Which Echo to Buy in Canada: Original Echo, Plus, Dot, or Spot

In just a few days, Canadians will be able to walk into a store and pick one of the shiny new Amazon Echo devices off the shelf. So now Canadians are wondering, which Echo to buy in Canada?

First, it’s worth mentioning that right now, the Canadian selection of Amazon Echo devices is more limited that in the US. In the US, there are 6 different Echo devices available: Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, Echo Spot, Echo Show, and Echo Look. If you want access to the latter 2 there are a few ways to get them… at least until they are officially released in Canada.

In Canada, the good news is that we have access to the most popular 4 Echo devices: Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, and Echo Spot. And the truth is that these 4 devices have way more things in common than differences. That’s a good thing. 

So, which is it going to be? Well, let’s have a look at each of the 4 devices to help you decide which Echo to buy:

Echo (2nd Generation)

“Hands-free speaker with room-filling sound. Available in three fabrics or finishes.”

The Echo is the second generation of the original Echo/Alexa device. It can do all of the “regular” Alexa skills – play music, make calls, set alarms and timers, ask questions, check your calendar, weather, traffic, and sports scores, manage lists, and control smart home devices, it addition to thousands of other skills. 

The thing that makes this model stand out is that it has “powerful speakers with Dolby processing power”. What does that mean? Simply, the sound is better.  Or as Amazon puts it, the speakers “fill the room with immersive, 360° omnidirectional audio, and deliver crisp vocals and dynamic bass response.” For that reason, this would be the choice for Canadians that want to have great sound coming from their device, particularly for listening to music.

On the other hand, I personally don’t think the enhanced speakers are that important to simply “talk to Alexa” or if you will be connecting your Alexa to some other audio equipment (more about that below). But, if you want good quality audio in the Echo – this is your choice.

In terms of physical size, The Echo is in the middle of the other two available Canadian products, measuring 148 mm (height) x 88 mm x 88 mm, and weighing in at 821 grams. For us Canadians, that’s about 6 hockey pucks stacked on top of each other. 

The Echo has 2 speakers, a 63.5 mm woofer and 16 mm tweeter, which again is something that makes it stand out from the Echo Dot.

In Canada, Echo comes in 3 different finishes: 

Charcoal Fabric

Heather Grey Fabric

Sandstone Fabric

Regular price is $129.99. It is on sale for a limited time for $99.99.

Best for: People who want to add an Alexa device to their home or office and want to be able to listen to music directly from the Echo device, with better sound quality.

Echo Plus

“Includes a built-in smart home hub to easily setup and control your smart home devices.”

The Echo Plus is actually very similar to the original Echo, with one big difference. The Echo Plus includes a built-in smart home hub, which you can easily setup to control your smart home devices.

You basically say, “Alexa, discover my devices” and Alexa automatically pairs with ZigBee smart devices, such as light bulbs, door locks, switches, and plugs, without the need for separate hubs or apps. And that’s the key here, because all of the Echo models have ways of connecting to thousands of devices. However, they don’t all necessarily connect as easily as the Echo Plus. Here is a complete list of compatible devices with the Echo Plus.

As mentioned, like other Echo devices, Echo Plus can also connect to other Wi-Fi and Bluetooth smart home devices with the Alexa app.

The Echo Plus is bigger than the Echo, at 235 mm (height) x 84 mm x 84 mm and weighing in at just under 1kg (954 grams). It also has 2 speakers, but the tweeter (for high frequencies) is a little bigger than in the Echo (a good thing): a 63.5 mm woofer and 20 mm tweeter.

In Canada, Echo Plus comes in 3 different finishes: 

Black

Silver

White

Regular price is $199.99. It is on sale for a limited time for $169.99.

Best For: People who want to add Alexa to their home and who need a smart home hub to use with ZigBee compatible devices. This one also has the better speakers for excellent quality audio.

Echo Dot

“Add Alexa to any room in the house. Can connect to your speakers over Bluetooth or 3.5 mm stereo cable.”

The Echo Dot is the smallest and most affordable Echo device. It is important to note that it has all of the functionality of the Echo, however the 2 major differences are:

• Echo Dot is quite a bit smaller than the Echo. The Dot is about the size of a single hockey puck, measuring 32 mm (height) x 84 mm x 84 mm, and weighing 163 grams.
• The speaker in the Echo is only a single 15mm speaker. This means that the audio quality is not as good as in the Echo or Echo Plus. However, the Dot can be connected to other audio equipment via Bluetooth or 3.5mm audio cable. So, if you already have an audio system you want to use, the Dot is likely the best choice for you. 

Because of these differences, this device is the most economical way to get started with Alexa. Again, it’s worth mentioning that the functionality of the Echo Dot is exactly the same as the Echo.

In Canada, Echo Dot comes in 2 different finishes:

Black

White

Regular price is $69.99. It is on sale for a limited time for $49.99.

Best For: People who want the most economical way to get started or to add multiple Alexa devices to multiple rooms. Also, if you plan to connect your Echo to your current audio system via Bluetooth or 3.5mm stereo cable, there is no need to spend the extra money to get the Echo or Echo Plus simply for the better speakers.

Echo Spot

“Minimalist design. Maximum Entertainment.”

The Echo Spot is the newest addition to the Echo devices in Canada. It has all of the functionality of the Echo and Echo Dot, with 1 big-time, obvious difference:

• Echo Spot is the first Echo device with a screen (and camera) available in Canada. So, this will work with multi-modal skills (i.e. audio and videos components). For more information about the Echo Spot, check out this post here. 
• Some example uses for the video component are to see the weather, get a video flash briefing, set an alarm, see music albums, view your calendar, browse Audible audiobooks, view a collection of clock faces, set a photo background, use it with smart cameras to display things like your front door or your nursery, and make video calls to family and friends.
• The Spot is about the size of a softball (sorry, the hockey puck analogy doesn’t quite work here), measuring 104 mm x 97 mm x 91 mm, and weighing 419 grams.
• The speaker in the Echo is a single 35.6 mm speaker, twice as big as the one in the Dot, making the audio quality that much bette. It is still smaller than the Echo and Echo Plus, which have the best sounding speakers.  

Because of these differences, this device is the way to go if you want access to video as well as audio when interacting with Alexa. 

In Canada, Echo Spot comes in 2 different finishes:

Black

White

Regular price is $169.99. It is on sale for a limited time: buy 2, save $50.

Best For: People who want to be able to use video as well as audio in their Alexa interactions.

So there you have it – now you know which Echo to buy in Canada. Just to recap:

Best Value: Echo Dot – all the Alexa functionality, minus the upgraded speakers

Best Audio: Echo – all the Alexa functionality, plus the upgraded speaker

Best for Smart Home Automation: Echo Plus – all the Alexa functionality, plus the upgraded speakers and smart home hub for compatible Zigbee smart devices.

Best for Multi-modal (Video and Audio Functions): Echo Spot – not only is this the best option, but currently it is the ONLY official option in Canada if you want access to the video function of Alexa!

Which one do you plan to buy? If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me or comment below!