Review: Echo Spot

Amazon added onscreen ads to the Echo Show slideshows and even the weather report on my Echo Show 8, and they’re almost impossible to turn off. The Echo Spot, so far, is ad-free. There’s a chance Amazon could add these in the future, but I’m crossing my fingers this screen is too small to make it worth it. I would’ve said the same about the tiny real estate available on the Show 8’s weather page, though, so I know it’s not a guarantee.

The Echo Spot can also display your calendar when you ask, scrolling through your four upcoming events in a little list while talking you through it. Again, it’s a nice visual companion to the voice assistant, without a large cluttered screen. It is a small screen, so you can’t read it from super far away, but I found it handy to read while at my desk or listen to while I got dressed.

Photograph: Nena Farrell

Photograph: Nena Farrell

The only thing missing is smart home control. Unlike regular smart displays or the newer Hub (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the Echo Spot doesn’t have a smart home control area on the menu, and I can access rooms or devices only via voice request. It does pull up a little power button onscreen when you ask to control a specific room or device, like “turn on my kitchen,” which you can then tap on and off. But there’s no way to access devices or rooms without first using your voice.

While I like seeing the widgets and having smart home control on my larger smart displays, I don’t love how distracting a smart display can be in my office or my living room. The scrolling screen is constantly catching my eye when I’d rather not look at it, and often isn’t showing me something I need to see right then. The Echo Spot’s balance of screen info without rolling clutter makes it a great addition almost anywhere in the house.

Sound Off

Photograph: Nena Farrell

The only thing that the Echo Spot lacks is, unfortunately, good sound.