I've tested dozens of the best smart home devices since joining the Tom's Guide home section a few months back. Amazon's Echo Dot with Clock has proven to be the most useful of the bunch. This all-in-one gadget sounds phenomenal, can trigger my automated smart home routines, and adds calling capabilities to any room. That's not just my opinion, my colleague Kate Kozuch gave the compact round speaker a full five-star rating in her review.
Overall, the Echo Dot with Clock's sound-centric shape and built-in sensors offers the best performance for the price. So it's a real shame when you can't even buy it on Amazon. There hasn't been an official statement as to why it's currently unavailable whether it's production issues or if Amazon is phasing it out in favor of the Echo Spot. One thing is for certain—Amazon not stocking the Dot, especially so during Prime Day, is a big mistake. Here's why.
The Dot has the best sound of any smart speaker under $100
I've only recently discovered that the Echo Spot is currently unavailable after spending the past week reviewing Amazon's new Echo Spot alarm clock. I'd argue that the Spot is the best-looking Echo smart speaker yet. The Spot has a similar design to Amazon's most affordable smart speaker, the Echo Pop, but with a sleek glass touchscreen. Aside from the three vibrant body colors it comes in, you can customize both the clock face and color theme to make it match a room's aesthetic on the fly.
So the Echo Spot has a better design, offers improved visual info compared to the limited pixel text displayed on the Dot, and can control smart home devices with a tap. However, when I compared the Echo Spot against the Echo Dot with Clock in a faceoff, I preferred the richer sound and advanced smart sensors found on the cheaper Echo Dot. The Dot's rounded design fills the entire room with immersive audio whereas the Spot's front-facing speaker needs you to sit in front of it.
The Dot has sensors the Echo Pop and Spot lack
While it's nice to see album artwork, I use a smart speaker for the listening experience, not the eye candy. The richer vocals and deeper bass on the Dot give it a leg up over the new Echo Spot. But beyond sound, the Dot has two other features I use regularly that the pricier Spot lacks. The first is the built-in temperature sensor which detects the exact climate of the room it's placed in. This has been a game-changer in my bedroom routines because it kicks on my air conditioner or electric fireplace when a room is too hot or too cold.
If you own an Eero Wi-Fi system then the Dot also acts as a beacon for your network to expand and strengthen the Wi-Fi signal around your home or yard. At $60 it costs less than adding a standard beacon, plus you're getting smart speaker and temperature sensor functionality. If Amazon was going to phase out the clock in favor of the Spot then the extensive feature set should've remained.
The Dot is affordable
At $59, the Dot is half the price of the HomePod Mini or the larger Amazon Echo. It makes for a great gift and can be used in any room, sounding better than most smart displays. Its focus on maximizing sound in every space and less distracting text display has a place, especially for those who aren't crazy about the Spot's always-on screen. During last year's Prime Day you could grab one for only $30, which is an absolute steal.
If the Echo Spot is expected to replace the value that the Dot with Clock offers it really needs to incorporate the sensors and antennas it had. As it stands, the Echo Dot remains the best way to easily and cheaply add core smart home functionality to your space. Let's hope they go back on sale.
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