Echo Dot V2 Teardown
Thanks to user @NiHaoMike from the EEV Blog for posting his teardown of the new Echo Dot 2. I’m excited to play with it but already have many AVS-enabled devices. While waiting for the iFixit teardown, we can note a few things that Amazon has done with the device:
Purposely added weights. It seems like there’s some casted weights in their to give the device a little more heft when it’s sitting on a counter or add more structure rigidity.
Buttons vs encoders. The original Echo and Echo Dot used a spinning dial and an encoder for volume control. Components like slip rings and encoders add a lot of complexity and costs. With buttons, it’s much easier to product but isn’t as slick as the original Echo Dot/Echo.
Plastic vs metal. The casing for the Echo Dot 2 is plastic. This isn’t as nice as the anodized aluminum but definitely helps shave down cost.
Ribbon cable. It’s interesting that there’s still a ribbon cable. From our time making the Ubi, we found out how expensive these can be. Perhaps in a future version, this will be replaced with a less costly connector.
The microphone board is where all of the magic for the Echo Dot happens. No surprises compared to the first Echos. However, for a truly low cost version of the Echo, it’d be better if they reduced the number and made the Echo Dot even smaller.
