Sphere of influence...
The Echo isn’t the only piece of Amazon technology to get an update in 2020
AMAZON has refreshed its hardware offering with the first radical redesign of the flagship Echo smartspeakers. They’ve gone global – not in the geographic sense, but in the shape sense.
There are all-new Echo speakers coming in October – both to replace the full-sized Echo and its smaller sibling the Echo Dot.
There’s also a new Echo Show 10 smart speaker with screen on the way, and new Fire TV Sticks.
ECHO
THE new flagship Echo ditches the cylindrical design of all the previous models in favour of a globe-shaped design.
Feature-wise, the Echo still does all the things you would expect it to, but a few things have changed for the better.
There’s an upgrade to the sound quality – it now features a 3.0-inch woofer, dual-firing tweeters, and Dolby processing to bring stereo sound with clear highs, dynamicmids, and deep bass.
The Echo can also now analyse the acoustics of your space and fine-tune its audio to make the most of it.
Two other useful additions, previously only found on the most expensive Echo Plus, have arrived.
The mini-jack output socket can be used as an input socket, too, so you can plug external sound sources in and use the Echo as their speaker.
The Echo can now also be used as a smart home hub – so you can set up a smart home network to which you can add devices like bulbs, plugs, locks and other smartenabled devices, and control them with Alexa via the Echo itself with no need for another hub.
The new Echo will cost £89.99 and is available to order now for delivery on October 22.
ECHO DOT
THE Dot looks like the Echo, only smaller – and its wings are clipped in terms of features somewhat, too.
There’s no mini-jack output or smart home hub capabilities.
What you do get is Alexa access in a smaller package. It packs a bigger punch audio-wise than its predecessor, with a powerful 1.6-inch front-firing speaker.
There’s also a version with a simple LED display that can show information like time and temperature.
The new Dot costs £49.99 (or £59.99 with the LED display), and can be ordered now for delivery on October 22.
ECHO SHOW 10
THE Echo Show is the version of the smart speaker that has a screen
built in, and the new design brings an innovative new feature.
The screen is mounted on a cylindrical speaker, but can move to follow you round the room – the screen is always facing you so you can always be in shot when video calling.
This feature is also useful if you want to use the Show as a security camera – you can have a good look round the whole room remotely when you are away from home.
The usual other stuff is, of course, included – Alexa is built-in and the sound quality is improved.
The device will be released ‘later this year’ and will cost £223.
FIRE TV STICK AND FIRE TV STICK LITE
MAYBE not as radical and exciting as the new Echos are a couple of revamped TV streaming dongles – the Fire TV Stick, and the Fire TV Stick Lite.
Both are more powerful and consume less power and bring a redesigned interface to the big screen in your living room. The main difference is in the remote, with the Lite offering a simpler feature-set. The Stick also supports compatible external soundbars, while the Lite does not.
The Stick costs £39.99 while the Lite comes in at £29.99 – both are available now.