Best Alexa devices in 2024

Just need the basic entry-level model from Amazon? The Echo Dot is a great starter smart speaker to help link up all your other gadgets. It’s small, affordable, unobtrusive, and still packs a decent audio punch. There are two main colour options to choose from with the 4th gen model: light and dark grey, but if you’ve got young children you could also pick up the Kids Edition, which comes in fun animal print designs. Got a smart home setup? The new Dot acts as an Eero mesh wifi extender to improve wifi coverage in your home.

The Echo Pop is both the most compact and cheapest Amazon smart speaker you can buy. It looks like an Echo Dot that has been sliced in half, and on test we find the audio performance to be similar to its ball-shaped sibling. It’s more than loud enough for using indoors (we have ours set up in a smaller kids’ bedroom) and we like that it comes in a variety of colours, including teal, lavender and white.

It’s not quite as feature-rich as the other Amazon speakers – there’s no temperature sensor and you can’t stop music by tapping it – but the Alexa voice assistant is responsive and it’s good for controlling other smart gadgets around our house, such as switching on bulbs and alerting us when a visitor rings our Ring doorbell.

If you're looking to complement your Ring Video Doorbell with an indoor security camera to watch over the hallway or allow you to check in on your pets while you’re away, we’d recommend the Ring Indoor Cam. It’s affordable at (just) under £50, records HD video and has useful two-way audio so you can talk to anyone at home when you’re out.

If you need an Alexa device for the bedroom, we recommend this Echo Dot (5th gen) over the standard model because it comes with a built-in LED clock. If you need a few extra minutes in bed you can tap the device to snooze the alarm, and the clock face can also show you weather updates and song titles. Aside from that, you get the same Dot experience: compact shape, great speakers and a responsive assistant.

If the size of the screen on the Echo Show 5 isn’t big enough, then the Echo Show 8 might be a better option. As the name suggests, its display is a larger 8 inches diagonally, and it’s a higher resolution too. Its videos will look sharper and any video calls you take will look better.

Smart video doorbells mean you can answer the buzzer while you’re out via your phone, and the best Alexa-enabled options can display what’s happening at your front door on an Echo Show device. This can make it more convenient when receiving deliveries, welcoming your guests or keeping an eye on any uninvited guests snooping around outside. There are loads of doorbell options, but we’d recommend Amazon-owned Ring for Alexa compatibility, and this weatherproof model is feature-packed and affordable.

If you’re just starting out with getting your home connected, smart plugs are a great way to kick things off. Want to switch lamps on and off while you’re out or get the kettle boiling before you reach the front door? We’d recommend going with a compact and Alexa-compatible top pick.

The standard Echo has a built-in smart hub and is a little bit more expensive than the Dot above, but it’s also louder overall, making it a better option both for music. If you want to expand your smart home collection quickly, you can often find bundle deals to get the speaker as well as a smart light bulb at a reduced price.

Giving you the benefits of Amazon's streaming devices and its Echo speakers in one gadget, the Fire TV Cube has eight microphones that allow you to speak to Alexa and control your TV from anywhere in the room. Once connected, it can stream the likes of Netflix, Disney+, All 4 and iPlayer on your telly, even if it isn’t smart.

You can ask the voice assistant to play specific shows, skip forward or backwards on the programme you're watching, and also control your smart home devices or give you a news or weather update.

After a budget Alexa-enabled device with a display? The cheapest option is the Show 5. It costs under £100 and has a small 5.5-inch display that’s ideal for the hallway or kitchen countertop. The combination of the screen and built-in camera makes it ideal for video calling, checking your security camera feed, or scanning the weather forecast to see if it’ll rain tomorrow.

The Show 15 has a huge 15.6-inch display, making it like an A3-sized calendar that you can attach to your wall. It has Alexa built-in, of course, and the always-on display will help you check out your schedule at a glance. We like how you can set profiles for every family member, and the device will automatically recognise who is talking or looking at the screen.

If you want the best possible music quality from Amazon’s roster, the Studio is the biggest and loudest model. It’s also the only one with a 3D sound that promises to make it sound like you’re right in the middle of the recording studio. The chunky cylindrical design might stick out a bit in your home, though.

Can’t shake that nagging feeling that you haven’t locked the door when you’re away from home? While it’s more of an expensive upgrade for your connected home, we’d recommend a smart alarm system to keep an eye on your property while you’re out. You’ll be able to check on contact sensors (for doors and windows) and motion sensors from your phone and can arm or disarm the system with your voice via Alexa.

A connected heating system instantly makes your home feel smart, and the Nest Learning is our pick as the best thermostat for most people. We like the stylish circular design (that comes in stainless steel, white, black, and copper so you can match your decor) and that it not only offers Alexa voice control, but uses artificial intelligence (AI) to learn your routines and heating schedules. It’s suitable for all boilers, and also manages hot water.

Lighting is an essential part of your smart home, and we think Philips Hue bulbs are the best ones to pick when starting out. There’s an extensive range of Hue products that you can control with your voice via Alexa, remotely from your phone, or via schedules that turn them on whenever you like.

The only downsides are that they need to connect to a hub (included in this starter kit) and they’re a bit more expensive than some other rival lights – for a budget option, we recommend these Wiz bulbs.

When it comes to outdoor wifi security cameras that play well with Alexa, we’d recommend going with one of our top picks, the Arlo Pro 3. It works well for watching over your front garden or anywhere around the exterior of your house, and we like how its motion alerts correctly flag whether any movement it spots was caused by a person, animal or car. With its 2K quality, it records higher resolution video than a lot of security cameras on the market too.

“Alexa, tell the robo vac to clean the house.” While a robot might not replace your regular vacuum cleaner, they’re ideal for a mid-week clean – you just set them up and they do the work for you. Some of the best robot vacuums can be pricey but this top performer is more affordable at under £220, works with Alexa, and you can set it to a schedule too.

Decided to ditch the physical house keys and embrace the smart lock lifestyle by opening your doors with your phone? We reckon the Brisant Secure Ultion Nuki is the best option for balancing connected features – including Alexa support and auto-unlocking when you approach – with tough security measures. On test, we loved the easy installation, too.