Now that the latest $99.99 Amazon Echo is just as powerful as the $149.99 hub-equipped Echo Plus, the door is open for a bigger, louder Echo.

- Will Greenwald

The Echo Studio is Amazon’s biggest, loudest, and most advanced Alexa speaker. It features five drivers to offer not just stereo sound but also Dolby Atmos-compatible surround sound in a single, voice-controlled package. It’s as big and as loud as the Apple HomePod and Google Home Max, with more advanced sound processing and better imaging— but it’s far less expensive than either. It’s truly impressive for its size and price, enough to earn our Editors’ Choice for smart speakers.

DESIGN

The Echo Studio is bigger than any other $200 speaker we’ve tested, including the Sonos One. The Echo Studio is a rounded black cylinder measuring 8.1 inches tall and 6.9 inches across, and it weighs in at 7.7 pounds. The speaker isn’t quite subwoofer-size, but the open ports on the bottom for the downward-firing woofer give the impression of a subwoofer. The most direct comparison is the $399 Sonos Move, which is slightly taller and narrower than the Echo Studio and is “portable” in the sense that it has a battery, while the Studio must be plugged in at all times.

Fabric wraps around the sides of the Studio with cutouts in the front and back for the two bass ports. A black-plastic ring on top holds the far-field microphone array and small buttons for volume up/down, mic mute, and Alexa. The signature Echo light ring glows along the inner edge of the plastic ring; inside is a fabric grille panel that protects the upward-firing driver.

A small recess below the rear bass port holds a connec

This story is from the December 2019 edition of PC Magazine.

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