Amazon Makes Conversations With Alexa Seriously Smart And Echo Speakers Are Cooler Than Ever Before

The standard Echo is getting the biggest update this year/Amazon announced updates to its entire line-up of Echo smart speakers, aka the Echo Dot, Echo Dot with Clock and Echo, at its annual fall hardware event last night alongside the all-new Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite. The Echo, in its fourth generation, is a spherical orb now with its hallmark LED light ring at the base. There are enhancements to sound and power consumption as well.

The standard Echo is getting the biggest update this year in that it is no longer “standard” in Amazon’s Echo range. It is in fact the highest-end model now combining the “best of Echo” with the Zigbee smart home capabilities of the Echo Plus. It is not immediately clear if Amazon is discontinuing the Echo Plus, though it surely looks like it.

Apart from its updated design and smarts, Amazon says the fourth-generation Echo should sound “significantly” better too. This is in part due to its Echo Studio-like adaptive audio credentials that allow it to automatically sense the environment and deliver the best possible sound. The Echo comes with a 3.0-inch woofer and dual-firing tweeters for stereo output.