Amazon keeps prices on Alexa-enabled speakers low all year round Echo Dot is a good choice as it sits in the middle of the range between basic and premium options. This model is currently the best-selling model in the Echo family and costs just $31 instead of the usual $49 in early December. The small speaker has surprisingly rich sound that fills bedrooms, offices, or dining rooms without taking up too much counter space or requiring a lot of setup.
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Why this Echo Dot sounds better than you thought
The speaker design is all about making the sound fuller and more powerful than previous Echo Dot models with their small enclosures. Amazon has changed the way the internal drivers are set up so that they can comfortably fill small to medium-sized rooms with sound while playing music, listening to podcasts, or reading audiobooks. The sound quality isn't good enough to replace dedicated speakers for critical listening, but it does a good job with background music, news briefings, and alarm tones, making the Echo Dot useful for more than just voice commands.
Alexa integration lets you control thousands of smart home devicesStreaming services and request information with your voice so you don't have to constantly pull out your phone: You can change smart lights, thermostats and sockets by speaking commands naturally. You can also check the weather, set multiple timers while cooking, or ask for unit conversions when making a recipe. The microphone array uses far-field speech recognition technology to filter out background noise and make your voice clear, even when playing music at moderate volumes.
The small size is about the size of a tennis ball, so it doesn't take up much space on bedside tables or desk corners where larger Echo devices would take up too much space. This size is perfect for bedrooms as it will wake you up with music, messages, or quiet noises instead of loud beeps. While you prepare, you can ask Alexa for the time, weather, or your calendar events without touching a device. The On the top there are physical buttons for increasing the volumemute the microphone and turn on Alexa.
Smart Home Routines allow you to set up morning routines where the lights gradually get brighter, you start your coffee maker, and you read your calendar. You can do all of these things with just a command or a scheduled trigger. Evening routines can lock smart locks, change the temperature, turn off all lights in the house, and play relaxing sounds to help you sleep. You set up these automation sequences in the Alexa app and they work every time afterward.
A physical microphone mute button is part of the privacy settings: When the button is pressed, the microphones are separated electronically. A red light ring indicates when the device is not listening. The speaker also has options to limit how long data is retained or prevent recordings from being listened to
This $18 discount makes full Alexa functionality and better sound quality affordable enough to purchase Echo Dots for more than one room. If you're looking to start building a smart home or simply need hands-free voice control in key areas, this is a great deal because you get Amazon's Smart Assistant platform with room-filling sound for less than the cost of basic Bluetooth speakers.
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