The Echo speakers continue to improve in sound quality, and with their Bluetooth connectivity, they are a great way to listen to your favorite music, podcasts, or radio stations.
Sadly, they don’t have an internal battery, meaning they are firmly tethered to a wall socket. No good if you want to enjoy some music in the garden without an extension cable trailing all over the place.
Thankfully, Echo speaker battery packs are now a thing we can use to make Alexa completely portable.
Portable Battery Bases for Your Echo Speaker
In truth, battery bases have been available for Echo speakers for a while. You can find them for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation Echo Dot, and also for some of the full-size Echo speakers.
The battery capacity varies from around 2000mAh to well over 10000mAh. Using a 10000mAh battery base with an Echo Dot could give you as much as eight or ten hours of playtime.
The design of the battery bases varies, depending on which generation of Echo it is for. The battery bases for the newer 4th and 5th gen Echo Dot are usually in a cradle form to securely hold the spherical speaker. Bases for older Dots are often flat, with some mechanism to hold the speaker in place.
Mission Battery Base (Made for Amazon)
The portable battery base I currently use is the Mission Battery Base for the Echo Dot 5th Gen. This is a cradle-type and looks fantastic with the speaker in place. It is also simple to use. Just place the speaker into the cradle and then use the supplied mini cable to connect the Echo Dot to the battery base.
The battery capacity is relatively small at just 2000mAh, but it easily lasts 4-5 hours when listening to music at 75% volume. The only thing I would like to see on this battery base is some way to secure the Dot in the cradle. It’s fine when it’s sitting on a table on the decking, but there’s nothing to stop the speaker from rolling out if it gets knocked or tipped over.
GGMM D4 Portable Echo Battery Base
The GGMM D4 battery base is another great choice if you prefer a more simple design. It is compatible with both the 4th and 5th generation Echo Dot speaker. It might look like it would work with the puck-shaped 3rd gen Alexa speaker, but it doesn’t because of the way the AC jack is positioned at the back.
The battery base has a 5200mAh capacity and should be able to run your Dot for around 6-7 hours, depending on the volume you use the speaker at. There is a magnet in the base, which will loosely hold the Echo speaker in place. It won’t save it from a serious knock but does help to make it more stable.
Dot 3 Charger Base
If you have the older 3rd generation Echo Dot, the Dot 3 Charger Base is well worth a look. It doesn’t look quite as flashy as the other two bases mentioned here, but it certainly does a great job of powering your Alexa speaker.
The huge 10400mAh battery can power your little Dot speaker for up to 16 hours, although probably closer to 10-12 if using it at high volume. It is also very easy to set up and use – just push your dot into the battery base, press and hold the power button for two seconds, and then enjoy your music.
And finally, it feels much more secure than many other battery bases, including the two featured here. The Echo Dot is held firmly in place by a sort of cradle at the back. This cradle has cut-outs in it, so it can hold the speaker without blocking too much sound.
Will Amazon Make a Battery-Powered Alexa Speaker?
Nothing we have seen so far suggests that Amazon is planning to launch a fully portable Echo speaker. That’s not to say it will never happen, and the number of battery bases available seems to suggest a desire for a more portable Alexa.
The reason for not making a fully portable Alexa speaker is probably the fact that, aside from using it as a Bluetooth speaker, most of the things it can do requires a Wi-Fi connection. You might still get a Wi-Fi signal in your garden, but any further from home and the Echo loses most of its usability. And for the same price as an Echo Dot, you can buy a more powerful Bluetooth speaker to take camping, to the park, etc.