Amazon Echo (1st gen. 2014)

1804 reviews

Mar, 2023

Positive
usability (510)
design (120)
price (99)
size (90)
sound (27)

Negative
reliability (10)
connectivity (1)

General overview
Price comparison

alaTest has collected and analyzed 1804 reviews of Amazon Echo (1st gen. 2014). The average rating for this product is 4.6/5, compared to an average rating of 4.5/5 for other products in the same category for all reviews. Reviews about the sound and size are overall positive. The design and price also get good comments. Some have doubts about the connectivity, while the bass quality and reliability get mixed views.

usability, price, design, size, sound

connectivity

We analyzed user and expert ratings, product age and more factors. Compared to other products in the same category the Amazon Echo (1st gen. 2014) is awarded an overall alaScore™ of 96/100 = Excellent quality.

Review analysis

(Based on 1804 reviews)

Expert Reviews

User Reviews

Review Ratings

(68% of reviews)
Show all 5 star reviews (24% of reviews)
Show all 4 star reviews (3% of reviews)
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Features

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price
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Showing 1750 review(s)

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Showing 1 - 10 of 1750 Show Reviews: in English | in other languages (54)

Expert review by : Will Greenwald (pcmag.com)

Amazon Echo Studio Review

Excellent value for the size and power ; Loud, clear sound ; Compelling directional audio

Requires Amazon Music HD to listen to fully 3D Ultra HD music

With surprisingly robust Dolby Atmos-compatible directional audio, Amazon's Echo Studio delivers just as much power as smart speakers that cost twice as much.

Jun, 2022

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Expert review by : Tauren Dyson (cnet.com)

4 reasons to get an Amazon Echo for your grandparents

Young or old, Alexa is a great companion for anyone.

Feb, 2019

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Expert review by : Brian Bennett (cnet.com)

Use your Amazon Echo to buy your holiday gifts

Let your smart speaker help you shop.

Dec, 2018

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Expert review by : Ry Crist David Carnoy (cnet.com)

Amazon Echo: The speaker of the house

Amazon's smart speaker was arguably the breakout product of 2015. Two years later, Alexa is still going strong.

Amazon's voice-activated smart home speaker is undeniably futuristic, but it's also practical and accessible. With a rapidly growing slate of features, integrations and use cases, it's easy to get excited about the Echo's potential.

The Echo's sound quality is slightly uneven at times, with weak bass at high volumes. It also can't distinguish between different voices like the Google Home smart speaker can.

More than two years after its debut, the smarter-than-ever Amazon Echo remains one of the best connected home products money can currently buy.

Oct, 2017

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Expert review by : Alex Colon, Will Greenwald (pcmag.com)

Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo is so much more than a wireless speaker. It's part voice assistant, part home automation hub, and its abilities continue to expand steadily. And it's a blast to use.

Excellent voice recognition. Works with many third-party devices and services. Regularly expanding support for new features. Fun to use. Solid speaker sound quality.

Speaker distorts at highest volumes. No access to email and messages.

If you're just looking for a speaker, chances are you wouldn't have read this far. Sure, there's really nothing you can do with the Amazon Echo that you can't do with the smartphone in your pocket. Yet there's something here that feels infinitely more...

Jul, 2017

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Expert review by : Michael Brown (pcworld.com)

Amazon Echo review: Betcha can’t buy just one of these voice-activated connected-home controllers

The Echo is so awesome you might want one in every room of your home.

Exceptional voice-recognition capabilities ; Very fast and extremely responsive ; Extremely versatile, offering music playback, connected-home control, weather and traffic reports, and much more ; Very good app support, plus an IFTTT channel

Inferior audio features compared to the least-expensive Sonos speaker ; Flash feature would benefit from additional news sources ; Can’t control Philips Hue lighting scenes

Amazon’s Echo is versatile and powerful; an terrific value all around.

Jul, 2015

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Expert review by : David Pierce (theverge.com)

Amazon Echo review: listen up

"Alexa, what's the weather today?" "ALEXA! What's the weather today?" "ALEXA WHAT IS THE WEATHER TODAY GODDAMMIT." "Right now, in New York it's 25 degrees with clear skies and sun. Today's forecast...

Fast and simple to interact with ; Impressive mic and hearing range ; Joke-telling game is strong

Way too finicky ; Sometimes Alexa just ignores you ; Needs a real ecosystem outside of Amazon

Jan, 2015

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Expert review by : Chris Davies (slashgear.com)

Amazon Echo Review (2017)

Amazon couldn't have hoped for a better response when it created the smart speaker market three years ago with the original Amazon Echo . What once seemed like a vaguely creepy gimmick - a virtual assistant housed in a slender black totem - has gone on...

Oct, 2017

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Expert review by : Michael Brown (techhive.com)

Amazon Echo review: Betcha can’t buy just one of these voice-activated connected-home controllers

The Echo is so awesome you might want one in every room of your home.

Inferior audio features compared to the least-expensive Sonos speaker ; Flash feature would benefit from additional news sources ; Can’t control Philips Hue lighting scenes

Few people an Echo in their home (although it could be a real boon for the disabled), but it is nonetheless an incredibly fun and useful gadget—especially if you have a connected lighting system. And with support for Philips Hue, Belkin WeMo, and Wink,...

Jul, 2015