TheAmazon Echo Dotis the budget model in Amazon’s line of Echo smart speakers, but it’s still an extremely capable device. It can play music and podcasts on demand, control your smart home products, and invoke Alexa for queries, games, and much more. The Echo Dot (5th Gen) is the current Best Value pick in our roundup ofthe best smart speakers, and it gets even more affordable with today’s $20 discount.
The 5th generation Echo Dot is a considerable upgrade over its predecessor. It now has a temperature sensor, which can be used for various actions and routines, and an accelerometer, which allows you to tap the top of the speaker for basic actions like pausing music or silencing alarms. The speaker itself has also been improved. You certainly don’t expectincrediblesound from a device this small, but Amazon put a larger audio driver in the 5th gen, and the difference is notable. Finally, if you have anEero mesh system, the Echo Dot 5 can be used as a Wi-Fi signal extender.
Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen)
The Amazon Echo Dot is, dollar for dollar, the best value in the smart speaker category. It does everything you’d expect it to do, including play streaming music or podcasts and control smart home devices, and it does it at half the price of the competition. Today’s discount pushes that price gap even wider.
Amazon Echo Dot deals
In addition to the Echo Dot (5th Gen), other Dot models are also currently on sale. There’s the Echo Dot with Clock, which offers everything you get in the standard model, along with the addition of a minimal LED display that shows the time, alarms, weather, song titles, and more. Then there’s the Echo Dot Kids, which includes a fun animal head cover and dedicated kids content. If you want to go even cheaper and don’t mind giving up some of the newer features, the Echo Dot (3rd gen) is down to just $20.
Whether you don’t currently have a smart speaker or you already have several, a $30 Echo dot isn’t a tough sell. Get one for the kitchen for voice-activated timers, audio recipes, and digital grocery lists. Set one in the office for playing low-key productivity music and podcasts. Put one in a kid’s room for homework help and reading bedtime stories. Or, put one in every room, and play music, or make an announcement, to the entire house with a touch of a button. We’ve even put together a great list of thebest Amazon Echo Dot mounts and standsto help integrate the speaker(s) into your decor.
