Content area
Full Text
An Echo speaker for audiophiles? Tested at $200 / ?190 /AU$329
The Amazon Echo Studio promises not only to be the best-sounding Echo speaker yet, but a smart speaker truly fit for audiophiles - bold claims for a product costing just ?190.
As well as boasting upgraded internals fit for CD-quality and hi-res audio, which are both now available from Amazon Music HD - the latest incarnation of the company's music streaming service - the Echo Studio also promises to deliver 3D audio via tracks encoded in Sony's 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos.
So can the Echo Studio make Amazon's smart speakers a realistic proposition for those who value good sound, and give Sonos, Audio Pro and Apple a run for their money? The Echo Studio continues the same design language of previous Echo speakers, being cylindrical in shape and covered with a charcoal-coloured fabric mesh. It's considerably larger than any previous Echo and manages to dwarf the Sonos One and Apple Home Pod.
Its beefed-up appearance helps to pack in 330W of power driving two 5cm midrange speakers positioned left and right, a 25mm forward-firing centre tweeter and a 5cm upwardfiring midrange speaker. Bass is taken care of by a downward-firing 5.25in bass driver.
There are volume buttons on the top, along with a mic mute and Alexa-wake button. And yes, the blue ring of light remains so you know when Alexa is listening.
The position of the drivers allows the Echo Studio to use a new feature of the Amazon Music HD service, its library of 'hundreds' of songs available in Dolby Atmos Music, which sees the audio format used to mix tracks with greater control over different elements and the positioning of...