Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a long time user of Echo and eagerly awaited the successors. The Echo Plus is no such thing. Please note that many high star reviews are first time echo owners and they don't have the original good unit to compare too. If you are too and reading this, buy the original Echo for around 80$ (not the second gen). If you are a previous echo owner, don't "upgrade". First and foremost, the sound. Despite being touted as having updated speakers and Dolby, it sounds much worse. Volume does not get as high, bass is always too low, and just sounds muffled. If you have a Dot, then it is comparable to sound quality but just louder. My wife asked what was wrong with it (she didn't know it was the Plus). That was one of the main reasons I got the new Echo, an upgrade to the sound. The speech recognition is about the same. Maybe bit better but I think that's because this Echo does not get as loud and not as much bass interference as the old one. Connecting smart devices is about as painful as before, just in a new way. It does basic commands and for basic devices. Very limited. You are better off with a hidden, more powerful hub. Other than that, it looks almost exactly the same as old Echo, and does same things. Connecting my phone via bluetooth was useless. The new power plug in port is not hidden like the original and cord comes out easily. Overall, I am going to return it. 150$ for a downgrade. It's a shame.