Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) vs Amazon Echo Studio

For most rooms the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is the better buy: it matches the assistant and smart home control of the Amazon Echo Studio, adds a motion and temperature sensor, and is far cheaper. The Amazon Echo Studio is the pick when sound quality or a built-in Zigbee and Thread hub matters more than price.

Three stand out. The Amazon Echo Studio has a much larger speaker for room-filling audio, and it is a Zigbee coordinator, Thread border router and Matter bridge, while the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is a compact speaker and only a Matter bridge. The Dot counters with a motion sensor and a temperature sensor the Studio lacks.

Only as a Matter bridge. It has no Zigbee coordinator or Thread border router, so it cannot replace a dedicated hub for those protocols. The Amazon Echo Studio includes both along with its Matter bridge.

The Amazon Echo Studio, by a wide margin. It is a large music speaker with real bass that fills a room, while the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is a compact speaker whose sound is impressive for its size but modest for music.

Anyone putting Alexa in a bedroom, kitchen or office who wants the full assistant, routines and smart home control in a small, affordable speaker with a temperature sensor.

A listener who wants a large room filled with sound, may add a second for stereo or a Fire TV, and would like the Zigbee coordinator, Thread border router and Matter bridge in the same box.