Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen): compact Alexa speaker with temperature sensor

The 5th-generation Echo Dot is Amazon's most compact Alexa speaker in a spherical design. At 10 cm across it fits on a bedside table, a shelf or the kitchen counter and responds to voice commands there: play music, audiobooks and podcasts, set alarms and timers, check the weather and news or answer questions.

Compared with its predecessor, Amazon mainly improved the sound. A front-firing 44 mm driver provides clearer vocals and noticeably more bass, according to the manufacturer. That is plenty for a small room or as a kitchen radio; if you want more punch, you can pass music to a larger speaker via Bluetooth or pair two Echo Dots as a stereo pair. That is also why it comes as a 2-pack, which works just as well if you want Alexa in two rooms right away.

Two sensors are new. The temperature sensor measures the room temperature, and you can build routines on it in the Alexa app: if it drops below a set value, Alexa can switch on a smart plug with a fan heater, for example. An accelerometer detects taps on the top, so you can pause music or stop the alarm without a voice command.

As a smart home hub, the Echo Dot controls compatible lights, plugs or thermostats by voice. It connects via dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz) and is set up in the Alexa app. For privacy there is a button that electronically disconnects the microphones; a red light ring shows when they are off.

The Charcoal Echo Dot also comes in sets that make getting started with smart home easier: with a Philips Hue White bulb (E27, usable without a separate hub according to Amazon) or a Tapo L530E colour bulb for voice-controlled lighting, with the Blink Mini 2K+ indoor camera to check in by voice, or with Ring Intercom, which makes an existing audio intercom smart so you can open the building door by voice. Check beforehand in Ring's compatibility checker whether your intercom is supported.

Worth knowing: setup requires an Amazon account, the Alexa app and Wi-Fi; the speaker does not work without internet. Unlike its predecessor, the 5th generation has no 3.5 mm audio output, so you connect external speakers via Bluetooth. The version with an LED clock is a separate model; this page covers the version without a clock.