If you’re looking to make your house a smart home, Amazon’s wide selection of Echo speakers are a great option. Use our list to find the one that would best complement your living space.  

Amazon Echo speakers are the among the best ways to get on-board with the Alexa digital assistant. You can get small ones, larger ones, and Echo devices with screens, letting you see weather reports and recipes. There are no duds in the Echo line-up, but the first thing to decide is whether you want an Echo with a display, or would be happier with a simpler screen-free speaker. We’ll cover both styles in this list of the best Amazon Echo units.

• Best buy: Amazon Echo (4th Generation)
• Best value: Amazon Echo Show 5
• Best audio: Amazon Echo Studio
• Best for video calls: Amazon Echo Show 10

Amazon Echo (4th Generation)

• Best buy
• Buy the 4th Generation Amazon Echo

The 4th Generation Amazon Echo is a good place to start for anyone looking to buy an Alexa speaker. It’s a fairly compact ball speaker that looks cute, doesn’t take up too much space, and sounds surprisingly powerful. With a 3-inch woofer and two tweeters, you could easily use this smart speaker in place of a hifi in smaller rooms. It does not have a screen, but if you just want Amazon Alexa access and music playback, it’s perfect.

Pros

• Unusual but stylish appearance
• Surprisingly powerful sound
• Good value

Cons

• Has no screen so you miss out on some Alexa interactions

Amazon Echo Show 5

• Best value
• Buy the Amazon Echo Show 5

Get an Amazon Echo Show 5 if you want to see all the fundamentals of the Alexa digital assistant experience without spending too much. It has a 5-inch screen, a surprisingly good 1.6-inch speaker driver and a 2MP camera. You can use it as a work desk, kitchen top or bedside speaker, make video calls, and get your updates right there on the display itself.

Pros

• Great value
• Solid screen plus speaker offers the fullest Amazon Alexa experience

Cons

• Sound quality is decent but doesn’t match an Echo 4th Generation

Amazon Echo Studio

• Best audio
• Buy the Amazon Echo Studio

The Echo Studio wasn’t the first Echo speaker with a real focus on audio quality, but Amazon took things to the next level here. This is a true room-filler of a speaker. Four mid-range and treble drivers push sound out of three sides and the top, while a huge 5.25-inch woofer points downwards for party-ready bass when you turn up the volume. There’s no screen but it’s great if you want an Echo speaker that can fill rooms with music

Pros

• Very powerful sound, with high maximum volume
• Downward-facing subwoofer isn’t too fussy about positioning

Cons

• Bass can be a little too much for some

Amazon Echo Show 10

• Best for video calls
• Buy the Amazon Echo Show 10 

Some Amazon Echo speakers have remarkable bits of tech inside. The Amazon Echo Show 10 has a rotating screen that can follow you around, so you can see what’s on-screen at all times. There’s a great 13-megapixel camera for video calls and behind the screen sits a great-sounding speaker dock base with three separate drivers for satisfying sound with music, podcasts and more.

Pros

• Auto-swivelling motorised screen
• Good sound quality
• Great video call experience

Cons

• Camera doesn’t have night vision, like some security-focused cameras

You can find so many Echoes on Amazon that you might find it hard to choose one. What do you want — a camera? A screen? What size? Don’t worry. You’re sure to find the perfect device for each occasion on Recombu’s list of the top Echo smart speakers.