Author: Slick Choad

★★★★☆ Pros:__________• The globe design with the fabric speaker layout is a decent upgrade from all the previous flat Echos. With the glowing ring now at the bottom of the device, you get a mini space ship.• The “tap to snooze” is a feature that will be helpful if anyone wants this Echo near their bed. When the alarm rings you just need to tap the speaker (the device) with two or more fingers and it will go to snooze for a short time. No button pressing, just anywhere on the speaker and it’ll let you sleep a little more (but just a little more).• A 3.5mm audio jack for connecting a wired speaker. This is something that Google’s nest mini no longer has. I appreciated that Amazon put this in.• If you never used amazon products before, the setup process on any of their machines are ridiculously easy. This is no exception. Just a phone, an app and that’s it.• I’ve had their previous model and setting this up was even easier because all the info I had on my account (Wi-Fi password, smart-plugins, etc.) just merge in flawlessly with this Echo.• Alexa itself is fast. From weather to set times, to stories, and even jokes. If I want directions she responds almost instantly and overall performs excellent, like the previous model.• One of the perks of Amazon Echos is the vast inventory of smart devices that you can connect with. You can buy smart plugins, smart lights, and 1000s more to make your place a “smart” place. In this day in age, the restrictions on what a smart device can be are minimal, and overall it’s a big reason why you want to buy an Echo instead of Apple’s Homepod.• You’re able to listen in on another room if you’re not in the area and the Echo is. A pretty neat tool to have if you’re in an “uncertain” relationship.• The Echo does an excellent job of understanding your routines. For example, my hallway, and bedroom lights are always on at the same time before bed. If I’m in bed I can say “Alexa, good night” and Alexa will shut both of them off. This can also be used to say “Alexa, good morning” and Alexa can turn on any smart devices at the same time in the morning. TV, stereo, coffee maker, all you need is a smart device connector.• Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Deezer, Spotify. You have all the choices in the world in choosing your music channel (except of course google and apple music)• This Echo can connect with any of the other models of Echos, regardless of generation. This means that you just need to tap the Announce tab on Alexa and you can say/type a message of your choosing. All Echos in you have will be able to repeat what you said. I found this pretty niffy if you have kids throughout the house and you want them to come to you.• The light-up time and temperature are bright and never overbearing.• Echo can also call landlines, and any calls placed to numbers in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico for free. Note: Your Wi-Fi strength will be your indicator if the call quality will be good for you.• The volume on these devices doesn’t bring in any distortion or cranked tones when turning this device up high.• Overall the volume balances heavily towards the highs and mid-tones. A decent performance for the size that it is.Cons and Oks:__________• There is little to no volume bass in this device. The result makes an overall boomy experience. It’s still decent sound but it wasn’t something I was amazed by.• This isn’t a 360 design as the fabric covering the speaker covers only around 2/3rds of the Echo. This leaves a bare wedge in the rear.• As much as the voice assistant is helpful, you still need to speak to Alexa with a “specific” dialogue to get what you need. One of the benefits of Google in my eyes is the software in their mini. You’re able to be more open in the conversational dialogue. Alexa isn’t there yet.• For the size, I have to say that you’re getting a pretty large power brick.• Alexa Guard is a cool feature where it can inform you in the app if Alexa hears a smoke alarm or breaking glass when you’re out. I put this in the Con section because I kept getting false alarms from Alexa. I don’t know if this was a glitch but I assume that a software update will fix this problem. When it does, then it’s indeed a great tool to have, but don’t expect it to be beneficial if you have an indoor dog/cat.• Amazon does have a $5/month service where the save guard will listen to footsteps and opening doors. Don’t know why you have to pay for this if the software is already on the device.• I wish that you can buy the kids the designs for the Echo without the need to buy a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+.Bottom Line:__________This is either an alarm clock next to your bed or a nice radio when you’re cooking. It’s small, light, and you have the same Alexa power that Amazon’s more expensive Echos have. With the price that it is, this Echo is a great way to see if you want to start making your house a “smart” house, or even for someone who isn’t tech-savvy. I do recommend that you fork over the extra $10 and buy this Echo with the backlit clock.Now for those who have any of the previous models, this isn’t worth the buy. There aren’t many significant changes. The main function of this Echo is the same performance as any other model (this is coming from someone who has the previous gen). Amazon still hasn’t fixed the bass issue, then again you’re paying not much for this.In the end, Amazon does a great job with the software of these devices. They’re very simple to use and don’t take that much power in using them. As I mentioned, one of Amazon’s best perks is the vast variety of third-party dealers that the Echo can connect with. This is something that both the google mini and Apple's Homepod don’t even come close to.Overall: An updated design built well for your bedroom or kitchen, but no need to upgrade from its predecessor.Hope I was a help to you.Love,Honest Reviewer

★★★★★ The media could not be loaded.  I preordered this echo dot with clock and began using the first day available on November 5th 2020. I have multiple 3rd generation echo dots with clock and I love the upgrade to the 4th generation echo dot with clock. I chose the Twilight Blue color and it’s great looking in person. It’s a nice break with additional from the charcoal and sandstone color but still looks elegant and sleek in design. The light ring on the base and digital clock display and brighter and more crisp than the 3rd generation dot. It’s very easy to read. The speakers and microphone are improved as well. The wire is a light grey color and the 15w Adaptor is rectangular in shape versus the square shape of the 3rd generation 15w power Adaptor. The manual buttons to control the echo are on top similar to last years model, but slightly recessed towards the back so they are not in view when staring directly and the front of the digital clock face. The speaker is more full in front of the dot and raises in the back where the wire plugs into dot. Setup was easy. I am considering trading in my older 3rd generation echo dots with digital clock for additional 4th generation echo dots with digital clock instead.

★★★★★ The media could not be loaded.  Just received it today for my daughter. She loves it! For years she has been trying to get her hands on my echo devices. Now she has our own. I must say it is a big Improvement from the 3rd Generation Echo Dot.It has true surround sound.~ The LED clock on the front is very bright, and displays the time in standard, and military time. It has a time, and alarm indicator.~ The lights around the base increase and decrease according to the volume setting. This Echo dot puts on a nice little light show, if could almost be used as a night light.~ The buttons for the microphone, volumes up, down, and deactivation button sit on top of the 4th gen echo. With raised button symbols it can easily be accessed even in the dark.~ The sound quality is a real improvement. You can hear channels, lows, midrange, and highs. I mean it a small speaker, so you can't expect to get bass thumping, room shaking sound. But it will surprise you with how powerful it is for it's size.~ The microphone is a upgrade also. It's very sensitive, and can hear you practically whisper across the room.~ It still has the 3.5 mm output jack to connect to bigger speaker systems. So you can still get that room shaking sound. If you have big speakers you can make them smart.If you've ever had a smart speaker before(echo, google) or you have a whole host of skills aside from playing music you can activate from the Alexa app.~ Apps to set reminders, lists~ Set alarms, and timers.~ Play games, and trivia, and puzzles.~ Read to you from your Kindle books, and Audible acct.~ Control smart devices like smart lights, outlets, and even smart locks.- The one drawback (Con) that I found is that when - I have its side by side with the 1st, and 3rd generation Echo Dot it is actually a few seconds slower in responding.But overall the 4th generation Echo Dot is a improvement. You get for playing music, and it plays music better than the previous gens. Amazon continue to improve, and make a good thing great.

★★★★☆ The new Echo 4th Gen is a big change in aesthetics and design for the Echo line. The new spherical shape is wider and shorter than previous Echo versions, and now focus sound in one primary direction instead of 360 degrees. It adds an extra tweeter, and seems to produce more sound than previous versions. Here are my early thoughts so far, after using it for about 24 hours:THE GOOD:Setup was incredibly simple. I just powered the device on, and the Echo announced that it was ready for setup. I opened the Alexa app on my phone, and the new Echo was automatically detected and set up instantly. I didn't have to enter any information at all. It can't get any easier than this.BETTER SOUND. This new Echo has an extra tweeter, for a total of two 0.8 inch tweeters, and the same 3.0 inch Sub from the Gen 3 Echo. This new Echo is designed with the tweeters pointed forward, and the speaker placement seems to generate more bass also somehow, even with the same Sub as the Gen 3. All in all I think it sounds much better than Gen 3, with a little more bass and louder max volume. This could also be do to the sound-mapping feature that allows Echo to maximize the sound by detecting the acoustics and shape of the room. You can also pair two of these in stereo; and you are supposed to be able to use it as a speaker for your FireTV device, though I haven't tested that out yet.Temperature sensor included. Yes, you can ask Alexa what the temperature is, and it seems very accurate so far. This is a nice touch, and I look forward to doing more testing, to see if I can set up routines based on temperature.AZ1 Processor. This new Amazon processor promises better voice recognition and faster Alexa responses. In my testing so far, I have barely noticed a slight speed improvement (for example turning on certain room lights) but there are supposed to be upcoming updates that will make an even bigger difference in speed.Zigbee + Sidewalk Bridge. This comes with a Zigbee hub, just like previous versions of the Echo Plus. It also contains the new Sidewalk Bridge, which allows the Echo to use bluetooth and radio connections to connect to some smart devices at long range, and push data to the internet.THE BAD:No 360 degree speakers. While I personally prefer the sound of this new version, some people might miss the 360 degree speaker setup of previous Echo generations. It certainly might lead to a situation where the ideal placement of the Echo in your room could be different.White power cord. This is minor, but a strange choice. No matter what color Echo you get, the power cord is white. Some people might find that annoying.Voice detection is not great while loud music is playing. This surprised me, as previous generations haven;t really struggled with this in my experience. I'm not sure if it is because this speaker is much louder, but Alexa hasn't heard me a few times when I talked while the music was playing at max volume. This could be annoying if you often listen to very loud music.NEUTRAL: -Aesthetics. I think I preferred the look of the cylinder design, instead of this new sphere shape. This is totally personal preference of course. I also wish the entire sphere was fabric, instead of being plastic on the back side. Some people might prefer the ball shape though, so that is up to you.All in all, I'm keeping this new Echo because of the better sound and faster responsiveness, but it is not really a massive upgrade. Pretty decent so far, I'll update this review and try to answer any questions in the future!

★☆☆☆☆ - Inconsistent when responding - sometimes will answer you from 10 feet away, sometimes won't respond from 3 feet away. Hot/cold.- On some occasions, will understand you perfectly - better than you expect. At others, you wonder if you're on the same plane of existence.Speaking of Echo though, I do like the sound quality. It does sound bassy but I think there's a higher degree of clarity. I tested this by playing "50 ways to lose your lover" (aka Steve Gadd's iconic drum groove) on Echo 3rd gen and 4th gen. The song sounds so much better on the latter.Anyhoo, the model in question has poor listening skills on account of which, I rate it a glorious 1 star.

★★☆☆☆ I actually prefer the more balanced sound from my echo plus (2nd gen) without needing to mess with the equalizer. I also prefer the 360° sound from the echo plus. after going back-and-forth I’ve personally experienced the microphones on the echo plus pick up my voice better. in my opinion this new version just sounds a little bit louder with more bass even though they both have the exact same drivers with the exception of the new one having an extra tweeter which doesn’t really make a difference in the sound. I actually had to turn down the bass just a little because it sounded a little... messy. i’m not really sure why they completely changed the design and got rid of the 360° sound and made it a directional sound speaker instead. i’m a little confused. One more thing I noticed about the new speaker is when the volume goes up the bass goes down which is very common for all these speakers and most Bluetooth speakers but it seems especially evident in this newest version of the echo. they could’ve at least made the bluetooth option volume sync with your phone with this new version. and of course it wasn’t compatible to pair with my echo plus for stereo. ok i’m done.

★★★★★ Works exactly as described - reliable, easy to use with Spotify connect directly or other services over AirPlay. Overall I am very happy and would highly recommend it over much more expensive modular systems by other five letter wireless audio companies. Electricity consumption is lower as well. I purchased a 6 zone system and immediately updated to 8. Now if only there were a ten zone option without purchasing a second 6 zone system :)On that note I do have some suggestions for improvement or considerations, but no deal breakers:Amplification - 20w RMS is sufficient to drive 6.5" B&W architectural speakers at low to moderate volume. Any audiophile will argue it's not nearly enough to extract the intended sound, and while that may be true, in practical terms it sounds fine. The only challenge I have noticed is with my outdoor landscape speakers. Longer wiring runs and zero room amplification makes for low volume only. Still fine 95% of the time.Inputs - Spotify connect is great. AirPlay works as well, but I have noticed a drift in synchronization when streaming from my apple TV. Switching to 2.0 audio vs. auto helped, but still drifts over 15-30 minutes by a second or so. Not sure if that's an AirPlay 1 vs. 2 issue or something that could be addressed, but just something to keep in mind if you intend to frequently utilize in-wall speakers in a living room for 2.0 tv audio.Analog input - While there is an input adapter offered from a third party (I haven't gotten it to work...yet), it's a low end adapter this won't be a solution to play your records from a high end player... even if it will work, I would just stick to streaming.Volume Control - This works great for Spotify Connect and Airplay. Unlike the other five letter company, you cannot adjust volume control for each zone (only relative volumes, and those settings aren't on the fly adjustments) when playing the same source, but multiple sources works great.Future Feature / Hardware requests:Any chance we could see increased amplification without relying on clumsy integration with third party receivers? A small box with 50 or 80 watts RMS and two additional zones at a reasonable price would be great! Of course profitability would be lower on something like this than the main unit, but it's an add on so it should work out.EQ settings? the base EQ is good, boosted lows, but architectural speakers are far from perfect and could use some helpAirPlay 2 or other wireless integration support? Perhaps in form of a hardware upgrade or trade up in the future. Not sure if that would help with inconsistent latency.All in all very happy and highly recommend!

★★★★★ I moved into a house pre-wired for in ceiling speakers in 6 rooms about a year ago and have been looking for a system to utilize them. My observation is that almost everything out there is catered to professional installers and/or doesn't have easy to use mechanisms to connect and play from your audio sources. The juke system is a fraction of the price of the professional options and was easy to set up and use. I installed the system in about 45 minutes and had sound to the whole house immediately. I've only had the system for a few weeks, so I can't speak to longevity yet, but the product worked exactly as advertised and is a great solution for people looking to set up pre-wired speakers on their own.

★★★★★ I had 2 broken Nuvo P3100, and it must be so common that an ebay seller offers to fix DOA ones. I needed a solution, and I wanted something that was easy to use.the fact that it just uses airplay is awesome. I quickly removed my old Nuvo players, and installed my JukeAudio 6 zone player, and it took about 10 minutes. My closet is super packed, and it was hard to squeeze in to get access to wires and whatnot.But the reality was awesome. Disconnected 6 pairs of wires with a set for each pair, connected them with the same exact type of attachment but with 2 pairs using one attachment. Connected my ethernet cable, turned it on, and it was working super easy.I got my wife to play her music. I got my friend to try it on his phone. it was super easy for everyone to connect to the same wifi, and just play their music. No app to use. Just simple airplay, and we were off to the races.I highly recommend it. I can't give you any idea on the durability or the longevity, but the ease of use and ease of installing was awesome.Now, I don't have to keep moving bluetooth speakers around. It took me a year to finally bite the bullet, and I am glad that I waited and found such a useful product.

★★★☆☆ The sound is pretty good overall but i purchased it because of the 10" woofer and the 1500 watts. those stats screem deep ball. in reality the bass seems to be mostly in the 50hz range. if your like me, a bass head u want that to hit in the low 40's minimum low 30's even better. so for me its a huge disappointment and will be returned

★★☆☆☆ My daughter had a Samsung Radiant 360 R 1 which sounded great, so I was hoping that this much larger, MUCH more expensive speaker would knock my socks off. Not even close. While heavy on base, it was not loud and sound quality was uneven and cheap. Seems I was searching for the grown-up version of the R 1, but got the silly, sad middle school P.A. speaker instead - and for only $500 ! Good thing I still have my compact, bedside BOSE for when I want Loud & Clear ...

★★☆☆☆ Cons: (T50 model)1. You get a quarter of the advertised 500w MRS.2. No WI Fi connectivity (means no casting on WiFi, not compatible with SmartThing)3. Issues out of the box: wouldn't connect to TV using "TV search" and needed to set up manually every time I turn my TV on and my TV remote wouldn't recognize the speaker as it should.4. Made in china 🇨🇳 not South Korea or US; Not completely wireless, Not rechargeable not compatible with any other samsung sound system but the same model.(Someone asked, that's why I'm getting it posted)5. You need two of the same model to get Stereo Sound. (They could let you set different speakers and limit to smallest wattage output)6. App is a whole different story let's leave it in it needs a lot of improvement. (Doesn't work while connected to TV)7. Unreliable Tech support that will give you NO answers and lack knowledge about Samsung Products and its features. (Samsung Support) setting up fake call-back every time you call.After wasting too much valuable time over the phone getting no where I stater my onw researc, updated firmware and it fixed the connectivity issues at least next customer won't have to deal with that.Pros:1. Looks good, Nice design (maybe became the issue that made them limit the wattage output)2. Sounds OK and loud but at high it doesn't sound clear and bass doesn't sound stable with current design.Conclusion: I recommend if you could leave with cons; you using it with Bluetooth mobil devices and you need to get a speaker that looks really nice and sounds OK for indoors (and you can buy two of the same model for Stereo Sound with your TV); wouldn't recommend for outdoor unless you have small backyard 😉

★★★★★ After reading a handful of reviews that were based on people upset about emotional aspects of the speaker... ie it won't connect to their flip 4 speakers. Whatever. I looked past that and am glad I went with the 5. The sound quality is superb. The bass response is indeed superior to the 4 as well as the battery life. At the same price point of 100 dollars its a no brainer. The Flip 5 is a superior model in all aspects. This speaker far, far exceeded my expectations. This speaker is stupid loud - and crisp at that. I work in an automotive shop and I keep my volume at 25% in my station. Phenomenal sound, phenomenal quality, could not be happier. I highly recommend.

★★★★★ The media could not be loaded.  The speaker itself is really loud. As you can see in the video, I barely have this turned up and the speakers on the side are bouncing. Changing the song forward is really easy, just push the play button twice (double tap). The only thing you can't do is change it back. I can have my phone away and I'm still able to turn the volume up or down with just pushing the buttons of the speaker. You'll see that I have a case on my speaker, it's the RichSmile Silicone Carrying Travel Case for JBL FLIP 5 Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker. Even with the case on, it doesn't alter the sound that comes out of this thing. I haven't tested the waterproof on this however, I have taken this at the beach and in the mountains and the sound on this is amazing. Easy to connect to either types of phones and even tablets. Really am amazed with the sound quality on this speaker.

★☆☆☆☆ If you just need a good sounding portable speaker with heavy bass range and no wires then this might be a good option, but far better sounding units out there at less price if you don’t care about not having a JBL tag.However, they advertise if you buy two, you can configure one for left and the other for right channel operation. Forget it. First it’s not easy as they force you to download a special “JBL connect” App. Which is required to reset the speakers each time as they keep defaulting to mono mode. In addition, the app is next to worthless as it keeps having problems recognizing any speakers are present requiring many many attempts to connect.Finally, in order to actually use this piece of crap software you first have to agree to TWO (2) totally separate licensing agreements, which are about 1000 pages long and describe all the snooping they plan to do regarding when you are using the speakers, the other connected devices, where you are physically when you are using them, and also agree to let them send you all kinds of JBL and third party advertisements to your email address. The most recent Federal Budget had fewer legal terms, conditions, and far less pages than these speakers require!Please explain why a very basic utility program needed only to reset default settings on something you just purchased suddenly requires the same licensing and usage monitoring as purchasing MSWord or Excel?.Save your money, and don’t blame me if you think I’m exaggerating.