Amazon Echo Studio Black

Amazon Echo Studio – Black

The Amazon Echo Studio is the largest and most powerful speaker in the Echo range, built for listeners who want a smart speaker to sound like a proper music system. Five speakers fire in different directions inside its cylindrical cabinet: a downward-facing woofer for bass, three midrange drivers covering the front, sides and top, and a forward-facing tweeter, creating the height and width that Dolby Atmos and spatial audio formats need. Alexa is built in, and so is a Zigbee smart home hub, so the Studio works as both a music centre and a voice control point for the home. This listing is the Black finish.

Key features

• Five-speaker system: 5.25-inch woofer, three 2-inch midrange drivers and a 1-inch tweeter
• 330W peak amplification with a 24-bit DAC for high-resolution playback
• Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial audio support
• Spatial audio processing that widens stereo music
• Automatic room adaptation that senses the acoustics of the space and retunes playback
• Alexa built in for voice control, streaming, calls and smart home routines
• Built-in Zigbee smart home hub for lights, plugs, locks and sensors
• Combination 3.5mm and mini-optical input for a TV or external source

Five drivers, arranged for space

The woofer fires downwards through a bass aperture at the base of the cabinet to maximise low-frequency output, while the three midrange speakers point left, right and upwards and the tweeter fires forwards. That layout is what allows a single unit to reproduce the height cues in an Atmos mix instead of folding everything into a flat stereo image. Supported formats include FLAC, MP3, AAC, Opus and Vorbis alongside Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio, with playback quality up to 24-bit high resolution.

Spatial audio and room adaptation

Amazon spatial audio processing takes ordinary stereo tracks and renders them with greater width, clarity and presence, so everyday listening benefits even when a native Atmos mix is not available. Separately, automatic room adaptation analyses the acoustics of the room using the built-in microphones and continuously adjusts audio filters during playback, compensating for corners, nearby walls and furniture. Move the speaker and it recalibrates to the new position.

Alexa, streaming and home theatre use

Ask Alexa to play music from supported streaming services, set timers, control compatible smart home devices, make announcements to other Echo speakers in the house, or answer questions, all hands-free. Two Studios can be stereo-paired for a wider soundstage, and the speaker connects wirelessly as the audio output for compatible Fire TV devices. The combination line input accepts either a 3.5mm analogue or a mini-optical digital connection from a television or another source.

Hub, connectivity and design

The built-in Zigbee hub lets Alexa set up and control Zigbee light bulbs, locks, sensors, plugs and in-wall switches without a separate bridge. Dual-band Wi-Fi connects on 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac networks at 2.4 and 5GHz, and Bluetooth supports streaming from a phone to the Studio or from the Studio to another Bluetooth speaker. The fabric-covered cabinet measures 206mm tall with a 175mm diameter and weighs 3.5kg.

For a single-speaker setup that plays Atmos music convincingly, fills a living room, and still does everything an Echo does, the Studio in Black is the complete package in the Amazon line-up.