Amazon Echo Dot Max Review: A Better Hub, a Divisive Speaker
We set out to review the Echo Dot (5th gen), but Amazon’s newest Dot is the Echo Dot Max, launched in the UK in September 2025 — so that is what this page covers, with the cheaper 5th gen as the yardstick. The experts cannot agree on whether it sounds better than the Dot it sits above. They do agree it is a far more capable smart-home hub.
Where the reviews line up
Our three sources are What Hi-Fi?, the specialist audio title that scored its sound 2 out of 5; TechRadar, whose smart-home desk scored performance 4 out of 5; and the small pools of buyer ratings at Currys and John Lewis. A fourth editorial test, Expert Reviews, sits between them. On sound, they genuinely disagree, and we print both sides below.
Three things everyone agrees on. The full-size Echo (4th gen) is at least as good to listen to — Expert Reviews says it sounds as good as the Dot Max, TechRadar says it is better all round, and What Hi-Fi? says the Dot Max falls short of it. It is a proper hub: Zigbee, Thread and Matter are built in, so compatible lights and plugs can pair to it directly. And the controls are awkward: TechRadar and Expert Reviews both criticise the button and light-ring layout.
The split is over whether the extra money buys better sound than the 5th-gen Dot. Expert Reviews found a cleaner sound and a wider soundstage. What Hi-Fi? found it muddled and muffled, and told readers to buy the cheaper 5th gen instead. TechRadar sits between: better at filling a room, but no more powerful.
Our view: at £59.99, the price it sat at across five UK retailers on 6 October 2026, the Dot Max makes sense as the hub for a growing smart home. If you only want music in the kitchen, the 5th-gen Dot is still sold and costs much less on sale. Never pay the £99.99 launch price — it has rarely held.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- What Hi-Fi?Specialist audio test, November 2025. Sound 2/5, build 4/5, features 4/5. The harshest verdict.
- TechRadarSmart-home desk test, November 2025. Design 4/5, performance 4/5, value 3.5/5.
- Currys & John Lewis4.4/5 from 7 reviews at each, checked 6 October 2026. Too few to lean on.
Before the review: which Echo Dot is current?
The Echo Dot (5th gen), released in 2022, is still on sale in the UK: Currys and Very both list it. The Echo Dot Max is the newer model, but it is a step up the range rather than a straight replacement. Amazon announced it for the UK on 30 September 2025 at £99.99, alongside a new Echo Studio. It has two drivers where the 5th gen has one. Amazon claims nearly three times the bass of the 5th gen, which is Amazon’s own figure and not something any reviewer measured.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Speakers | 0.8-inch tweeter and 2.5-inch woofer (5th gen: one 1.73-inch driver) | Retailer spec sheet; TechRadar and Expert Reviews agree |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6E (1×1, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Retailer spec sheet and Expert Reviews. TechRadar says Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 Low Energy | Currys and retailer spec sheet |
| Smart-home hub | Zigbee, Thread border router and Matter built in; eero built-in | Currys, TechRadar, retailer spec sheet |
| Sensors | Temperature, ultrasound motion, Wi-Fi sensing | TechRadar |
| Privacy | Microphone off button that disconnects the mics; voice recordings can be reviewed and deleted in the Alexa app | Retailer spec sheet |
| Dimensions | 108.7 × 108.6 × 99.1 mm (John Lewis rounds to 99 × 110 × 110 mm) | Retailer spec sheet; Currys within 0.1 mm |
| Weight | 505 g | Currys, TechRadar, retailer spec sheet |
| Power | Mains only, 22 W adapter in the box. No battery and no 3.5 mm jack | John Lewis, Currys; TechRadar on the jack |
| Colours | Graphite, Glacier White, Amethyst | John Lewis, PriceSpy |
| Account | Set up in the Alexa app with an Amazon account | Retailer spec sheet: Alexa app on Android or iOS |
| Guarantee | 2 years at John Lewis; 1 year at Currys | The two retailers disagree — see below |
| Price | £59.99 at Amazon, Argos, Very, Currys and John Lewis; launch RRP £99.99 | PriceSpy and retailers, 6 October 2026 |
What Hi-Fi?
What Hi-Fi? judges speakers by sound first, and on sound it is the harshest review we found. It scored the Dot Max 2 out of 5. It calls the sound uninspiring and muddled, without the definition of earlier Echoes, and weak on rhythm and dynamics. Its most damning point is the comparison with the model below: the reviewers say the 5th-gen Dot was crisper and sharper. They also say the Dot Max does not match the Echo (4th gen) or the Echo Studio. Their advice to anyone buying for music is to save money and buy the 5th-gen Dot, or to look at Apple’s HomePod mini.
It is not all bad. Build and features both score 4 out of 5. The reviewers praise the soft mesh finish and say it plays loud without distorting. That point puts it at odds with Expert Reviews, which found it does distort as the volume rises. They also rate the voice assistant highly, but they used Alexa+ where it was already live, not in the UK.
Watch: The Ultimate Echo Test: New Studio (2025) & Dot Max vs. The Classics
Puts the Dot Max next to older Echo speakers, which is the comparison What Hi-Fi? makes. Lets you judge the sound argument for yourself, though speaker audio heard through a video is only a rough guide.
Watch on YouTube ↗TechRadar
TechRadar reviewed it as a smart-home hub, and that is where it is most positive. Its scores are design 4, performance 4 and value 3.5. It lists Zigbee, Matter, a Thread border router and eero built-in, plus temperature, ultrasound motion and Wi-Fi sensing, which let routines react to someone walking into the room. On sound it is more generous than What Hi-Fi?: vocals and clarity are good, it fills a space better than the 5th gen, but it is “marginally less powerful” and struggles with bass-heavy tracks. Against the full-size Echo (4th gen), its 3-inch woofer and two 20 mm tweeters give “a better all-around audio experience”, in TechRadar’s words.
The complaints are the awkward controls, the lack of a 3.5 mm output, and a price that the upgrades do not justify. That last point was made at the £99 launch price. At £59.99 the value score would probably look different, although TechRadar has not re-scored it.
The hub matters if you are building a smart home. The three products we have reviewed all work with Alexa, each through its own account and app link: the Hive Thermostat Mini (which has its own Zigbee hub), the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K and the Tapo P110 smart plug. None of them needs the Dot Max’s built-in radios. Those radios matter for Zigbee bulbs and Matter devices such as Tapo’s P110M, which can pair to the speaker directly with no extra bridge.
Watch: All-New Echo Dot Max Unboxing & Setup - Big Sound, Smart Home Power!
Shows setup in the Alexa app, which needs an Amazon account, and the smart-home side TechRadar focuses on. It is probably a US-market unit.
Watch on YouTube ↗Currys and John Lewis
Treat these as what they are: a handful of ratings on pages that sell the speaker. Seven reviews at each shop is too few to prove anything, and the identical 4.4 from 7 at both suggests they may be the same reviews shared between the two sites. Most Echo buyers review on Amazon, which blocks automated checks, so we could not read its much larger pool. On these numbers, owners are broadly content, and nobody is as harsh as What Hi-Fi?.
The retailer pages are more useful for the buying details. Both confirm it runs on mains power only (PriceSpy’s listing wrongly says battery). Both list it at £59.99. And they disagree on the guarantee: John Lewis states 2 years and Currys states 1 year. Before you buy, check the guarantee printed on the listing you are buying from. John Lewis’s longer cover is a reason to buy there when the prices match, as they did on 6 October 2026.
Watch: Echo Dot Max review: Better audio, but is it enough to win over audiophiles?
A general owner-style review that weighs better audio against what audio enthusiasts expect, the same question buyers are answering. Probably US-market, where Alexa+ arrived first.
Watch on YouTube ↗Alexa+ in the UK: what is free and what is not
Alexa+ is Amazon’s new generative-AI version of Alexa. It reached the UK on 19 March 2026 as an early access programme, offered to buyers of new Echo devices and by invitation, and it costs nothing extra during early access. The Echo Dot Max is one of the eligible models. Amazon’s stated terms for afterwards, as reported by TechCrunch and TechRadar, are that it will be included with Prime and cost £19.99 a month without Prime. The ordinary Alexa you get on any Echo stays free. We could not confirm whether UK early access had ended by 6 October 2026, so check the current terms before you count on it.
The price pattern
Amazon launched it at £99.99, and Currys shows a higher “was” price of £119.99, a figure Expert Reviews also quotes. It has not stayed there. TechRadar’s deals comparison recorded a Prime Day price of £56.99 (with the 5th gen at £29.99, down from £54.99). PriceSpy tracks it between £59.99 and £81.99, and on 6 October 2026 it was £59.99 at Amazon, Argos, Very, Currys and John Lewis. Below £60 is the normal price, and around £57 is the sale price to wait for.
Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- A genuine hub: Zigbee, Thread and Matter built in, so Zigbee bulbs and Matter plugs pair to it directly.
- Wi-Fi 6E by most spec sheets, and it can extend an existing eero mesh.
- Room sensors (temperature, ultrasound, Wi-Fi sensing) for routines.
- Plays loud, according to What Hi-Fi?, and fills a room better than the 5th gen, according to TechRadar.
- A physical mic-off button that disconnects the microphones, and voice recordings you can delete in the app.
- Routinely £59.99 or less, against a £99.99 launch price.
What people complain about
- Sound divides experts: What Hi-Fi? rates it below the cheaper 5th-gen Dot.
- The full-size Echo (4th gen) sounds at least as good in all three editorial tests.
- Awkward controls and a light ring that is hard to see (Expert Reviews, TechRadar).
- No 3.5 mm output for a hi-fi.
- Distorts at high volume, according to Expert Reviews — though What Hi-Fi? disagrees.
- Alexa+ is early access in the UK, and will cost £19.99 a month without Prime when it ends.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you are building a smart home around Alexa and want the hub built into a speaker, especially if you plan to add Zigbee bulbs or Matter plugs. Buy it at £59.99 or less, and preferably from a retailer offering a two-year guarantee.
Look elsewhere if sound is the main reason you are buying. The 5th-gen Dot does a kitchen-radio job for much less, and What Hi-Fi? thinks it sounds crisper. If you want proper music from an Echo, all three editorial tests point you to a full-size Echo instead. And if you do not want an Amazon account listening in your home at all, no setting changes the fact that Alexa runs through Amazon’s cloud.
What we could not check
- Amazon’s own product page. Amazon blocks automated checks, so the spec comes from Amazon’s UK launch release, a retailer spec sheet, Currys and John Lewis, not from Amazon’s own listing.
- Wi-Fi standard. Expert Reviews and a retailer spec sheet say Wi-Fi 6E; TechRadar says Wi-Fi 6. We could not see Amazon’s spec page to settle it.
- Guarantee length. John Lewis says 2 years and Currys says 1 year. Amazon’s own warranty terms could not be read.
- Alexa+ status today. The latest reporting we found (March 2026) describes early access. We could not confirm whether it has ended or whether the £19.99 non-Prime charge has started.
- Large buyer samples. Amazon’s ratings were blocked and Argos’s page would not render, so the only counts we have are seven reviews at Currys and seven at John Lewis.
- A community or owner-forum source. We found no UK forum thread with useful owner reports, so this page has two editorial tests instead of the usual community source.
- The “three times the bass” claim. This is Amazon’s figure. No source we read measured it.
- Whether the Echo (4th gen) is still on sale new in the UK; we did not check.
- The videos. All three were confirmed by search listing, not by opening them, and their channels were not named in the listings. They are probably US-market units.
Sources last checked 6 October 2026. Echo prices move every few weeks — check the listing in front of you before ordering.