You could say it was only a matter of time until we got new Echo speakers to match the major revamp that is Alexa+, and Amazon finally delivered just that. Unveiled at Amazon’s singular, major hardware event on September 30, 2025, in New York City, Panos Panay – the devices chief – showed the new Echo lineup.
Yes, the current Echo Dot is sticking around, but symbolically replacing the full-sized Echo is the Echo Dot Max, and a new Echo Studio brings the oomph. The latter retails for $219.99 / £219.99 / AU$429 and immediately piqued my interest, then shortly after, my ears were treated to a demo.
Amazon completely redesigned the Echo Studio – gone is a rounded, plump cylinder-stump first-generation studio, and in is a much more modern orb that takes its design cues from the also brand-new Echo Dot Max and even from the orb, melon-sized 4th Gen Echo speaker.
The Echo Studio is a gray orb with a woven mesh outer – Panos says no seams will be found – that features a concave cutout for the power and volume controls and a flat bottom so that it doesn’t roll off the table.
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Surrounding that control panel impression is the now-iconic Alexa ring of LEDs. It can glow blue when it’s listening, red when the microphones are muted, and green if you have a notification (the latter color only enhances its slightly Death Star-like looks).
It’s a very modern-looking speaker that looks strikingly different from, say, a Sonos Era 100, but is more in line with a HomePod if it were tilted or even the forthcoming rumored next-gen speaker from Google. The Echo Studio is distinctly an Echo and, unlike the former, it’s now one that can happily sit on a table, shelf, or in a stereo pair – or up to a group of five – on a home entertainment cabinet.
Beyond its good looks – which I think the Echo Studio excels at from a first glance – it also sounds remarkably good. In a demo shortly after the keynote wrapped, I was taken into a room filled with new Echos as well as a Fire TV.
While Amazon didn’t opt to spin a track from Electric Nebraska or Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, we did hear Dreams by Fleetwood Mac – first on the regular Echo Dot, which didn’t offer much in the area of sonic clarity or room-filling sound. Still, it laid the sonic groundwork for the Echo Dot Max to provide better separation of flowing higher-frequency vocals above the lower-end, which in turn led us to the far more powerful Echo Studio.
Amazon’s $219.99 smart speaker not only got pretty loud in a packed demo room, but also offered excellent separation and clarity of elements within a given track in a quick demo. The vocals especially sounded great, and there was indeed an oomph on the downbeat via the built-in woofer.
Amazon then lit up five Echo Studios – two in the rear and three facing me in the front – to play Thriller by Michael Jackson, and this showed off the spatial audio chops, with creaks in the back and footsteps in the front, and then being quite literally surrounded by the track.
Now, this setup would be well over $1,000, so I’m not sure how common it will be, but from a first listen, a single Echo Studio doesn’t disappoint in the audio department.
That’s largely thanks to the technology under the hood – three full-range drivers and a single high-excursion woofer all work in unison and are controlled by Amazon’s new high-end chip, this AZ3 Pro. This controls the audio experience and can fine-tune it for the room based on what the far-field microphones are hearing, as well as onboard algorithms.
And that about sums up my first impressions of the Echo Studio. While it is 40% smaller than the original, I believe it still packs a strong punch with sound, especially at the lower end of the spectrum or when grouped with others. I especially like the new design here, which I think will make it a much more appealing smart speaker option for the masses.
We’ll be back soon enough with our complete thoughts after we’ve had time to put the Echo Studio through its paces. However, if you’re sold, the Echo Studio is now available for preorder at $219.99 / £219.99 / AU$429 and will begin shipping on October 29, 2025. And it’ll be eligible for Alexa+ right out of the box.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
