Echo Dot 4th Gen Smart speaker with Alexa Charcoal.
Positive Reviews
Positive Review – 1
Tiny size. PHENOMENAL sound.
Much smaller than expected but the sound is phenomenal. I have almost every single version of the Echo and Echo dot in my house for an easy-to-use Spotify music setup to surround me upstairs with music but this little orb is the best sounding of the lot. Highly recommended and a great improvement over the Dot. I hope that Amazon keeps this style for a while.
Positive Review – 2
Little Powerful Dot
I’m loving the full sound, a great upgrade. What I don’t like is the white cord, why not black? Not sure 🤔 who made the decision for the cord to be white. For a little tech toy, the sound is really nice for the price. I love the new design, why not add a digital clock on the charcoal design was disappointing but not a huge one. Overall a great sound from a little toy, can’t wait for them to add the new feature that allows me to monitor issues when I’m away at work and alert me real-time on my phone…..
Positive Review – 3
Easy setup, Functional and Fun.
This is the fifth dot I’ve purchased, but the first 4th gen. (4 3rd gen’s and 2 Toshiba Fire TVs). Setup was easy, so no news there but the sound quality is better than on the 3rd gens. Also, it hears better. The improved aesthetics are an eye-catcher that draws questions, comments, and compliments. I have yet to set up my smart home so I can’t speak to its smart home functionality, but as with everything Amazon, I’m looking forward to that integration. If you’re looking to jump into the smart assistant/Alexa world or looking to upgrade from previous generations then this is a good device though there are now plenty of 3rd gens, both new and pre-owned that are more reasonable. Still, this is a great device that I highly recommend. We use it, and all our other Dots all day long for announcing, news, music, drop-in, calendar and timer notifications, shopping among other features. In closing, five stars! 🙂
Positive Review – 4
Amazing Smart Speaker for under 50$
This smart speaker is great at controlling your smart home and light music listening. While it sounds okay to a person with good taste in sound, the normal consumer would love this. Overall a must-buy!
Positive Review – 5
Best dot ever 👍😇
I currently have 6 Echo devices and I have had nearly every model since the original pringles can design. I love the look of the new globe-style dots. I purchased this latest dot for use near my new Xbox in the media room. the sound is excellent for its size and I love the futuristic look and shape of the device. Highly recommended! Amazingly simple setup took all of 20 seconds using the alexa.amazon.com website!
Negative Reviews
Negative Review – 1
A Major DOWNGRADE
I purchased this as I always do with the latest and greatest echo devices. This was a sour Disappointment for someone who is used to amazon improving on their devices yearly.
Complaints:
1. They shipped my Black echo, with a WHITE cord, In the past, the cord color matched the device, why change?
2. The charger is Noticeably larger and cheaper looking, sporting rounded corners and a bulky design.
3. The sound quality vs my 2nd Gen Dot has actually gotten worse. This speaker lacks bass and is very “hollow” sounding. The gen 2 speaker blows the gen 3 out of the water, IMO they majorly cheaped out to get you other features like an Ai core and a bulkier bigger device, in bigger packaging, requiring more shipping cost, a poor trade-off for quality.
4. Its fabric mesh and construction seem cheaper than previous generations, it is significantly lighter than a previous-gen (my guess is a small speaker magnet and more airspace due to its odd shape)
5. It’s small, I thought the ball was cool, big, and substantially, As a speaker should be, but it’s a tennis ball-sized and looks like a child’s toy or a cheap Bluetooth speaker you got for $5…..
6. It has this awful “sheen” to the plastic that makes it look like some Chinese garbage product…
7. The buttons feel awful and cheap compared to previous generations.
Pros:
It has underglow now.
Overall it’s clear this product was rushed or had a strict budget in which a lot of its features and quality were stripped. The gen2 dots are amazing, and if you weren’t going to make them better, why release a gen 3?
It costs more, it’s much much worse in basically every category, and in my opinion, is a complete fail. It’s supreme selling a brick because you want it. Buy a gen2, you’ll be happier
Negative Review – 2
Get the Gen 3, sound quality is way better.
Sound quality is way better on the Gen 3 than the Gen 4.
This new Gen 4 costs a lot more money and doesn’t sound good.
The Gen 3 actually has pretty good sound quality until you get it up 3/4 of the max sound.
I bought a bunch of the Gen 3s and a couple of the Gen 4s and I was going to see which I like better.
After setting up the Gen 4 I played the same song on the Gen 3 and the Gen 4 side by side with the lights off to really focus on the sound.
The Gen 4 sounds like a tin can, it has no quality to it just an empty sound, Even after I adjusted the sound settings, bass, and reverb.
The Gen 3 actually has some bass and some “thickness” to the sound.
I’m returning both of my Gen 4s.
While we are on the topic, don’t get an echo show, the digital display Alexa devices. Just get a fire tablet and use it for the same thing. It does everything the show does but way more, you can get most apps on it.
Negative Review – 3
The sound quality is bad, very bad.
I own echo dot gen 3and I was VERY excited to try gen 4. However, it is quite disappointing, the voice recognition is ok. But the sound quality is horrendous, even Alexa sounds different. I will keep it because I can’t wait until 2021 to get another gen 3. Also, it feels cheaper than gen 3 so… if you can get gen 3 instead of 4, do it.
Negative Review – 4
The microphone is garbage, rarely responds to wake word.
We are returning the 4th Gen Echo Dot after trying unsuccessfully for nearly two months to get it working properly. Do not buy until they suss out the mic.
I sit less than 30″ away from it, and it does not respond to the wake word. I have to shout at it so loud that the 3rd gen Dot in the living room downstairs responds. If I press the Alexa button, it responds to commands. If I unplug the power, let it sit for 60 seconds, then plug it back in, it responds to the wake word for a while. If I walk away from it for an hour or two after rebooting it, the Echo is back to not responding to the wake word. This device is of no use if I have to keep power it cycling manually to make it functional. No, the mic is not on mute.
Negative Review – 5
Keep your last generation echo, this is a MAJOR downgrade
I purchased this as I always do with the latest and greatest echo devices. This was a horrible mistake.
Problems:
1. These echo and power cords are no longer matching colors and the cord is shorter and feels significantly cheaper.
2. The power adapter is much larger and cheaper too and is a bulky design.
3. The sound quality compared to the 3nd Gen Dot is substantially worse. As in if the sound quality of the 3rd gen was an 8 out of 10 the sound quality of this 4th gen is maybe a 3 out of 10. The speaker lacks bass and is very “hollow” sounding.
4. Its fabric mesh and construction seem cheaper and feel like they are much lower quality.
5. It has this awful cheap plastic look to it similar to a Chinese garbage speaker you would get on wish.
7. The buttons are unresponsive and feel like hollow plastic.
Pros:
I guess the light under it is a nice touch however on a dark surface it makes it difficult to see during the day.
It’s clear that a lot of its features and quality were stripped. The gen 3 dots are amazing, and if you are thinking of upgrading, don’t. If you are looking for an echo dot get a gen 3, I even went out and found three more gen 3 dots to replace my last-gen 1 dots since I know I won’t be able to get them soon and will be stuck with this garbage until gen 5 which they hopefully won’t cheap out on.
