Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Amazon teases its Echo Studio ahead of release at a swanky space in NYC

If you placed a pre-order and before it arrives on your porch, Amazon is previewing its latest, most ambitious smart speaker to date with the Echo Studio in the Big Apple. New Yorkers can experience the incredible audio fidelity of the speaker before everyone else at the Echo Studio installation at Dolby SoHo, located at 477 Broadway in the heart of the SoHo district.

We got the chance to check out the space, which is open to the public from November 1 to November 17. Guests that drop in can browse the space from Wednesday to Sunday during that time frame, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Audiophiles will absolutely fall in love with the space, seeing that there are multiple rooms that showcase the Echo Studio. There’s even a spot that replicates the at-home experience, where you can sit on the couch and listen to the speaker in action — both playing music and also being leveraged for surround sound using two units.

Even though the Echo Studio is the one being showcased in full form at the space, it’s actually the speaker’s support of Dolby Atmos that really got our attention. When we first arrived at the space, we were taken to a mixing studio where we listened to some popular music tracks to hear how Dolby Atmos adds a totally dynamic experience with its spatial tuning versus your typical stereo sound. Replicating the sound performance from a professional mixing studio may seem daunting, but you’ll be surprised by how the Amazon Echo Studio handles. In fact, it may even be a solid replacement for some soundbars and in-home entertainment systems. 

Stop by the space if you’re in the area and want a firsthand look at the new speaker, but for everyone else, they’ll have to wait until the Echo Studio is released on November 7. Given its $200 cost, it should make for some interesting competition this upcoming holiday season — more so when rival speakers like the Apple HomePod and Google Home Max are priced significantly higher. The smart speaker war is heating up already, so this is a wonderful opportunity for you to check out the Echo Studio in action.

Editors' Recommendations

John Velasco
John is the Smart Home editor at Digital Trends covering all of the latest tech in this emerging market. From uncovering some…
Amazon Echo Show 15 is getting the full Fire TV update today
Amazon Fire TV on Echo Show 15.

The line between the Amazon Echo Show 15 and a Fire TV is blurring, with the former getting the experience of the latter starting today with a software update.

It won't quite turn your Echo Show 15 into a Fire TV 15, per se. But it'll give it full access to the Amazon Appstore, and that means you should have all the apps available to essentially turn it into a wall-mounted streaming powerhouse (provided that everything's square when it comes to APIs and app updates, but we have a feeling Amazon and the developers will have that figured out in short order, if things aren't already working as expected).

Read more
The history of the Amazon Echo
Amazon Echo sitting on a sidetable.

It hasn’t even been a decade since the first Amazon Echo was released, but this Alexa-powered smart speaker line has become popular in homes around the world. As Amazon continues to refine and refocus the Echo, we’re taking a look at the history of the device and how things have changed over the years. Let’s take a trip back in time to see how this smart device has evolved.
The standard Amazon Echo

This Echo is the standard smart speaker first released by Amazon, the flagship model that would define all others and introduce Alexa to the world. It’s also the model that has gone through the most changes.

Read more
Everything announced at Amazon’s 2022 Fall Event: new Echos, Fire TVs, Kindle Scribe, and more
Amazon Astro in a build with Ring Virtual Security Guard on its screen.

Amazon announced everything from new Echos, to security cameras, to Fire TVs, and more at its September 28 devices and services event. The new hardware underscores a commitment to what the company dubs "ambient intelligence:" every interaction should be intuitive, proactive, and personalized to help you enjoy the here and now. What's the secret sauce that lets Amazon deliver these contextual experiences? Sensors. Many of the products announced today come with sensors designed to help monitor and enhance a person's environment and experience. Of course, you can adjust the settings to still keep your data private.

Most of the products will be available later this year, with others (ahem, Astro) coming one day. We've rounded up everything Amazon announced today.
Amazon smart speakers

Read more