The Echo Sub is Amazon's $130 subwoofer that works with other Echo speakers to put out a fairly solid bass. The company released it back in 2018 as a companion product for those who already owned a couple of Echo speakers. If you're shopping for a new speaker, you may be wondering if the Echo Sub is still available to purchase now and if it's worth considering in 2022. It can, after all, add more bass to your existing audio setup for a reasonable price.

Well, yes, the Echo Sub is indeed available and you can still buy one for $130 from Amazon. It may be temporarily out of stock but the company is still selling the Echo Sub alongside the other smart speakers in 2022.

Is the Echo Sub worth buying?

Amazon's Echo speakers have always been popular for putting out a solid audio output for their size. They're also reasonably priced, making them accessible to those wanting a good-sounding smart speaker with Alexa support. The little towers and the tiny Echo Dot speakers, however, lack an actual deep bass, leaving room for the Echo Sub on the market as a companion product. It almost seems like an essential upgrade to compensate for the Echo's lack of sonic heft.

But as we've written previously in our article detailing some of the issues with the Echo Sub, it's a very niche product that sits in an awkward spot in 2022. Not only does it demand a standalone Echo speaker to work at all, but it also brings connectivity issues that make it frustrating to use. The Echo Sub works as advertised when it comes to adding more bass to your existing audio setup, but the overall audio quality isn't that great with the bass being a little too overwhelming when paired with a single Echo speaker. So really you need a stereo pair at least.

The Sub also lacks native Alexa support, meaning you can't use it to talk to Amazon's voice assistant and control your smart home products.

Want to buy an Echo Sub? Get the Echo Studio instead

Adding an Echo Sub to your existing audio setup seemed like a step worth taking until Amazon launched the Echo Studio a year later. The Echo Studio is slightly more expensive, but it offers a better experience overall. Compared to the Echo Sub's 6-inch woofer, the Echo Studio features five drivers including a 5.25-inch downward-firing woofer, three two-inch midrange speakers, and a one-inch forward-facing tweeter. All these are driven by a 330-watt amp with a 24-bit DAC. The Echo Studio is the better-sounding speaker out of the two and it also supports 3D audio. Notably, you can also tune the Echo Studio specifically for the room it's kept in.

The Echo Sub is no longer the only option for those who are looking to add more bass to their audio setup. The Studio can do that and more for a slight premium. The Sub's limited functionality and connection woes make it harder for us to recommend in 2022. The Echo Sub isn't necessarily a bad product but we think the Echo Studio brings more value to the table with relatively better audio quality, support for Amazon's voice assistant, and more. It may be time for Amazon to retire the Echo Sub and release an updated woofer to go against some of the high-end speakers in 2022.