Since reviewing last year’s third-generation Echo Dot, it’s become a friendly night-time ally. It can turn off the lights, saving me bumped knees trying to navigate the room in the dark, and it can play a series of sleep sounds to lull my unsettled mind to rest.

One more thing I noticed with this and the new third-generation Echo: Alexa has a new, smoother sounding voice, closer to Google Assistant’s to my mind. Months after release, this still hasn’t arrived on any of the other Echos dotted around my house but hopefully they’ll change to match eventually. It’s not a huge selling point if they don’t, but it is a bit easier on the ear.

As for Alexa, it’s business as usual here, which is unsurprising given the smart assistant lives in the cloud rather than locally. Any advance in intelligence would hit all Echo devices at the same time. Here, I’m in two minds: as I said earlier, Google Assistant is just far better at answering questions and hearing what you’re saying clearly. But for the basics, Alexa is just fine: ably playing music, radio and podcasts, connecting with smart home gear and telling you about your day. If you keep it in the kitchen, the timer functionality comes in super handy. With other smart speakers, you have to ask how long is left every time you want to know, and obviously being able to see it at a glance is far more convenient. Knowing what the temperature is outside is less essential but it’s nice to have nonetheless.