Amazon Echo Time, Dot and Studio: Alexa Plus Gets New Hardware

Amazon has expanded its Echo lineup with three new devices: the Echo Time, a new Echo Dot and an Echo Studio with a built-in camera. All run Alexa Plus, the company's AI-based assistant, which is designed to recognize and carry out several commands from a single request. All models are available now.

Echo Time: a smart alarm clock

The Echo Time is aimed at the nightstand. Amazon equips it with a sensor set it calls "Omnisense": room temperature, presence detection and ultrasound to detect breathing. There is explicitly no camera. Using this data, the device is meant to wake users during a light sleep phase, within a window of 10 to 60 minutes around the set alarm time.

For habitual snoozers, ringtones can get louder after each snooze, up to four times. The 3.2-inch display can simulate a sunrise by growing steadily brighter. At night it dims, reduces blue light and shows only the time and alarm. During the day it can show one of hundreds of clock designs. A colorful Kids version exists.

Echo Dot as smart home gateway, Echo Studio with camera

The new Echo Dot is the most powerful yet, thanks to the AZ3 chip, which processes requests on the device. Amazon does not say which data is handled locally. It adds a fourth microphone, a built-in smart home hub that connects devices without third-party bridges, and can act as a range extender in networks using Amazon's Eero routers.

The Echo Studio now comes with a camera but no screen. It enables the visual intelligence of Alexa Plus: hold a board game up to the lens and Alexa explains the rules, or it can recognize groceries and help with orders. There is no physical camera cover. Instead, the microphone mute button also disables the camera, and visual signals show when images and video are uploaded to the cloud.

Prices

The Echo Dot costs €104.99, the Kids version €10 more. The Echo Studio with camera is €259.99, and the Echo Time costs €214.99 (€224.99 for Kids). Buyers who can wait may save: Amazon typically cuts prices on its own hardware sharply during Black Friday week, which is approaching.