(Image credit: Future / Chris Hall)

Amazon announced two new speakers in September - the Echo Dot Max and the new Echo Studio. These speakers come blessed with a fresh design and lovely mesh covering, while Amazon says they were designed for Alexa+, something that's currently absent unless you live in the US or Canada.

I've been living with the new speakers for the past month - and we've reviewed the Echo Dot Max here - but there's more to this story than Amazon just launching a couple of new speakers.

Just as the new models were released, one of the important Echo models was retired - the Echo. Confusing, I know: we live in a world everyone knows about the Echo Dot, and the Echo Spot and Echo Show make sense, but few people ever talk about the actual Amazon Echo.

The Echo (4th Gen) was released in 2020 alongside the Echo Dot introducing the spherical design. The design moved Echo on from the cylindrical shape that it used before giving Amazon greater internal volume to boost the sound quality. While the Echo Dot became an instant star for its low price, the standard Echo didn't enjoy the same time in the spotlight.

Launching at £89.99 / $99.99, the Echo 4th Gen was (and still is) excellent value for money, with regular sales pulling that price down. Sure, that's not as cheap as the £25 Echo Dot, but the sound quality is significantly better, and the Echo enjoyed topping a number of smart speaker lists for this combination of value and performance.

Jump to 2025 and the dilemma is a little clearer: the Echo Dot Max launches at £99.99 / $99.99, more expensive than the Echo 4th Gen. Amazon tells us this is the first Echo Dot to feature two drivers for the best sound quality yet - but the older Echo, at a lower price, has three drivers. Its two tweeters and woofer mean this 5-year-old speaker sounds better than the new Echo Dot Max.

(Image credit: Future / Chris Hall)

Sure, it's larger, but for anyone who has the Echo 4th Gen, the Echo Dot Max won't make any sense.

To add to the dilemma is the new Echo Studio. The Echo Studio is the pinnacle of the range, designed for the biggest sound and best performance. It also comes at the highest price - £219.99 / $219.99 - but it's only marginally bigger than the Echo 4th Gen.

Switching the design of the Echo Studio to a sphere and away from the wider cylinder of the original Echo Studio changes its character. While it's better sounding then the Echo 4th Gen, it doesn't have the bass drive of that older Echo Studio which had a huge 5-inch downfiring woofer.

Again, I find myself conflicted: the new Echo Studio is just a little bit too much like the old Echo 4th Gen to justify its price, especially as it no longer delivers that bass that the previous Studio did so well.

With all that in mind, it's a shame, then, that the humble Echo 4th Gen - the model that no one really talked about - has been discontinued. Rarely celebrated, the speaker that lent its name to the entire line-up was a star, offering great performance and excellent value.

I'm just glad I've still got one on my shelf.