The best Alexa devices of 2024: Expert tested and recommended

2 weeks ago 8

33 years of experience
30 hands-on product reviewers
10,000 square feet of lab space

Since its debut in 2014, Amazon's Alexa has become America's leading voice assistant and smart home automation system. Alexa is built into millions of smart home devices, aiding users with everything from locking doors, dimming lights, playing songs, and even calling for help, all with a simple voice command.

Also: The Pixel Tablet is one of my favorite smart home displays

Alexa is integrated into smart home devices like smart hubs, Amazon Echo speakers, smart thermostats, smart lightbulbs, and home security cameras.

What is the best Alexa device right now?

After testing almost all of the Amazon Echo devices featured on the e-commerce site at this time and dozens of Alexa-compatible devices, the best Alexa device is the third-generation Amazon Echo Show 8. The third-generation Amazon Echo Show 8 is a smart display with a spatial audio speaker that delivers rich sound quality and a full Alexa experience. Below, I compiled a list of the best Echo and Alexa-compatible devices for most smart home needs.

The best Alexa devices of 2024

Echo Show 8

Best Alexa device overall

In late 2023, the latest Echo Show 8 received a significant upgrade from previous generations. It now has a new spatial audio speaker on the back that delivers rich, crisp, room-filling sound. The Adaptive Content feature shows simplified content when you glance at the screen from a distance and switches to more detailed content when you approach.

After using it daily for months, the third-generation Echo Show 8 has become my go-to shopping list maker, entertainment center while cooking, and assistant to control smart devices around my home. I use it to ask Alexa for the weather while I'm setting up the kids' backpacks on school nights and to run my smart home routines to turn on the backyard lights.

Review: The Echo Show 8

Other buyers agree, making the Echo Show 8 one of the highest-rated Alexa devices available. One reviewer said, "What I appreciate most is its seamless integration with Alexa. From controlling smart home devices to providing weather updates or simply cracking jokes, Alexa brightens my day with her responsiveness and wit. And navigating through everything is a breeze, thanks to the intuitive interface and responsive touchscreen."

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Echo Dot

Best Alexa device on a budget

If you want to save money on a smart speaker with Alexa built-in, the $50 Amazon Echo Dot is the perfect choice and the best way to get the most bang for your buck. In addition to controlling your smart home, this Alexa speaker has excellent sound quality to play your favorite music, podcasts, or audiobooks.

Though it doesn't have a smart display, the fifth-generation Echo Dot can be the perfect bedside companion. It lets you easily set alarms by asking Alexa or using the Alexa app and controlling Alexa-compatible smart home devices triggered by the temperature or built-in motion sensors.

Also: Echo Pop vs Echo Dot: Which Alexa smart speaker should you choose?

"For the price of this, it's such a great value. Loud sound and clear, voice recognition is good, easy to set up and sleek appearance. Quality-built product, and it will definitely last! Overall great performance and easy to move," one reviewer commented.

The Echo Dot can be paired with another for a stereo pair and can simultaneously play music or other audio on all Echo devices in your home for a multi-room experience.

Echo Dot features: Smart speaker | Voice control | Smart home hub | Motion & temperature sensors | Price: $50

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Ring Battery Doorbell Plus

Best Alexa-compatible video doorbell

If you're looking for the best smart home devices to build a whole Alexa ecosystem experience, you can't go wrong with the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus for monitoring your front door.

An Echo Show paired with a Ring doorbell can quickly display who's at your front door, all hands-free when someone rings the doorbell. All Ring devices offer a seamless integration with Alexa, letting users use their voice and touch to control them and stream video feeds.

Review: Ring Battery Doorbell Plus

A Ring Battery Doorbell Plus has all the features most users need, and buyers agree. One of them said, "Picture is clear and battery great. No issues with connectivity, and it's picking up motion, person, and bell perfectly. Extremely easy to set up in the app and navigate settings etc. For mounting, as a renter, I purchased the door mount and it looks and works great! Super secure!"

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Echo Studio

Best Alexa smart speaker

The Amazon Echo Studio is the company's best smart speaker overall. It is a high-end option combining premium Dolby Atmos spatial audio benefits with smart home capabilities.

Over the past year, the Echo Studio has become a staple in our TV room. I've used it as a speaker and my home theater audio output. I use it for voice control with Alexa, its smart home capabilities, and, most of all, its outstanding sound quality.

Review: Echo Studio

Echo Studio buyers tend to agree with this assessment; one review reads, "The Echo Studio is a quantum leap from any other speaker that Amazon has produced to date. Everything else sounds like a transistor radio in comparison. The sound separation is fantastic; you can feel the bass at higher volume levels."

An Echo Studio is also an intelligent hub for Zigbee and Matter-compatible devices.

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Echo Hub

Best Alexa device for smart home control

The Amazon Echo Hub is a new smart home controller that offers a new experience for enthusiasts, especially those interested in the Alexa ecosystem. Unlike an Echo Show, the Echo Hub lets you customize your widgets and everything displayed on your device, letting you easily control your smart lights, Ring security system, smart plugs, and more.

Review: Echo Hub

Also, unlike the Echo Show, the Echo Hub doesn't have a spatial audio speaker, though Alexa does respond when you ask questions. During setup, the Echo Hub plays music and audio over a preferred speaker in the Alexa app.

Testing the Echo Hub for the past few weeks has proven an excellent start for a smart home panel in the Alexa ecosystem, though it does have some navigation lag and some bugs that can be worked out with software updates.

Echo Hub features: Smart home control panel | 8-inch touchscreen | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Matter, Thread | Wall-mounted | Price: $180

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The Amazon Echo Show 8 is the best Alexa device because of the combination of all its far-reaching capabilities and features. But there are many other great choices for Alexa smart devices available.

Here is a look at how you can outfit your home with some of the best Alexa devices and speakers.

Alexa device	ZDNET's take	Price	Features
Echo Show 8	Best overall	$150	8-in smart display \| Spatial audio
Echo Dot	Best for a budget	$50	Vibrant sound \| Temp & motion sensor
Ring Battery Doorbell Plus	Best video doorbell	$180	1536p head-to-toe video
Echo Studio	Best smart speaker	$200	Dolby Atmos \| Fire TV support
Echo Hub	Best smart home panel	$180	Zigbee, Matter & Thread \| No ads

*MSRP at the time of writing. Please note that actual prices may vary depending on available sales, deals, discounts, and coupons.

Not sure which Alexa device is best for you? These suggestions can help you find the best Alexa device for your needs.

Get this Alexa device...	If you want...
Echo Show 8	A smart display with a spatial audio speaker with built-in Alexa
Echo Dot	A small smart speaker with great sound, especially for its affordable price
Ring Battery Doorbell Plus	A video doorbell that integrates seamlessly with Alexa and Echo devices
Echo Studio	Spatial audio in a smart speaker with booming sound and Alexa built-in
Echo Hub	A smart home panel to control your smart devices without distractions

As a smart home reviewer, I've exhaustively tested every Alexa device I've recommended on this list, down to the recommended alternatives below and many more that unfortunately didn't make it on the list.

Here are some factors to consider when choosing an Alexa device for your home:

Device type: The device type will depend significantly on what you'll be using your Alexa device and where you're putting it. If you want a speaker to access Alexa with your voice that can also play music or audiobooks, you'd do well with a smart speaker, like the Echo Dot and Echo Pop. Amazon also makes an Echo Spot, which works as a smart alarm clock, and the Echo Show, which is more of a smart display than a speaker.
Sound quality: If you're using your Alexa device as a speaker to listen to music, you'll likely value its good sound quality. There are several price tiers for smart speakers with Alexa built-in, from an Echo Pop starting at $40 up to a $449 Sonos Era 300 speaker. The Echo Dot is good enough for voice commands, timers, alarms, and casual listening, but a larger Echo device, like the Echo or Echo Studio, features better audio output.
Smart home integration: My Echo device users like having Alexa as an assistant for answering questions, telling jokes, creating shopping lists, and setting alarms. But if you'd like Alexa to also control smart home devices, you may wonder which device is best. Alexa-enabled devices double as smart home hubs, like Zigbee, making connecting with other smart home devices easier.
Price: Consider how much you're willing to spend, keeping in mind that while the Echo Pop is the cheapest option for an Echo speaker, it's also more prone to sound distortion at high volumes and doesn't have a wake button. Also, look for sales and big discounts on Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.
Extra features: An extra feature can decide when choosing between Alexa devices, so consider which are important to you. The Echo Show 15's built-in Fire TV or Echo Show 10's ability to track moving subjects during video calls.

Amazon Alexa is an AI-powered virtual assistant that can help you complete tasks with voice control. Alexa is built into various smart home devices, including speakers and displays. It also integrates seamlessly with other smart home devices, like Ring, Blink, Sengled, Cync, Amazon smart devices, and many more.

Millions of devices are compatible with Amazon Alexa, but we focused on the best Alexa devices that would either offer the voice assistant built-in or would work as an easy integration with it.

If you're looking for home security with Alexa, a Ring Alarm system is the way to go, but if you're looking for a way to watch your favorite Netflix show while you're cooking, an Echo Show is also a great pick.

Many retailers sell Amazon devices, but not all of them offer the best price or shipping terms. ZDNET conveniently includes links that will offer some of the best and most competitive pricing available via trusted retailers. These best Alexa device retailers generally include Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.

Though the Alexa devices we've chosen above are great recommendations, they're not the only options you have when looking for the best Alexa devices. Here are other devices to consider:

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