Redesigned Amazon Echo speakers coming to the UK with Dolby Atmos sound upgrade and smarter Alexa+

If you're unable to raise Alexa without barking across the room with your current smart speaker, these new models could be the solution. Amazon claims to have future-proofed its new Echo devices ready for upcoming advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the addition of an "AI Accelerator" that it says has been "designed to run AI edge models of the future."

That'll help when the new, more personalised and proactive Alexa+ experience becomes available in the UK. This next-generation AI assistant was announced earlier this year in the United States and costs $19.99 per month (roughly £14.99) for new users. There's no word on when Alexa+ will release in the UK, or how much it'll cost. If you don't want to add another Direct Debit to your account, the original Alexa remains free to use.

Sound performance has been improved across the new lineup, but Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio one-up the other models with support for 5.1 surround sound via Alexa Home Theatre — letting you power your next movie night with Echo speakers dotted around the room.

You can preorder Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 11 in the UK now, ahead of the release scheduled later this month.

Echo Dot Max

As the name suggests, this builds upon the popular Echo Dot to deliver almost 3x the bass of the standard Dot.

For the first time, Amazon has reworked the internals of the Echo Dot to squeeze in two separate speakers, with a high-excursion woofer for plenty of oomph from the bass and a custom tweeter for crisper high notes.

The company explains: "We also rearchitected the sound system. The new design eliminates the separate speaker module, integrating the speaker directly into the device housing to double the air space for fuller bass. The result is a compact speaker that still packs a punch.

Amazon is promising "room-filling sound that automatically adapts to your space" from this diddy speaker. Of course, you'll also enjoy all of the improvements to Alexa's ability to hear you speaking from the other side of the room, thanks to the new chipset and far-field microphone working together to filter out unwanted background noise.

Echo Dot Max costs £99.99, although you can save 20% on that price if you trade-in a previous Echo speaker at checkout.

Echo Studio

This new generation of Echo Studio looks unrecognisable compared to its predecessor. Amazon has redesigned its beefiest speaker, which goes toe-to-toe with the likes of the Sonos Era 100, so that it occupies a 40% smaller footprint but somehow packs even more of a punch.

To achieve that, Amazon opted for a spherical design, wrapped in a new fabric material knitted to maintain the ultimate acoustic transparency.

Echo Studio supports Spatial Audio, the three-dimensional sound technology that maps out audio around you, so that instruments and vocals seem to surround you from a variety of directions and distances – mimicking a real-life concert. There's also Dolby Atmos support built-in too.

Here's the clever bit – you can link up to five of these speakers (or five Echo Dot Max speakers) with a Fire TV Stick to create your own immersive home cinema system. The spherical Echo Studio costs £219.99 and starts shipping on October 29, 2025.

Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11

The new Echo Show devices are where things get really interesting. Both the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 feature new high-density displays with over a million pixels. Amazon redesigned these new panels from the ground up with in-cell touch technology and negative liquid crystal displays – in a nutshell, these improvements mean you'll enjoy exceptional picture quality whether you're in bright sunlight or a dimly lit room.

Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 benefit from better viewing angles too, so you'll still enjoy a crisp, colourful experience on-screen when peering from the other side of the room — helpful with a smart home device like this, where you're rarely sitting at the optimal angle, unlike watching a television.

At the top of these fancy new screens is a 13-megapixel camera for crystal-clear video calls.

The audio's been completely overhauled too, with front-facing stereo speakers and custom woofers delivering room-filling spatial audio. Amazon says: "Both devices include new front-facing stereo speakers and a custom woofer for room-filling spatial audio that make them our best-sounding smart displays available when they launch. The full-range drivers are strategically placed under the floating displays and are meticulously designed to fire audio frontwards to deliver incredibly clear sound directly toward the customer."

They'll set you back £179.99 for the Echo Show 8 and £219.99 for the Echo Show 11, with both arriving on November 12, 2025.

To pair with these new Echo Show models, Amazon has designed an adjustable stand — sold separately for £34.99 — that complements the new-look device's design and colour. It swivels the Echo Show device, so that it's always in the correct position to interact with the new touchscreen.