Amazon Echo vs Amazon Tap vs Echo Dot: What’s the difference?

Amazon has a new Echo lineup with tiered-speaker heights that remind us of Starbucks coffee sizes (grande, venti, and trenta).

Amazon makes a cylindrical, internet-connected Bluetooth speaker called Echo, which doubles as your personal, cloud-based assistant, addressed as Alexa. Now, one year after launching Echo, it is debuting two sibling speakers.

The new ones are called Amazon Tap and Echo Dot. If you were to sit all three speakers next to each other, starting with the Echo and ending with the Dot, one would be tall, one would be medium, and one would be short. However, the differences between Amazon’s speakers aren’t limited to height; each one is best suited to a specific environment – whether that be at home, on the go, or as an enhancement to your current audio setup.

Confused about what we mean? No worries. We’ve dissected how each Amazon speaker is unique and laid out all the details below.

Amazon Echo

Release date: 2015Availability: Now available in the US (Amazon order page)Price: $179Dimensions: 235 mm x 83.5 mm x 83.5 mm Weight: 1045 gramsConnectivity: Bluetooth and dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO)Power: Plugs into a wall outletAudio: 360-degree sound (2.5 inch woofer and 2.0 inch tweeter)Alexa: Yes (Always-on/always-listening/voice-activated)

Amazon Echo is a 9.25-inch-tall cylinder speaker with a 7-piece microphone array. It responds to the wake word “Alexa” and is capable of voice interaction, controlling compatible smarthome devices, music playback from smart devices over Bluetooth, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, reading PDFs, providing weather forecasts, warning you of traffic conditions, answering trivia, and supplying other types of information in real-time. Echo requires a Wi-Fi connection in order to respond to voice commands and fetch content for you, and it must remain plugged in for power.

Amazon Tap

Release date: 31 March 2016Availability: Will launch in the US (Amazon pre-order page)Price: $129.99Dimensions: 59 mm x 66 mm x 66 mmWeight: 470 gramsConnectivity: Bluetooth and supports 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n Wi-FiPower: Relies on a charging cradle (9 hours of playback)Audio: 360-degree sound (dual 1.5-inch drivers and dual passive radiators)Alexa: Yes (Not voice-activated; Must touch mic button to access Alexa)

Amazon Tap is a 6.2-inch-tall cylinder speaker with a 7-piece microphone array. So it’s a smaller, more portable, more affordable version of Echo, and it comes with full access to Alexa. Unlike the Echo, the Amazon Tap is wireless and must be set into the included cradle in order to charge. Amazon said it’ll stream up to 9 hours of audio on a full charge, or last up to three weeks in standby mode. The Tap isn’t an always-on, so you can’t say “Alexa” to wake it and instead need to press the microphone button on the front. Other than that, it can do all the same tricks as Echo (so long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi).

Echo Dot

Release date: 3 March 2016Availability: Now available in the US (Amazon page)Price: $89.99Dimensions: 38 mm x 84 mm x 84 mmWeight: 250 gramsConnectivity: Bluetooth and dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO)Power: Plugs into a wall outletAudio: Voice-feedback only (Must be connected to external speakers)Alexa: Yes (Not voice-activated; Must touch mic button to access Alexa)

Echo Dot is 1.6-inch-tall cylinder with one tiny speaker. It’s basically just the top section of Amazon Echo – and half the price, but equally as smart. It supports always-on Alexa, connects to the cloud to stream music, controls your smarthome devices, and does all the same stuff as Echo. The main difference between Dot and Echo is that the full-size speaker is gone. The idea is you’ll hook Dot up to your own audio setup (via out jack or Bluetooth), so you can use Alexa with your existing speakers. That tiny speaker won’t output much audio; it’s only for Alexa voice feedback (which, again, requires Wi-Fi).

Conclusion

Amazon Echo is ideal if you just want to have a stationary Bluetooth speaker that doubles as an always-on, Siri-like personal assistant. It’ll provide you with room-filling audio that’s sufficient for casual listening but it gets sort of tinny when turned up too much. And if you’re connected to Wi-Fi, you can ask it all sorts of questions and get it to control your stuff.

Amazon Tap is supposed to do all of that, including provide a similar sound experience, but it’s ditched the cord and uses a charging cradle in order to be portable. But because it’s not always plugged into power, always-on Alexa isn’t available. You must push a mic button to access the service. Tap is therefore useful if you’re going to the beach or are always on the go.

As for Dot, just think of it as a little, always-on Alexa hub. It’s not a speaker but works with your speakers. Oddly, at launch, Amazon is only selling Dot through its voice assistant. So, you need a device with Alexa – such as Echo or the Fire TV – to buy one. You also need to be a Prime member. If that’s you, just say “Alexa, order Echo Dot”, and you’re good.