Amazon Echo Studio (2025)

With booming bass, spatial audio and Alexa+, this is the best smart speaker for an Amazon-centric home

- MIKE PROSPERO

The Echo Studio is Amazon's premium audio device, but it hasn't had an update since its original release in 2019 - at least, not until now. Half a dozen years later, it's finally been refreshed with a new look and a slew of updated features.

In place of the original Echo Studio's canister-like design, the 2025 version looks like a larger version of the Echo Dot Max (see opposite). It's a spherical device, with a circular indentation in the front where the volume controls sit; encircling these is the familiar LED ring, and the rest of the body is wrapped in a mesh fabric that's similar to that on the Apple HomePod mini (see issue 362, p93). There's almost nothing else to it - just a screw mount in the bottom, so you can attach it to a wall should you wish to.

When I reviewed the original Amazon Echo Studio I praised its overall sound quality, but with reservations; while the bass went loud, I noticed that mid-range frequencies seemed a little lost. I was wary, therefore, when I noted that the new version has a more compact speaker array that does away with the dedicated mid-range speakers in favour of three 1.5in full-range drivers, along with a single 3.75in woofer.