Amazon Echo Studio

The Amazon Echo Studio has overall very good sound quality. Bass has good impact and goes deep but is a bit boomy and somewhat prominent. Midrange is somewhat hazy and a touch nasal. Treble is somewhat smeared and upper treble is muted. Does a decent good job of recovering room ambience and is a bit congested. There is no significant difference between Wifi, Bluetooth, Aux and Optical sound quality. Can provide enough volume to fill a medium to large sized room. When combined with a second unit to form a stereo pair they can be placed to provide better stereo separation than many other models overall score remains very good. The sound field extends somewhat to the sides of speakers enclosure and has some height. When streaming Dolby Atmos and 3D audio content it provides a spacious soundfield that can extend from sidewall to sidewall and up to the ceiling in front of the listener. When the "Stereo Spatial Enhancement" feature is enabled (Enabled by default - feature can be defeated after a firmware update) it makes the sound somewhat diffuse and a bit echoey. During testing we noted that stereo pairing had glitchy performance with volume changes and then with L/R imaging latency during initial audio playback.

Versatility is Excellent. It's a stereo speaker system, with multi-room support and 3D audio and Dolby Atmos support. Wireless: WiFi supports dual-band and Bluetooth. Communications: Has support for calling, texting and messaging - called "Drop In". Digital Assistant Muting: Has a dedicated switch to disable the digital assistant by muting its microphones. Audio Connections: Has analog audio/optical input. Audio Tailoring: Has Bass, Mid and Treble user tone controls and "Stereo Spatial Enhancement" feature. OS Support: Fire OS, Android and iOS. Other connections and features: Lacks a USB device port. Hub: Has a built-in smart home Zigbee hub. Streaming by voice command: Supports voice command of many common streaming services such as Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Tune-In, and iHeart Radio. Voice ID: Supports voice identity - a feature which allows the account holder with their "voice print" to access personal information.

Overall ease of use of the Amazon Echo Studio is very good. Wireless setup: Setup requires an app downloaded to a device or device connection, easy and intuitive - need instructions (may be included in app), may or may not involve inputting WiFi network password, and account setups. Console controls: Volume controls are prominent +/- control buttons with non-persistent graphical position markings of volume level is easily repeatable via verbal commands and easy to actuate. Audio mute: Lacks a console play/pause or audio mute function. Microphone mute: Dedicated control but the marking is not the most obvious, clear indication when it is engaged. Source selections: Requires app to be installed, app installation is straight forward. Once app is installed switching between wireless sources is fairly intuitive within the app. Can't select Bluetooth but Bluetooth can be connected by verbal command to previously paired device - ready to play. App remote: Volume control symbol, then volume slider, lacks index markings so not easily repeatable, but easy to actuate. Shown while for currently playing music (If multiple devices paired then the device may require selection). Mute: (Remote) Well marked, well placed, clear indication when it is engaged and mutes the line input. Voice transport controls: Natural language control of transport (Play/Pause/Skip/Mute), volume controls and source selection was easy and intuitive.