Appreciate advice or thoughts on Echo Dot

Get it. Love it. One thing I will give Amazon credit for, is the speaker system on the Echo Dot, and as you stated above, the price is much better than the cost of the HomePod. Setup is not difficult, and once it's setup, it is pretty much setup for life.
The only area where you may, or may not, get frustrated, is with the Alexa application for iOS. Not because it is inaccessible, quite the opposite actually, but because there is an overwhelming amount of Skills you can download and install for your echo dot, in order to have additional features and functionality.
Also, if you subscribe to Amazon prime, you will eventually end up with Alexa plus, think ChatGPT, but on your echo dot.

HTH.

Edited for typos

It's probably fine for a bedside speaker, but ultimately, yes, the sound is perhaps best described as "audiobook-friendly". This is not of course a bad thing, but best to be realistic about what to expect. If you know someone who's willing to give one up, perhaps just get them to leave it you. And ever since the abolition of the Echo Input, the price and size of the Dot is as likely to be of interest to potential users of the former Input product, because of the 3.5 mm and Bluetooth output support. If you have an existing speaker setup, you could consider using that, albeit mind the latency introduced by Bluetooth.

So yeah. It depends.

Hi! I have a few Echo Dots around my apartment and honestly, for such a tiny speaker, the sound quality is surprisingly good. It gets pretty loud and sounds great for casual listening. If you just want a small speaker, or a few around the house to play music, podcasts, radio, etc., they’re perfect for that.

That said, if you’re looking for richer audio with better balance between bass, mids, and highs, then the Echo Dot probably isn’t the best option. I’m not an audio expert so I don’t really know the technical terms 😅
Like Brian said, the Alexa app can feel a bit overwhelming at first, but after a while you get used to it.

In my opinion, the HomePod Mini sounds noticeably better than the Echo Dot. The audio feels richer and more balanced overall. The problem is that Apple stuff is expensive 😭

The main reason I use Echo Dots instead of HomePod Minis is because Alexa is way more useful for general smart assistant stuff. Siri still feels pretty limited outside of music and basic tasks, and that also applies to the HomePod. But on the other hand, with the HomePod Mini you can do things like answer phone calls and FaceTime audio calls, which is pretty cool.

So yeah, I’d say the Echo Dot is a great option if you want affordable little speakers around your place. But if you can spend a bit more and care more about sound quality, maybe give the HomePod Mini a look too :)

With Alexa plus, you can also have it set up to make and receive phone calls, and text messaging.
Even without the Alexa plus service, you can still call people through their Alexa devices, and vice versa. You can also leave voice messages between Alexa devices.
You can also do something that is called, "drop in", where if you live in a multiple room environment, with multiple Alexa devices, you can use one, to drop in on another, and speak to a person from another room, think of it like a PA system.

HTH. :-)

(which I use her on an Echo Pop Speaker that's purple), she is also able to help you shop and set up/remove routines for yaw! You can even have her test said routines with you too!

Back to the shopping for a moment, she is also able to verify if any items among Amazon's stores are Food Stamp compatible in your area.

I had the chance to try Alexa Plus before when I was visiting Canada, and honestly it’s really cool. Sadly it’s still not available here in Europe yet, so that’s why I didn’t mention it before. I’m guessing when it launches in Europe, the UK will probably get it too.

About the phone calls thing, I’m not totally sure if you mean regular carrier calls, like someone calling my mobile number directly and answering through Alexa. As far as I know, at least here in Europe, I don’t think that’s supported. But with the HomePod mini, you actually can answer regular phone calls from your iPhone and FaceTime audio calls, which is pretty nice.

Now, if you mean Alexa to Alexa calls, or calling from one Echo device to another, then yeah, that definitely works. Drop In is also super cool.
Another thing I forgot to mention before is that the Echo Dot has a built in temperature sensor. I actually use it a lot with routines based on room temperature, which is surprisingly useful. I know not everybody cares about that stuff, but it’s a nice extra feature to have.

And yeah, overall it’s a pretty cool gadget. I’m even thinking about maybe getting the new Echo Dot Max when Prime Days start, because if the price drops enough… why not? 😉

I used to have a 5th generation Echo Dot, and the sound quality was pretty good for what it is. It was a little hollow, but definitely had a good sound to it. Last year for Christmas I upgraded to an Echo Dot Max, which is about the same price as the HomePod Mini but in my opinion sounds a lot better. It's designed for Alexa Plus and Amazon put two speakers in it instead of one which improves the bass by 3x as much as the Echo Dot apparently. I don't know the exact numbers, but it blows my mind every time I hear it at a decent volume.
Also, about Alexa Plus, it looks like it IS available in the UK now, so if you're on Prime you'll have access to that as well.
If the price sounds a bit too much, just wait a little. Amazon will put it on sale eventually for as low as like $80 or something.
HTH!

thanks for your feedback about the Echo Dot Max. I’m super curious to try it because I’ve heard really good things about it already. People keep saying the sound quality is insanely good for the size, and honestly I already think the regular Echo Dot sounds good considering how small it is, So if the Echo Dot Max is even better, that’s really good news.

I’ll probably end up buying one or two soon because I’m genuinely curious now. I think the Amazon Prime Days are at the end of June, so maybe I’ll grab one then.

I’m not in the UK, I’m in the Netherlands. I only mentioned the UK because I think the original poster is from there since he was talking about prices in pounds.

But yeah, if Alexa Plus is already available in the UK, that’s actually really exciting because it probably means it’ll arrive in the rest of Europe pretty soon too. Thanks! 🙌

So, the calling part is a little tricky. I think it depends on the device and service. Texting seems to be doable from any modern Alexa device with Bluetooth access.
On the Alexa app, double tap the more tab at the bottom, then double tap on settings. You can find settings easily, if you swipe left about three or four times from the more tab.
Then navigate to communicate or communication, then all of your settings are there for texting, calling, etc. I just learned a few minutes ago, that if you have a Skype account, you can connect your Alexa to that as well, and make phone calls through Skype on your Alexa device.

Regarding Alexa plus, https://alexa.amazon.com is now live, so you can at least get to try out Alexa plus through the web.

HTH. 😇

I have three second generation Echo Dots, all of which are connected to pairs of Bose Mediamate speakers. I also have 3 fifth generation Echo Dots. If the fifth gen dots still had an output jack, I wouldn't need to keep the 2nd gen dots around. Anyway, the Fifth Gen dots sound OK, but in most situations, I prefer to listen to music in particular on the dots which have bose speakers connected to them. However, for everywhere music, having 6 dots can't be beat. My three fifth gen dots are muted most of the time, but they've got a male voice and the wake word of Ziggy. The 2nd gen dots all have Alexa as their wake word, but I rarely run into issues.

Also, I absolutely love Alexa Plus. The voices which are available sound a lot more pleasant, and at least as far as I'm concerned, it's always nice to have another AI to chat with.

That's interesting. Amazon has been doing rollouts in Europe already; they've already got Italy, Spain, Germany, and now France on the roster. My guess is they'll go for the Netherlands next and then move on to Asia and Australia. Then again, I'm not inside Amazon so they could very well announce a rollout in India tomorrow morning and surprise the heck out of me. :)
I'm a US user, but I think you're going to really enjoy Alexa+. There's a lot of hate out there, but it's a new experience and quite frankly long overdue! I was going to write a full review here on AppleVis but I just finished my first semester of college and I'm perpetually exhausted these days.

Personally, I will like Alexa plus just as soon as she learns how to read Kindle books. As for my Echo, I have a first GEN model. The downside, no Bluetooth capability whatsoever. The upside, one big honking speaker. These first GEN devices are about the size of an original Monster Energy drink can, so if you've ever seen or held one of those before, you'll have an idea... 😅

Oh, college freshman, them were the days... 😱