Amazon is now rolling out new equalizer adjustment features for its Echo-branded smart speakers and Alexa-enabled speakers manufactured by its partners. The functionality is only coming to users in the U.S. for the time being. However, that means that users will be able to use their voice to fine-tune various aspects of the sound put out by those speakers, whether that’s adjusting middle bands, treble, or bass. That applies to the online retail shipper’s Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, Echo Show, and Echo Spot. The level of any band can be set between -6 dB and 6 dB on Amazon’s own devices, allowing for a wider diversity of playback performance to fit the specific type of media being played. Presumably, the equalization can be tuned regardless of whether that’s for a news story, music, or other forms of media.
While Amazon’s own devices don’t necessarily have the best bass output or the widest supported frequency range, the change is also available to Amazon’s partners. That should equate to an even better experience from some of the best available Alexa-enabled speakers. Moreover, the range of adjustability may or may not go beyond the standard -6 dB to 6 dB listed above for the more premium options since they support a wider volume range and more audio frequencies. With that said, there’s also no word as to which partners will be implementing the EQ adjustment options. So owners of 808 Audio’s XL-V Smart Speaker, Harman Kardon’s Allure, the Sonos One, or the Ultimate Ears BLAST won’t necessarily ever see this particular function hit their devices. What’s more, it may take a bit longer for those partners that do incorporate the equalization adjustments to roll the change out to end users regardless.
In the meantime, Amazon has not provided any indication with regard to when it plans to release equalization options to further regions around the globe. The company will need to account for differences and challenges associated with various world languages in order to create a unified experience. Bearing that in mind, it could take anywhere from a month or two to several months to finalize and Amazon isn’t likely to risk its position in the IoT smart speaker market to rush the process.