Uh oh! Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale is almost over, as it’s the final day of the event, so you’ll want to shop those last minute Prime Day Amazon Echo deals while you can. This event served up a second Prime Day tailor-made for early holiday shoppers. These Prime Day deals offer some of the best bargains all year, and the discounts are just as good (if not even better) than Black Friday, spanning all sorts of tech, ahead of the holidays. Other retailers are joining the fun, such as Walmart with its October Rollbacks sale, which is basically just a Walmart Prime Day sale without all of the extra wrapping paper.
This event certainly includes some juicy Prime Day Amazon Echo deals, as the retailer loves to feature its own devices among these sale offerings. If you’re jonesing for an Echo device, we’ve got everything you need to know about the Prime Early Access Sale — including some of the best Prime Day Amazon Echo deals you can shop today — below.
Today’s best Prime Day Amazon Echo deals
Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen) — $18, was $40
If you haven’t entered the world of smart speakers, then the Echo Dot 3rd-gen is a great starter, not only because it’s a significant upgrade from the Echo Dot gen-2 to gen-3, but also because it’s quite reasonably priced, making it much easier to grab a few to kit out your whole house.
Being slightly more significant than the Echo Dot gen-2, Amazon dropped the logo at the front and made the whole thing a little bit bigger, which means they can put a bigger speaker into the little device to give it much fuller audio than that isn’t tinny or lacks too much bass. Even better, they wrapped the outside with the cloth mesh material that has become quite common for speakers these days, which is both good and bad, since it looks nice but is more prone to spills and stains, although just being careful around it should fix that issue. The sound is also projected in 360 degrees, rather than out the top as you would find with the Nest mini, and that certainly helps fill out the room, even though it’s not going to compete with a speaker made to only be a speaker.
When the Echo Dot gen-3 came out, Amazon’s Alexa wasn’t that smart, to say the least, so the audio quality played a huge part in making it a quality product. Since then, though, Alexa has advanced by leaps and bounds, making it much more capable as a virtual assistant. There’s also a significant microphone upgrade that bumps the number of microphones on the gen-2 to four microphones on the gen-3, which means that you can do a pretty excellent job of controlling your smart home devices, even over the sound of music playing, although that depends a lot on placement and volume of said music.
Overall, the Echo Dot gen-3 is a nice little smart home device that functions as a speaker and is a great way to dip your toes into the whole idea of smart speakers and smart home control through virtual assistants; and is probably one of the better Prime Day Amazon Echo deals that you’re going to find.
Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen) — $20, was $50
With an all-new design, the Echo Dot 4th gen bows down to the idea of a spherical speaker shape being a great design decision, although unlike what you might expect, the sound does not come out in 360 degrees but instead includes a front-facing speaker. You’d also think that, given the larger size of a spherical design, there would be a bigger speaker inside, but instead, it’s the same 1.6-cm sized speaker that was in the gen-3, albeit with the better build quality. Said quality provides it with much better audio fidelity compared to the 3rd-gen that’s able to fill small spaces relatively well and is quite impressive for a speaker of that size and cost, although it definitely won’t compete with the audio quality of bigger and more premium devices like the Echo featured below.
Even though it’s a bit bigger than its 3rd-gen sibling, it still has all the same features, including the four control buttons at the top, although they’re not depressed into the design but rather stick out of it, adding a nice tactile feel to them that gives you an immediate idea of what you’re doing, even if you’re not looking. The four microphones are also still there, although they’re hidden under the hood of the cloth mesh that was first introduced with the gen-3 and has now made its way to the gen-4. Alexa features remain largely the same, although with the added benefit of Alexa Gaurd, which functions as a sort of compliment to your regular home security, as it can turn lights on and off randomly or listen in for the sounds of things like breaking glass and alert you.
If you’re still somewhat on the fence on which gen you should go for, there’s a pretty good breakdown of Amazon Echo Dot 3rd-gen vs. Echo Dot 4th-gen that might help you decide, but if you’re willing to pay the extra $10 or so, it’s worth picking up the 4th-gen version, especially during the Prime Day Amazon Echo deals where you’ll get a good discount. Also, while we’re at it, you should also consider the ; it adds that extra little bit of function and is only slightly more expensive. You don’t need to kit out your whole home with them, but supplementing the non-clock versions is a good option.
Amazon Echo Auto — $20, was $50
The Echo Auto is one of the best smart home devices on the market, bringing the conveniences of Alexa inside your car. Simply ask Alexa to find nearby businesses, check your calendar, make calls, pause your audiobook, play music, and more for the ultimate hands-free experience. Echo Auto hears your commands over road noise with eight microphones, making your trips safer than you thought possible. One of the best parts of Echo Auto is the setup — it starts in seconds, uses your existing phone data plan, and works through your car speakers.
If you’re tired of fumbling with your phone while driving, this Amazon Echo Auto Prime Day deal is the deal for you. Echo Auto uses the Alexa app to access your content — just ask Alexa to play an artist, genre, station, or song from any of the best music streaming services, including Apple Music, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and more. Listen to the best audiobook apps like Audible or stream your favorite podcast on your drive to work. You can even play games like Jeopardy!, 20 Questions, and more, which will make family road trips entertaining for the entire family.
With this Amazon Echo Auto Prime Day deal, you can use your alone time in the car to multitask by updating your calendar or setting reminders without taking your eyes off the road. You can even share or update your ETA with compatible Echo devices at home. The possibilities are endless with Alexa in your car — use Skills to find the cheapest gas with GasBuddy, a place to park with ParkWhiz, or get roadside assistance with Nationwide or Urgent.ly. Echo Auto is designed to protect your privacy like all Echo devices and has several layers of security, including a microphone off button. You can also view, hear, and delete your voice recordings any time for added protection.
Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) — $35, was $85
If you want to upgrade your Echo experience at home, the Echo Show 5 2nd-gen is a nice option, given its screen. At 5.5-inch and a resolution of 960 x 480, it’s roughly the size and screen quality of a lower-end tablet, which is expected given its price range. While it’s not meant to be like a tablet, it functions pretty well as an additional screen around the house, and you can use it for anything as mundane as a clock to show the weather or something a bit fancier like a digital picture frame. The screen is large enough to make both uses visible from a distance, so we certainly appreciate that aspect.
There’s also a 2-megapixel camera in the front that can be used for calls, which, again, isn’t competitive with a modern phone, tablet, or computer, but it’s powerful enough that you could still use it without much fuss. More importantly, it allows you to make calls without needing to constantly pull a phone out and is a nice companion if, say, you’re in the kitchen cooking, and the focus isn’t as much on the video aspect as it is just having somebody to chat with. The audio quality is also quite reasonable, featuring a slightly larger 1.65-inch speaker that does a surprisingly good job for its size, and has about the same audio quality as the Echo Dot 4th-gen, so if you have one of those, you know what to expect roughly.
Of course, the biggest factor here is the additional functions when it comes to using it as a smart home controller; and functions in a similar way to other Alexa-driven displays, meaning you get tied into things like Amazon Prime and Amazon music with a better UI than having no screen at all. That being said, one downside is that it’s not a significant upgrade to the previous version, and the difference between the Echo Show 5 1st-gen vs. Echo Show 5 2nd-gen is minimal. That means if you already have a 1st-gen Echo Show 5, then it’s not worth picking up a 2nd-gen one. However, with great Prime Day Amazon Echo deals going on, you might be tempted to go for an extra one.
Amazon Echo Show 8 (1st Gen) — $55, was $110
If you like the idea of the Echo Show 5 but feel like the screen is a little bit lackluster, then you’ll be right at home with the Echo Show 8 1st-gen, which sits quite nicely between the Show 5 and the Show 10 when it comes to screen size. Coming in at 8-inches and with a resolution of 1280 x 800, the touchscreen is surprisingly good when it comes to image quality, being slightly better than 720 and bounds better than the Show 5, as well as surprisingly better than the Show 10 1st-gen, since it has a bigger screen with the same resolution, making the image less sharp. Of course, Show 10 does follow turn on its base to follow you around, while Show 8 doesn’t, so that’s a different beast altogether.
As a smart device, it has a lot of similarities with the Show 5, as it runs on the same platform, although obviously, the bigger screen does make it a bit better. For example, the photo, date, and time features are much more visible on the bigger screen, making them easy to see from further away. You can also have a much better experience viewing videos off Prime Video since the resolution and image sharpness are way better than the Show 5 and even the Show 10. Video calls are about the same because even though the screen is bigger and better, the front-facing camera is a little worse at 1 megapixel, so again, this likely won’t be your main work-from-home solution, but like a supplement to your daily tasks around the house.
As for the audio, it’s much better than the Show 5, given that it comes with two 2-inch, 10watt speakers, making it surprisingly powerful for such a small device. The whole thing also looks sleeker overall, and while that’s mostly an aesthetic thing and doesn’t affect performance, it’s something we appreciate. Also, while we’re at it, you may stumble upon the Show 8 2nd-gen while you’re browsing the Prime Day Amazon Echo deals, and the truth is that it’s a bit better than the 1st gen, at least in terms of the front-facing camera and a better performance boost. You can compare the Echo Show 8 1st-gen and Echo Show 8 2nd-gen to see if the extra cost is worth it to you, though.
Amazon Echo (4th Gen) — $60, was $100
If you’re looking between this entry and the earlier 4th-gen echo dot, you may be feeling like you’re crazy since the products seem the same, but the Echo 4th-gen is actually the bigger-sized sibling of the Echo Dot and therefore has much more power under the hood making it a tempting proposition in the Prime Day Amazon Echo deals. Lying between the Echo Dot and the Echo studio in terms of audio quality, the Echo has powerful enough bass and fidelity to even please audiophiles, at least when looking at its pretty low price. It also has the same automatic room-adjusting tech as the Echo Studio, which is pretty sweet given how much more expensive it is. A lot of this audio quality is driven by the 3-inch woofer and two 0.8-inch tweakers, giving the Echo a much wider audio landscape to work with.
The Echo is also very much tied up with the entire Alexa ecosystem and is a big selling point if you’re considering buying one. In fact, the LED ring at the base of the device is even used to leverage this ecosystem, with it being able to do things like shine yellow when you have an Amazon package that’s just been delivered. That being said, you aren’t going to find a ton more functionality compared to other Alexa speakers; since it’s the same assistant across all of them, you can merely leverage the LED slightly better.
Even so, the Echo is a pretty powerful device, and if you don’t have an Alexa speaker, it’s a good first entry into the Amazon ecosystem, especially since it can function as part of Amazon’s Sidewalk system, which can be a hit or miss depending on how you feel about it. Of course, it also functions as a smart home hub with Bluetooth LE and ZigBee support, so even if you don’t use Amazon Sidewalk, it’s still an excellent purchase for your smart home system, especially if you want something you can control by a voice from nearly anywhere.
Amazon Echo Show 10 — $180, was $250
The third-generation Amazon Echo Show 10 is among the best smart displays, with a 10.1-inch screen with HD resolution and a 13MP camera that will follow you if you move around while in a video call. It maximizes Amazon’s Alexa by allowing you to use voice commands for controlling smart home devices, searching for information, and making video calls, and the display can also function as a mini home theater system as it can access streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Music Unlimited.
Between the third-generation Echo Show 10 and second-generation Echo Show 10, going for the latest version of the smart display is worth it because of its new design with a round base that serves as a 360-degree speaker with the screen mounted on top, an upgraded speaker system, a swiveling display, and a l0w-power mode that saves electricity during downtimes. Meanwhile, when comparing the Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 15, the advantages of the Echo Show 10 include the ability to function as a home security camera, extra versatility, and a larger speaker. The Echo Show 10 is the perfect companion for situations such as following a recipe in the kitchen, checking the house while you’re away, and contacting all your family members in rooms that are equipped with the smart display.
Amazon Echo Show 15 — $180, was $250
In addition to all of the features and neat tricks you can perform with an Echo Speaker like the Echo Dot (think music, news, games, Alexa Guard, smart home control, translations, and more), the screen makes it possible for you to see recipes and follow along. You can also watch shows and videos, make video calls, and view your security camera and video doorbell feeds.
The Echo Show 15 is ideal for families and those who want to a large, yet inconspicuous device. It’s much bigger than its predecessors like the Show 10, with a huge 15.6-inch HD display. But it’s designed to be mounted on a wall, and the photo frame feature makes it look like a piece of artwork when you’re not using the Show 15. You can hang it on the wall and switch between landscape or portrait mode using a hook and unhook system, or you can mount it on a flat surface using a tilt stand (sold separately) or under-cabinet mount (also sold separately).
Each member of your family can have their own visual ID, allowing the Show 15 to produce the right information for the right person. Since the screen is so large, the bigger Show also has widgets you can customize on the main screen for easy access to your calendar, to-do list, weather, shopping lists, and more.
Should you shop these Prime Day Amazon Echo deals or wait until Black Friday?
The Prime Early Access Sale is a new event, and in a year marked by inflation and rising costs of gas, food, and consumer goods, it’s a welcome sight. Normally, Amazon runs one Prime Day sale in the summer to celebrate the retailer’s July birthday. This is a two-day event exclusive to Amazon Prime members. This year, however, shoppers are essentially getting two Prime Day events; although the Prime Early Access Sale doesn’t bear the “Prime Day” moniker, that’s basically what it is: another 48-hour sale just for Prime members, this one starting at midnight PT on Tuesday, October 11, and wrapping up at midnight the following day.
Prime Day is always a choice time to score brand-name tech at rock-bottom prices, and that includes plenty of Prime Day smart home deals. Amazon is also keen to discount its own devices, such as Echo smart speakers and Kindle e-book readers. If you’re in the market for an Echo device, the Prime Early Access Sale is going to be the perfect opportunity to shop for Prime Day Amazon Echo deals on the entire line of Alexa-powered speakers and smart displays. You can expect to see October Prime Day Amazon Echo deals on just about every model, from the compact Echo Dot 4th gen to the wall-mountable Echo Show 15.
Of course, the proximity of the Prime Early Access Sale to November’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday events raises the question of whether you should wait for those post-Thanksgiving sales for a better deal. We don’t recommend holding out, especially if you’re after Prime Day Amazon Echo deals. Amazon’s own sales are usually the best opportunities to score new Echo devices at the lowest prices you’ll see all year. At best, you might see the same deals available come Black Friday, but it’s not likely that they’ll be better. Plus, if you sleep on these October Prime Day Amazon Echo deals, you might miss out, as Black Friday deals sell out fast. If you have Amazon Prime or can get a free Prime trial, then take full advantage of the Prime Early Access Sale as an extra opportunity to get a head-start on your holiday shopping.
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