Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Smart Home
  3. News

Amazon goes spherical for its refreshed Echo smart speakers

Adam Doud
By

Amazon announced a refresh to its smart speaker line on Thursday. Amazon Echo speakers arguably brought the smart home trend into the mainstream. The announcement brings an update to the series with four new devices, and more importantly, a dramatic design departure from what we know and are familiar with.

Amazon completely redesigned its flagship Echo speaker (4th Gen) into a spherical shape that comes in three colors — charcoal, glacier white, and twilight blue. The Echo (4th Gen) is covered in a fabric finish and will cost $100. Pre-orders start today and will ship later this year.

Recommended Videos

The New Echo promises better sound with a 3-inch subwoofer, dual firing tweeters, and Dolby processing.  The New Echo also carries the feature introduced by the Echo Studio, which analyzes the acoustics of the room and fine-tunes the audio playback for optimal results. It’s powered by a new AZ1 Neural Edge processor that can help shave milliseconds off of Alexa’s response times. Additionally, each Amazon Echo functions as a built-in smart home hub with Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Amazon Sidewalk.

1 of 3
what to buy on prime day amazon echo
Image used with permission by copyright holder
amazon echo smart speakers 2020 image
Image used with permission by copyright holder
amazon prime day tips and tricks echo dot
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Moving right along, the Echo Dot (4th Gen) and Echo Dot with clock follow the same design elements with the same shape and colors as the new Echo (4th Gen), but at a more compact size. The prices for those will be $50 and $60, respectively. Both are available for pre-order today shipping later this year.

Related

Both devices feature a 1.6-inch front-firing speaker. The LED Display on the Echo Dot with Clock can show you time, temperature, timers, and alarms. Plus, it adds a tap-to-snooze feature. The Echo Dot with Clock only comes in Glacier White and Twilight Blue.

For the kids, there’s the Echo Dot Kids Edition, which has the same spherical shape and comes in panda and tiger designs. Each also comes with a one-year Amazon Kids subscription. Those are also priced at $60. Pre-orders start today and ship later this year. Echo Dot Kids Edition comes with a new feature called Reading Sidekick. The feature will allow your child and Alexa to take turns reading from a supported book. Alexa will also listen for the quality of reading and offer encouragement or support depending on your child’s needs. Reading sidekick will be available in the coming months.

Soon, parents will be able to set up voice profiles for their children which will allow Alexa to recognize your child’s voice. When recognized, your Echo will automatically shift into Kids Alexa mode, regardless of the Echo to which your child is speaking.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Adam Doud
Adam Doud
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Adam had been writing in the tech space for nearly a decade. When not hosting the Benefit of the Doud podcast, he can be…
Everything announced at Amazon’s 2022 Fall Event: new Echos, Fire TVs, Kindle Scribe, and more
Amazon Astro in a build with Ring Virtual Security Guard on its screen.

Amazon announced everything from new Echos, to security cameras, to Fire TVs, and more at its September 28 devices and services event. The new hardware underscores a commitment to what the company dubs "ambient intelligence:" every interaction should be intuitive, proactive, and personalized to help you enjoy the here and now. What's the secret sauce that lets Amazon deliver these contextual experiences? Sensors. Many of the products announced today come with sensors designed to help monitor and enhance a person's environment and experience. Of course, you can adjust the settings to still keep your data private.

Most of the products will be available later this year, with others (ahem, Astro) coming one day. We've rounded up everything Amazon announced today.
Amazon smart speakers

Read more
New Amazon Echos bring ‘dot displays’ and mesh networking, plus models for kids and cars
The Echo Dot with Clock sits on a table.

At Wednesday's Amazon Devices & Services event, the company announced a brand-new lineup of Echo Dot devices. These include a new Echo Dot, Echo Dot with Clock, Echo Dot Kids, and a new Echo Auto device. The Echo Studio also received a couple of more color options, as well as a software upgrade.

All of these devices feature updated technology and several new features that make them well worth the upgrade, and pre-orders start today. If you want to snag one of these new Echo products for yourself, you can expect to receive it sometime next month.
Echo Dot
The new Echo Dot retains the spherical design of its predecessor, but with new technology on the inside that gives it a lot more power. It features a custom full-range driver and the most powerful excursion speaker of any Echo Dot, which allows it to produce double the bass of the previous generation.

Read more
Which Amazon Echo should you buy on Prime Day 2022? 
Echo Show 15 with base.

There was a time when it was easy to choose which Amazon Echo device to buy because there wasn’t much of a selection. These days, Amazon has an entire stable of devices ready to respond and carry out your commands. That makes things a bit trickier for those who are looking to pick up their first (or add another) Echo device among Prime Day Amazon Echo deals. You can also review some of the best deals year round.

We’ve tested and tried each Echo device to find the best of the lot. This year, we think it’s the Echo Show 10. With its high-quality 360-degree speaker, a large screen, and the ability to pan around the room to double as a security camera or video conferencing dynamo, it’s a great all-around choice. Even so, depending on how you want to use an Echo Show and how much space you have, there’s certainly a case to be made for other Echo devices.
Which Amazon Echo should you buy on Prime Day 2022?
Echo Dot (4th Gen)

Read more