Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Generation)-Smart speaker with Alexa

The marquee feature of the Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Generation) is the revamped audio system that helps make the Echo Dot sound better than any version prior.While there’s very little debate that the latest Echo Dot does, in fact, sound better than the 2017 model, it’s not quite the device you’d want to listen to a whole album on – vocals are easily lost in a cacophony of sound, and bass is nearly non-existent (a given considering how small the Amazon Echo Dot is).So, yes, while some music does better on the Echo than others (prog rock is not the Echo Dot’s friend and rap is just OK), you’ll still want to connect the Echo Dot to an external speaker when it’s time for some heavy listening.Unfortunately connecting devices to the Amazon Echo Dot isn’t as simple as it could be: Disappointingly while Google has figured out a universal way to connect devices via Chromecast Built-in, Amazon needs to rely on Bluetooth for its connections. That’s not a dealbreaker by any means, but it can be a bit of an annoyance if you have friends over who all want to take turns playing DJ.It’s also interesting that Amazon is pushing the audio performance aspect of the speaker as we found during our testing that it was the microphones and call quality that left us most impressed.Friends and family we spoke to using the Amazon Echo Dot claimed that the quality was nearly as good – if not better than – the speakerphone quality on our phones. That speaks to the quality of the Amazon Echo Dot’s microphone array and the noise-reduction algorithm Amazon has implemented for phone calls.Calling, therefore, remains one of the best features of the Amazon Echo Dot – alongside smart device control, of course.If you’re looking for a device to give to family members who might not call as frequently as they should, the Amazon Echo Dot’s ability to ‘Drop In’ and make on-demand calls to anyone, anywhere in the country remains a great solution.