Amazon’s Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio speakers are now available (they were announced in September). I went hands-on with both models to find which one offers the best performance for the money.

The new Studio, which costs $210, boasts “premium audio,” including Dolby Atmos capability and comes in a spherical design. Amazon says it’s reduced the size of the Echo Studio by 40%, but this is a little disingenuous. The new speaker is the same size as the existing Echo (about 5.5 inches in diameter). All the company has really done is rename that product’s follow-up.

Meanwhile, the Echo Dot Max, priced at $100, is a 4-inch-diameter speaker with an improved microphone array. Amazon says the speaker can now detect the chosen wake-word up to 50% better. It lacks Dolby Atmos, though.

Echo Studio on Amazon

Echo Dot Max on Amazon

The larger Studio speaker uses the new AZ3 Pro chips, while the Dot Max uses the AZ3, which enables the new “AI Accelerator” for compatibility with future AI models. The new range is designed to be used with Alexa Plus, the company’s AI upgrade to Alexa. 

Apart from the size difference, the two speakers appear identical, with their “Death Star” appearance and controls at the center. Both have 3D knitted covers, which are supposed to improve sound.

When Amazon first introduced the Echo 10 years ago, it was in the shape of a Pringles can and, frankly, sounded like one as well. The most recent Amazon Echo was the company’s first compact speaker that really impressed me. It’s no accident that it’s called the Studio, as it does inherit some of its DNA — namely, TV connectivity and Dolby Atmos support.

Do we really need Generative AI in our smart speakers?

Alexa Plus is a large language model upgrade on the original Alexa, and can now potentially do the kinds of things you can ask ChatGPT for. You can ask it to write a poem, for instance. So I did — it was all about emotional intelligence (randomly), and it rhymed. But is that good?  

I also tried some random queries, asking about the weather, the time and when the next Jets game was.

Most humorously, I asked Alexa Plus to tell me the worst Star Wars movie, and it chose The New Jedi Order, which hasn’t been released yet. Alexa told me this movie suffered from “rushed content” and tried too hard to “balance appeal for young audiences.”

Meanwhile, Gemini on Google TV did better with this query, listing three films that were actually released. Unsurprisingly, it said the worst was The Rise of Skywalker.

However, I don’t think Alexa is much of a ChatGPT replacement. People likely won’t ask Alexa to draft letters or craft listings for eBay, but they will continue to ask the time and to play music. For that, it works quite well.

Using it like an Echo speaker

As with the last few models of Echo speakers, I found the microphones on both models to be very sensitive. Even when music was playing full blast, I could mumble “Alexa” from across the room and it would hear. Only if I was whispering was it ineffective at picking it up. 

They can both get to similar levels of loudness, but one was better for music than the other. 

The Dot Max was pretty thin-sounding with the rock-and-roll of Hot Hot Heat’s Bandages and even shrill at its top volume. The Echo Studio was able to go louder and had a lot more bass to underpin it. Meanwhile, Hot Hot Heat on the older Echo Studio sounded more like a full band due to its much larger cabinet, and the bass guitar was much tighter. It did sound a little more diffuse than the two new Echos, though, and the newer speakers are better with speech.

I was impressed when listening to the Life by the Beta Band on the new Studio. The song has a very deep bassline, and the speaker didn’t shake itself to pieces. All of the bass notes were even in volume. 

At the launch, Amazon demonstrated the speakers’ ability to form a surround sound system from two or more identical units. Unfortunately, Amazon has confirmed that this capability isn’t available on the production models yet.

Is there a winner?

At $200, the Echo Studio is pretty expensive, but it does sound a lot better than the smaller Dot Max. But that model is also pretty pricey at $100. I wouldn’t yet recommend either model as there are a lot of competitive speakers for both of these units.

If I were buying a speaker now and wanted both excellent sound quality and Alexa capability (though not Plus, yet), I would buy the Sonos Era 100. If you just want a speaker that can do podcasts, I’d skip over the Dot Max and go for the cheaper Dot. I look forward to testing the two models further and against other competitors’ models.