Echo Dot with clock (5th generation, 2022 release) | Bigger vibrant sound Wi-Fi and Bluetooth smart speaker and Alexa | Cloud Blue

Great bedside clock, although in reality there's lots of uses for the built in Alexa feature and this is anything but just a clock.For my side of the bed I wanted a small, discreetly designed clock that was easily operated with a small digit display. I also wanted to listen to relaxation sounds to help me sleep, I knew I could do this with Alexa. Plus I needed an alarm that was easy to set, this fits my use perfectly. One stand out feature is the clock display automatically dims down when the main room lights are turned off, so it's dim but readable when your are trying to get to sleep, I hate bright clocks at night, they stop me sleeping, this doesn't effect the way I sleep.I simply have to ask Alexa to wake me up at say, 7am tomorrow, she replies, alarm is then set, so simple. Plus there's a tiny little dot of light that appears next to the displayed time, when the alarm is set, that way you have further confirmation that you've set an alarm. I've also asked Alexa what time is the alarm set for, she'll tell me. No more faffing around with the old clock radio that we used to have, it was so long winded to set the alarm, even harder to set the clock display.I prefer the sound quality of our standard echo dots though, the sound quality of this isn't as clear to me, the sleep sounds don't sound as nice on this device. However it has a clock display, so that's the reason I upgraded to this one.Along with sleep sounds, I also like to check the weather for my local area, a handy little item, happy with my purchase and fully recommend.

To be totally transparent the review below is a copy and paste of the review I placed for the standard 5th Gen Echo Dot I purchased at a similar time.This echo dot is identical with the exception of the LED display. The tech between the two Dots are identical.I found the Display to be a welcome addition to the Echo Dot. Although I wouldn’t expect everyone to require this function in every room of the house , but I can see it being very useful in the kitchen/home office/ bedroom Enviroment.The display is easy to see and read and in the app you can adjust the brightness , switch it on/off which is a nice addition . I have it setup in my kitchen where I found it invaluable .. it’s one of those options you don’t think you need but would really miss it once you have one and use it regularly.I use the clock part all the time ( my wife has a tendency to change the oven clocks etc to 5 mins fast so she is never late ) and the clock in the echo uses an internet connection so it’s always accurate , and if you have a power cut or something similar it resets itself automatically saving you the rather annoying job of setting the time. It also automatically changes for summer time and winter time adjustments which is very nice and you can view as standard 12 hour or 24 hour clock.I also use the display a lot for timers which I use on a daily basis when cooking. It makes it very easy just to glance up and see how much time is remaining on the timer.The last thing is use it for is that I have the DOT on a wall mount which obscures the light ring somewhat, the display shows a Bell symbol just underneath the clock making you able to see if you have received a notification or similar.All in all in the right environment a really nice addition to the Echo Dot functions.Below is my review on the standard 5th Gen echo without the display, but other functions and hardware is the same.Having been investing in Alexa Dots for some years saw this newer version on a prime deal so added it to my collection . I normally replace an old version and find somewhere new to place the older one. My house is now pretty much covered with Alexa Dots now.As always with Alexa products this unit is easy to setup and install straight out of the box. As a veteran Alexa user I already have the app set up and used the Amazon preconfigured option selected at checkout ..If you are new to Alexa you will have to download and setup the Alexa app, which is also intuitive and easy to set up.Now to the Dot itself , it looks identical to the 4th generation dot so be a little careful when buying one and make sure you buy the generation you want . There should be better pricing and deals on the 4th Gen but the reason I purchased this one is due to some additional tech inside the unit and supposedly better sound quality.The sound is very good, not HI-FI quality but more than good enough for day to day use . ( I have paired 2 x Dots together in my main room to utilise the stereo options on the device. Apparently the 5th gen has a larger speaker/woofer and after comparing the 4th and the 5th gen together I can confirm the sound quailty is slightly better with particularly a better bass ) the difference in quality is NOT a huge jump from the gen 4 but still noticeably better , and is massively better than the 3rd gen Dot.An issue I have with both the 5th and 4th Gen Alexa Dot is the light bar is on the bottom of the unit. I use the light bar quite a lot to see if Alexa is responding in a noisy Enviroment or for notifications and as with most of my dots I buy 3rd party wall mounts for them to keep the cables nice and tidy and off a flat surface.the problem with this as most of these mounts place the light ring at the back and therefore close to the wall and makes the light bar hard to view. ( it’s a minor niggle not a deal breaker )The additional tech that grabbed my attention was the inclusion of a temperature and motion sensor.Both these would be ideal to add to my smart Home system to enable routines for heating and lighting etc so was eager to test these out.The temperature sensor:This is a great addition works very well and responds quickly to voice commands. I tested the accuracy by putting another smart temp sensor in the same room with an additional stand alone temperature sensor.The accuracy of the Alexa sensor was accurate and comparable to the two other sensors tested in the same room .. it is so easy to add it to routines in the Alexa app and works well.The Motion Sensor:I was eager to try this out as well as I wanted to make use of it Alexa routines such as if someone walked in the room the lights switched on and if there was no motion for a set time the lights would switch off. This is a fairly simple routine in the smart home .Unfortunately the motion sensor in the Alexa Dot 5th gen is pretty much useless and simply doesn’t work. It uses a slightly different way by detecting motion using ultrasonic technology. I realise this technology wouldn’t be the best as any noise in the room, such as TV , people speaking etc would diminish the accuracy of the sensor .. however having tested it many times in a completely silent room it simply doesn’t work , and on the odd occasion it does actually work it’s usually from an unknown source and not actually from someone entering the room.Conclusion: if you want good Alexa integration , a more than adequate sound for every day use , and a temp sensor buy this with no qualms that you will be getting a good quality product that works well straight from the box.If you are buying this for the motion sensor tech , don’t bother it’s useless and you would be much better off buying a separate smart motion sensor . The Echo Dot version is unreliable and just going to give you many headaches

All right, even on a brilliant Prime day deal, it is a bit expensive for a bedside clock, but then again what bedside clock can tell you the weather forecast, give you the latest news or play any radio station you can think of, launch into any song you want, even find music to help you drift off and then wake you up on time with music, radio station or annoying ringing if you need an alarm clock.And I did need an easy to read digital clock. One of the features of reaching the more mature years is that sleep becomes episodic, often dictated, real or often imaginary, by a siren call of nature and it is so useful to know how much of the night has been used up and how much is left.This is the sixth Alexa device I own, seven if you count Fire TV, and they become part of the family. The early dots had sound that would have been astounding in the trannie radios of my youth but were probably more in the pretty good for the price and size category at the time of their introduction. But then no one ever claimed it was hifi.My fourth generation dot was a big improvement in sound and this fifth generation model takes it up another notch. It is not a huge improvement, after all, the last generation was pretty good, but the sound is noticeable rounder, fuller and richer with the larger speaker installed, 1.73in against 1.6in.Speakers that size are never going to compete with studio or even decent bookshelf speakers with woofers, mid-range and tweeters – in speakers size really does matter. But they are pleasant and clear to listen to, and, if you want more they can be linked to more accomplished speakers by Bluetooth.Dots up to this generation had a 3.5mm stereo socket for headphones or wired speakers, now it is wireless by Bluetooth, something I already did with my other dots occasionally when needed. It is something to think about if you want to link speakers up.The selling point for me was the accurate clock which takes its setting from the internet. I have the white version and was a little concerned that white LEDs on a white surface might not show that well, but it is fine. The time is easy to read in daylight and at night the numbers shine brightly in the dark. The brightness can be controlled, or the display switched off if it bothers you at night, but I didn’t find the dim glow any distraction.One new feature is showing song details on rolling text when a track is played, or the weather forecast based on location, which to be honest is more of a novelty than essential. It’s useful though if you are listening to an Amazon collection, such as easy listening, if you want to know about a particular track, although Alexa will always tell you if you ask – she’s helpful like that.There is also a temperature sensor, if you want to know the temperature where the dot sits, but more importantly you can use it as an extra thermostat if you have compatible central heating, using Alexa to turn heating on or off.The dot is a door into the world of Alexa which seems to be getting bigger every day. You can control all manner of things from heaters to lights and ask all manner of questions, play music, podcasts, audio books, radio stations and on and on and on. All in all a brilliant bit of kit and you can find new uses every day.Oh, and did I mention, it’s also a really attractive digital clock.