ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Amazon unveiled the next-generation Echo Dot devices.
- The new Echo Dots serve as Wi-Fi extenders and smart home hubs.
- The devices are available to buy now for $100.
New Amazon Echo Dot devices have arrived, with a notable added feature: A built-in Eero Wi-Fi extender that adds up to 1,000 square feet of Wi-Fi coverage to your home network. On Wednesday, Amazon unveiled the Echo Dot along with several other new Alexa devices, including the Echo Show 16 smart home hub, the Echo Time smart alarm clock, and the Alexa Photo Frame.
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A smart home hub
Amazon turned the new-generation Echo Dot into a smart home hub, with Alexa connecting to thousands of compatible devices like lights, locks, and thermostats out of the box, Amazon says. The device uses a sensor fusion platform to sense the room around it, and can detect things like a temperature drop and turn up the thermostat, or turn on the lights when you arrive home.
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The Echo Dot features Amazon’s AZ3 silicon and a new AI Accelerator for on-device AI processing, for faster, more natural conversations with Alexa and better background noise filtering. A new fourth microphone helps Alexa hear you better no matter where you are in the room. Voice ID can also recognize who is speaking and customize your experience (for example, playing your favorite playlist instead of someone else’s in the home).
AmazonIn terms of audio, the new Echo Dots include 50% more bass than the last model, according to Amazon.
These new Amazon smart home devices arrive just weeks after Apple unveiled its new smart home forays, including an Echo Show competitor called the Home View and the Echo Dot-like HomePod mini. But Amazon’s big advantage over Apple in the smart home is its current dominance: As of January, Amazon had sold over 600 million Alexa-enabled devices worldwide.
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You can order a new Echo Dot today for $100, and it comes in four colors (Graphite, Glacier White, Agave Green, and Coral Pink).
Alison DeNisco Rayome
Managing Editor
Alison DeNisco Rayome is the Managing Editor of ZDNET. She was formerly a Managing Editor at CNET, covering software, services, and home tech, and a Senior Editor at TechRepublic, covering AI, cybersecurity, tech and the workplace, and CxO/leadership. See full bio