Amazon Echo Studio (2nd Gen) review: An outstanding Alexa speaker

Amazon Echo Studio (2nd Gen) is Amazon’s smart speaker. While the Echo Dot Max fits into the living room space, the Echo Studio aims to be right there for you. With a redesigned, more compact body, support for surround sound and Dolby Atmos, and a built-in smart home hub, it promises big, immersive sound without leaving the Alexa ecosystem.

But does the small design still deliver the powerful, “room-filling performance” Amazon claims? Let’s find out in this Amazon Echo Studio (2nd Gen) review.

The Amazon Echo Studio (2nd Gen) retains its cylindrical signature but has a smaller footprint compared to the original model. The woven fabric exterior and minimalist controls give it a clean, modern look that blends in with most living rooms. It sounds more like an essential home speaker than a smart decorative assistant. Inside, the Amazon fits a 3.75-inch high-excursion woofer and three 2.25-inch full-range drivers, which are set to fire left, right, and above for height effects. In other words, this isn’t just a flashy smart speaker with big marketing claims. It is a suitable multi-driver system designed to handle more than background music.

The controls are straightforward and familiar if you’ve used an Echo before. Physical buttons are angled around the top face of the speaker and include volume up, volume down, and a microphone mute button, so you don’t have to rely entirely on voice commands. Pressing the microphone button mutes the microphone, which is still one of the easiest and most reassuring privacy features Amazon offers. The LED light ring provides clear visual feedback when Alexa is listening or muted, and you can tap the top of the speaker to pause or resume playback without saying a word.

The Alexa app gives you direct control of the Echo Studio (2nd Gen). From the device page, you can adjust volume, manage Bluetooth connectivity, enable Do Not Disturb, and access Drop In. In the audio settings, there is a simple three-band EQ and Dolby Virtualizer that activates when playing supported Dolby Atmos content. You can also set alarms, create routes, and use temperature or presence detection with Omnisense. It’s functional and designed for everyday use instead of serious audio tuning.

On the connectivity side, the Echo Studio (2nd Gen) supports Wi-Fi 6E for streaming, multi-room audio, smart home control, and Alexa Home Theater pairing. It also supports Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless playback, although Bluetooth audio is limited to SBC. The built-in smart home hub supports Zigbee, Matter, and Thread, so you can connect compatible devices directly without a separate bridge. There is no wired audio input, so playback is completely wireless.

The Amazon Echo Studio (2nd Gen) is the best-sounding Amazon speaker I’ve tested so far. In Olivia Dean’s “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” from Apple Music’s “Made for Spatial Audio” playlist, the vocals have a strong presence and excellent clarity, sitting slightly forward in combination with a clear reverb that adds a reassuring spatial depth. The isolation of the instruments is also impressive in a single enclosure. Piano, rhythm guitar, drums, and background vocals are easy to distinguish, and the hi-hats stay clean without sounding sharp. It’s not a true stereo left and right setup, but there is a tangible sense of width and separation from left to right that makes your music feel bigger than the cabinet itself.

Bass power is also strong, especially with a slight boost in application, which adds presence without overwhelming the mix. Kick drums have good impact, and the Studio maintains good bass accuracy at moderate listening levels. Up to about 70% on the volume slider, it remains free of audible distortion and maintains tonal balance. Beyond that point, the DSP starts to dial things back in and power the bass a bit to maintain control. Although Dolby Atmos and spatial processing add reasonable immersion with supported content, the stereo pair will still provide a convincing sense of width and separation from left to right if you happen to have a larger living room.

The Amazon Echo Studio (2nd Gen) still has a wired audio input. There’s no 3.5mm jack, no optical input, and no USB audio, so you’re fully committed to wireless gaming. For a speaker positioned as the centerpiece of a living room, that sounds limiting if you want to plug in legacy gear directly. There is also no built-in battery. Echo Studio must be plugged into wall power at all times, which limits placement flexibility and rules out portable use. This is clearly designed as a stationary home speaker, not something you move from room to room.

In my testing, vocal attention didn’t always keep up with song requests. Requesting “Back in Black” by AC/DC sometimes triggered “Old Thing Back” featuring Ja Rule to be played instead. Those two tracks couldn’t be more different. While it doesn’t always happen, it does highlight that Alexa can still struggle with certain combinations of the artist’s title. It’s a minor frustration, but it interrupts the experience if you just want a certain song to play.

You should buy the Amazon Echo Studio (2nd Gen) if you want the most capable speaker in Amazon’s lineup. It delivers strong bass and better separation of instruments than the Echo Dot models, making the listening experience more enjoyable. In the living room or large shared space, it works well as a central Alexa device that can handle both smart home control and engaging music playback.

Otherwise, if you’re deep into the Apple ecosystem, the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) ($289.99 at Best Buy) is the closest option. It also supports surround sound and delivers good bass power in a compact enclosure, but it’s more expensive and works best with Apple devices. Echo Studio offers extensive smart home hub support and is relatively inexpensive, making it a flexible option for many households.

That said, this is still a smart speaker first. It’s designed to integrate your daily routine, control devices, and stream music within the Alexa ecosystem. If you’re looking for a dedicated hi-fi setup with wired inputs, true stereo separation in one cabinet, or portability, this isn’t it.

You should skip it if you need analog input, battery power, or flexibility to connect legacy gear. Bluetooth is limited to SBC, and playback is completely wireless. But if you want the biggest and most immersive Echo speaker Amazon has to offer without stepping outside the Alexa ecosystem, the Echo Studio (2nd Gen) makes a clear case for itself.