Amazon Echo second-generation review: smaller, cheaper and better

The new version of the Alexa-ready gadget sounds great, looks good and improves on the original, meaning nobody can touch its quality for the price

The new Amazon Echo is cheaper, smaller and has a less imposing stature, but is it still the best smart speaker going?

Amazon's voice assistant Alexa has improved greatly since the Echo's introduction to the UK at the end of last year, altered behind the scenes without users needing to do anything thanks the virtue of being a cloud-powered product. It has gained new skills, routines and other smart home control abilities. Its voice recognition and understanding has improved, and it is now a little more conversational, remembering certain topics that you're talking about the way a human would.