The Black Fridays Deals started earlier than ever in the UK. I opened the Amazon.co.uk to see what's going on – online window shopping for the things I can't afford is a guilty pleasure of mine. I noticed Amazon Echo devices on sale.

For smart home control and filling your home with Alexa devices, the Echo Dot has always been a popular choice. The old versions had two main problems: they were a little ugly, and a little quiet.

Clear and loud audio; 3.5mm and Bluetooth audio outputs; Same price as old model; Improved design

No longer USB-powered; Not ideal for music

For not a lot of money you get a whole load of smart voice functionality and decent sound The new Echo Dot is the easiest, cheapest and best way to bring Alexa into your home. It works well on its own or can be nicely integrated into myriad other smart home and AV products, bringing voice control...

Clear; solid sound; Improved Alexa capabilities; Budget price

Alexa intelligence is limited

The new Echo Dot is the best compact smart speaker on the market by a wide margin.

Impressive full sound quality; Inexpensive introduction to smart home control; Alexa smarter than ever; Improved aesthetic befitting modern home design; Better microphone sensitivity

Fabric covering could show dirt over time; New power port is less universal

Excellent product - real fun use. Has great speakers (bass) and volume for the size.

Excellent speakers; loud enough Good bass for the size Good response

Nothing yet

With three main tech companies providing smart speakers for the home, we were given the chance to test, play and review Amazon's latest Echo Dot which is the third generation of this clever voice-controller device.

I just got 2 of these. One for the living room and the other for the bedroom. Alexa recognizes my voice at low levels and from a good distance. Lots of skills can be added to make a dumb home smart. I recommend the Echo Dot 3rd Gen. The speakers have good quality sound from such a small device.

I really like all the features this product has to offer. Still learning new things and ways to use it in my daily life

The new Echo Dot is a slight improvement over the old one in every way. It’s more attractive, sounds better, hears you just as well, still has a 3.5mm socket and Bluetooth audio in and out.

can always hear you; small but loud enough; great device support; clear when muted; activity can been seen from across the room; Bluetooth; 3.5mm audio socket

music distorts at max volume; no real bass; general knowledge not quite as good as Google Assistant

I have heard so much about this product and was incredibly impressed with each of its features. It has amazing sound quality and has the ability to be linked with a speaker by the touch of a button. All in all, I would 100% recommended this item!