Amazon Echo - Red (4th Gen)

The Echo 4th Gen Red is the same speaker as the charcoal one in a colour that does not intend to blend in.

• The Echo 4th Gen Red is a different decision from the grey one
• The upward firing woofer is the reason it sounds bigger than it is
• Music, and everything that is not music
• It is a smart home hub as well
• The practical details

The Echo 4th Gen Red is a different decision from the grey one

Same speaker, same radios, same everything inside. What changes is whether the object is meant to be seen. Charcoal is the safe choice that sinks into a bookshelf and stops being noticed by the end of the week. Red is a 144 mm sphere in a strong colour on a side table, and it will be the first thing a visitor looks at. Neither is wrong; they are just two different answers to what a speaker is allowed to look like in your sitting room.

The upward firing woofer is the reason it sounds bigger than it is

Most small speakers point at you, which means they sound right in one chair and thin everywhere else. This one pushes a woofer at the ceiling with two tweeters alongside and Dolby processing behind them, so the room fills rather than a direction. In practice that means you can put it on a shelf in a corner and it still works, which is exactly where a 970 gram sphere ends up in a real house.

Music, and everything that is not music

Radio, podcasts, timers, the weather forecast, unit conversions while you are cooking, the lights off from bed. It also does drop in and announcements: call another Echo elsewhere in the house, or say one thing into every room at once, which in a big house with a garden replaces shouting.

It is a smart home hub as well

Zigbee, Matter and Thread are built in, so Zigbee sensors, plugs and bulbs pair straight to it without a separate gateway. There is also a temperature sensor inside, so a routine can start a fan when the room warms. Both of those are quietly worth more than the audio to anyone building a system.

The practical details

A 3.5 mm socket on the back works as line in and line out, so the Echo will feed a bigger amplifier or take a turntable. One button cuts the microphones electrically, which is a disconnection rather than a setting. Wi-Fi is dual band, and Bluetooth works in both directions.

If red is too much for the room, the same speaker comes in charcoal. For Zigbee devices to pair with it, start with the Zigbee door sensor or a Zigbee motion sensor. Wikipedia keeps a full history of the Amazon Echo range.