Apple isn’t the only one with a launch week. Amazon has introduced five new devices in the Echo family, all designed to make the most of Alexa+, its generative AI assistant. There are refreshes, like the Echo Dot and the Echo Studio, and two new categories: a smart alarm clock and a digital photo frame. Here’s what each one brings and how much it costs.
Echo Dot: more powerful, and a smart home hub
Amazon’s most popular speaker gets new insides:
- Amazon’s new AZ3 chip, for faster conversations with Alexa+ by processing more on the device itself.
- Up to 50% more bass and a fourth microphone with better noise reduction.
- It works as a smart home hub compatible with Zigbee, Thread and Matter, and as an eero Wi-Fi extender.
- It recognizes who’s talking with Voice ID.
There’s also a Kids edition with octopus and penguin designs and a year of Amazon Kids+.
Echo Studio with a camera: the speaker that “sees”
The Echo Studio, Amazon’s best-sounding speaker with Dolby Atmos support, now includes a home camera. You can use it to check on your home live from your phone, recognize faces and, most interestingly, for Alexa+ visual intelligence: it can see what’s in front of it and help you, for example by explaining the rules of a board game. Amazon says the camera doesn’t record. It also adjusts the sound based on how many people are in the room and where they’re sitting. The Echo Studio without a camera remains on sale.
Echo Time: an alarm clock that knows when you’re asleep
It’s the most original new device. The Echo Time is an alarm clock with a 3.2-inch round display and hundreds of clock faces. It has no camera: it uses ultrasound to detect whether you’re asleep and, if you want, wakes you during a light sleep phase, between 10 and 60 minutes before the alarm, first with light that mimics sunrise and then with sound. It comes in graphite, glacier white and coral pink, and there’s also a Kids edition.
Echo Show 16: the biggest screen
It replaces the Echo Show 15 with a 16-inch display, bezels 80% thinner and 40% less thickness. It has Fire TV built in, a 13MP camera with night vision, eight woofers and two tweeters, a physical button to turn off the camera and microphones, and an optional Nanomatte anti-glare display. It’s designed to hang on the wall as a control panel for the whole house, with Alexa’s new 3D home map.
Alexa Photo Frame: an AI photo frame
A 10-inch digital frame with an anti-glare display that looks like a real frame, in black or in birch or walnut wood. It connects to Amazon Photos and Alexa+ chooses which photos to show: according to Amazon, it knows how to pick the ones “where you’re smiling and the lighting is good,” and skips screenshots and receipts. You can also ask it for photos by voice or add voice notes.
Prices and availability
All five are available in the US. In Europe, for now, only the Echo Dot, the Echo Time and the Echo Studio with a camera are arriving.
| Device | US | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Echo Dot | $99.99 | €104.99 |
| Echo Dot Kids | $109.99 | €114.99 |
| Echo Time | $199.99 | €214.99 |
| Echo Studio with camera | $249.99 | €259.99 |
| Echo Show 16 | $499.99 | Not confirmed |
| Alexa Photo Frame | $199.99 | Not confirmed |
About Alexa+: in the US it’s included with Prime and, without Prime, costs $19.99 a month.
My take
Amazon moves at a different speed in the home. While Apple took years to launch its HomeView, Amazon refreshes its whole lineup at once and with very concrete ideas: an Echo Dot that works as a Matter hub and a Wi-Fi extender for $99.99 is hard to beat if your home is full of smart bulbs and plugs.
The Echo Time strikes me as the nicest idea, although $199.99 for an alarm clock is a lot. And the Echo Studio with a camera raises more doubts than excitement for me: a speaker that “sees” in the living room isn’t for everyone, no matter how much Amazon promises it doesn’t record. Would you put an Alexa camera in your home? Which of the five appeals to you most? Let me know in the comments or on social media.
Sources: Amazon, TechCrunch, BGR, Tabletzona, ADSLZone. Images: Amazon.
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