- Enjoy an immersive audio experience – Echo Studio now features spatial audio processing technology for a wider and more …
- Voice control your music – Stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, and more. With Amazon M…
- Adapts to any room – Automatically senses the acoustics of your space, fine-tuning playback for optimal sound.
Amazon Echo Studio (1st Generation) Review
An important clarification before anything else: this is Amazon’s original Echo Studio, first released in November 2019 and given a modest internal hardware refresh in 2022. In 2025, Amazon released a completely redesigned second-generation Echo Studio — smaller, spherical, and with updated features. Major retailers including Best Buy now list this original model as no longer available new through their own channels, so if you’re buying this specific listing, it’s worth checking on the Amazon page itself whether you’re purchasing a new, used, or third-party seller unit, since Amazon’s own retail stock of the original model appears to be winding down. That context matters for this review, because — somewhat unusually — a meaningful number of reviewers and owners believe this older model is still the better-sounding speaker.
What it is
This is a large, cylindrical smart speaker built around five drivers: three 2-inch midrange speakers, a 1-inch tweeter, and a 5.25-inch woofer with a bass-reflex port, designed specifically to compete with higher-end smart speakers on audio quality rather than just convenience. It includes Alexa voice control, a built-in Zigbee smart home hub, Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio support, and both 3.5mm analog and optical audio inputs — the latter a feature Amazon actually removed from the newer 2025 model.
Sound quality: genuinely good, with well-documented limitations
Consumer Reports rated overall sound quality as very good, describing bass with good impact that goes deep, though a bit boomy and prominent, and enough volume to fill a medium to large room. TechRadar’s original review called it easily the best-sounding Echo speaker at the time, powerful and booming with bass, and said it stood alongside higher-end smart speaker setups.
The consistent criticism across nearly every review, then and now, centers on the midrange. Tom’s Guide’s comparison against the Sonos One found the Echo Studio delivered deeper, more resonant bass, but tracks overall sounded less defined, with vocals and higher frequencies getting somewhat lost in the mix — a limitation Tom’s Guide listed directly as a named con. Consumer Reports’ lab testing echoed this almost exactly, describing the midrange as somewhat hazy and touch nasal, with treble that’s somewhat smeared. In practical terms: bass-heavy, energetic music is this speaker’s strength; complex tracks with detailed vocals and instrumentation are where it shows its limits.
The genuinely interesting part: it may outperform its own successor
This is worth highlighting because it’s a real, documented point that goes against the usual assumption that newer means better. Amazon’s 2025 second-generation Echo Studio is meaningfully smaller — about 40% smaller, according to TechRadar’s review of the new model — and that size reduction came with real trade-offs. Tom’s Guide’s own comparison, written by the same publication that reviewed both generations, found the new model’s bass isn’t quite as powerful as the older, original Echo Studio’s, and their overall verdict on the 2025 redesign was that it’s “harder to recommend than the first-generation model” due to concessions made on sound quality and value. A recent roundup of older Echo devices still worth buying in 2026 made the same point directly: despite the 2025 redesign, many users still consider the audio quality of the older version superior, and second-hand units continue to sell in a wide price range specifically because of that reputation.
If raw sound quality and bass output are your priority over a smaller footprint, that’s a genuinely unusual situation where buying the discontinued older model may serve you better than the current one.
Smart home and everyday use
The built-in Zigbee hub lets it directly control compatible smart home devices without a separate hub, and setup and daily use are consistently described as straightforward — Best Buy’s aggregated customer reviews put ease of use at 4.7 out of 5 across over 2,100 ratings, with sound quality, bass, and ease of use as the most-praised attributes. The automatic room-tuning feature, which plays calibration tones on setup and adjusts EQ to your space, is a genuine convenience that reviewers noted works with less hassle than similar competing features like Sonos’s Trueplay.
3D Audio: a mixed bag, and increasingly less relevant
TechRadar’s original review flagged the 3D Audio feature — specially mixed tracks meant to create a more immersive soundstage — as a mixed bag depending on the track, sometimes excelling and sometimes leaving vocals feeling lost or poorly balanced. This feature was tied to Amazon Music HD at launch; if spatial audio mixes matter to you specifically, know that results vary noticeably by track rather than being a consistent selling point.
Buying considerations specific to this being a legacy product
Because this is now a superseded, older-generation product, a few practical things are worth checking before you buy: confirm whether the specific listing you’re purchasing is genuinely new-in-box or a used/refurbished/third-party unit, since major retailers have stopped carrying it as new stock. Also worth knowing: as an older device, it may receive fewer future software feature updates compared to Amazon’s current-generation smart speakers, including newer Alexa+ features that are rolling out primarily on newer hardware.
Verdict
This is a genuinely unusual case in consumer electronics: the original Echo Studio remains, by multiple credible accounts, arguably the better-sounding choice over the smart speaker that officially replaced it in 2025. If you specifically want strong, room-filling bass, a built-in Zigbee hub, and physical audio inputs that the newer model dropped, and you’re comfortable buying a now-legacy product, this remains a genuinely good-sounding speaker for the price, particularly if you can find it discounted. The trade-offs are real, though: midrange clarity has always been its weak point, and as an older product, you should double-check exactly what condition and warranty you’re getting on this specific listing before buying, since new retail stock is drying up. If having the latest hardware, ongoing feature updates, and a smaller footprint matters more to you than outright bass output, the current 2025 Echo Studio or a competitor like the Sonos One or Era 100 may be the more future-proof choice — but don’t assume newer automatically means better sound here, because in this specific case, the data doesn’t clearly support that.
- Enjoy an immersive audio experience – Echo Studio now features spatial audio processing technology for a wider and more …
- Voice control your music – Stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, and more. With Amazon M…
- Adapts to any room – Automatically senses the acoustics of your space, fine-tuning playback for optimal sound.
- Your favorite music and content – Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and other…
- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and e…
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in mo…
- Your favorite music and content – Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and other…
- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and e…
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in mo…
- Echo Dot Kids: Our most popular and cutest smart speaker with Alexa, made for kids (not a toy). A fun screen-free device…
- NEW with Alexa+ – Spark endless learning: Watch kids’ curiosity soar as they explore new topics through interactive conv…
- NEW with Alexa+ – Activate their imaginations: Kids co-create one-of-a-kind stories from their wildest ideas as Alexa as…
Related Posts
Fullstar The Original Pro Chopper (4-in-1) — Full Review
🧠 Overview The Fullstar Original Pro Chopper is one of…
Elite Gourmet ESB-301BF Electric Burner Review: A Solid, Simple Hot Plate for the Right Job
Elite Gourmet ESB-301BF Electric Burner Review Overview This review covers…
