs.

Look at the Echo Plus and you’ll be hard pushed to tell it from the original Echo. Both are exactly the same size, although the Plus also ships in silver, as well as the original black and white options. Spin the Echo Plus around, and you’ll see that there’s also a3.5mm audio output, so you can connect to a better hi-fi system. Frankly, if you want to do that, then the cheaper Echo Dot would be abetter option.

PLUS POINTS

On top, the Echo Plus maintains the original’s rotating top, which controls the volume. It has a premium feel to it, and this control is missed on the 2nd-generation Echo. There are also two physical buttons. One makes the Echo Plus listen without you having to say the wake word first; the second mutes the microphones and stops the Echo Plus from listening to you.

The main advantage of the Echo Plus is that it can talk directly to Zigbee smart home devices. It’s a shame that there’s no support for the similar Z-Wave system, as that would let the Echo Plus cover a wider range of products.