The Echo Studio smart speaker features several buttons on its front top. It also has a light ring around its entire top. We explore here the Echo Studio buttons and input and output ports. We show where to find each one on the speaker. And then we discuss what each button / plug is for, and when to press them. Finally, we touch a bit on some of the light ring patterns you’ll see when pressing these buttons. Some also come up during certain speaker modes.
Echo Studio Buttons Functions, Descriptions, and Locations
Volume Down and Up Buttons
The Echo Studio has two push-button volume controls at the top front. These round depressions, with raised minus and plus symbols inside, decrease and increase the speaker volume.
Press the minus button to lower speaker volume. Press the plus button to raise it. Note that adjusting volume in this way does not normally affect the loudness of any other speaker. But it will when this speaker belongs to a stereo or sub woofer pair. In that case, changing the volume on any speaker in the group adjusts all the others as well.
The light ring briefly glows white when you press either UP or DOWN button. It also shows the current volume setting. The less of the ring that glows, the lower the volume is. The more of it that glows, the higher.
The Light Ring During Volume Adjustments
The next picture shows the volume set to approximately sixty percent.
Next, we see the volume at fifty percent..
Each press of either volume key illuminates the light ring in white.
The next picture shows the volume at about eight-five percent.
The ring goes out a couple seconds after the last volume button press.
Mic Mute / Mic OFF Button
The Echo Studio also has a Microphone OFF / ON button. This circular button has a raised STOP symbol inside. When you press it, it mutes and un mutes the far field mics. When you mute, the speaker does not hear anything. So it does not respond to the wake word.
See the Mic Mute button, pointed at by the green arrow next.
The light ring as well as the Mic ON / OFF button also glow red. This shows that the unit will not hear you with the mic on mute.
When muted, press this button to un mute / turn on the mics again. Once you unmute, the red light ring goes dark. Then the speaker again responds to voice commands.
Action and Reset Button
The round Action button has a raised, white dot in its recessed center. We find this button at four o’clock on the Echo Studio top panel.
Quickly press and release the Action button to get Alexa’s attention instead of calling out to her with your voice. Raise her in this way when you need her to be quiet. Or get her attention in loud places where she might have trouble hearing you speak the wake word.
You can also reset the Echo Studio by pressing the Action button. Hold it in until reset happens. It usually starts in five to seven seconds.
Finally, there is a light sensor beneath the white dot on this triple duty button. This “electric eye” senses the ambient light shining on the Studio, and adjusts the brightness of its light ring accordingly. The brighter the surrounding light, the brighter the ring glows whenever it lights. The darker the area, the dimmer the light ring glow.
Amazon Alexa Echo Studio Connection Ports
The Echo Studio also sports a three-hole panel, found on the back side. Herein, are the only connection ports. These include the AUX In, AC Power In, and apparently, some sort of micro USB service port.
The hole on the left is the service port. Presumably, Amazon techs plug equipment into this port when testing or repairing the speaker. In the middle, we find the AC power input plug. And finally, a 3.5mm line level audio input port on the right rounds out the port compliment on this speaker. This supports connecting your Echo Studio to a phone or other low audio device for better sound. The AUX port is also a digital optical port.