Amazon Echo Dot Max review: Disappointing sound, but Alexa+ is a star

The Amazon Echo Dot Max is a $100 smart speaker intended as an affordable entry point to Alexa+. Its design features front-facing buttons and a light ring, but its lightweight build can cause it to shift when pressing the buttons. Audio quality is decent for the price, outperforming the standard Echo Dot, but falls short of the older, similarly priced Amazon Echo due to a smaller woofer and single tweeter. Alexa+ offers a more conversational and context-aware voice assistant experience, excelling in tasks like answering sports-related questions. However, Alexa+ occasionally struggles with specific music requests and can sometimes fabricate information, highlighting AI's potential for inaccuracy. Despite these AI growing pains, Alexa+ is responsive and represents an improvement over other voice assistants. The Echo Dot Max offers better audio and newer hardware than the regular Dot and Pop. The speaker is a solid option for Alexa+ and casual music listening, though its audio capabilities are not as impressive as previous Amazon speakers.