Amazon has revealed its newest iteration on the Echo Dot, once a puck-shaped companion to the larger Echo smart speaker line and now a spherical smart speaker. The announcement was made during Amazon’s annual Alexa-themed hardware event live-streamed on this afternoon. The new look matches that of the new fourth-generation standard Echo, also announced today.
The standard Echo is also being joined by a new Echo Dot that also looks like a sphere, and keeps the low $50 price. There’s also an Echo Dot with a clock display for $60, which could make a great bedside companion, and an Echo Dot Kids model with cute animal faces. You’ll also get a year’s worth of Amazon Kids+ with the latter device, giving you access to kid-friendly audiobooks, games and more.
All of the Echo devices can also help little ones become bookworms with a new Reading Sidekick feature, which will follow along as they read, take turns and provide feedback. Amazon will soon start testing that with Kids+ subscribers. And to make Alexa even more child-friendly, the voice assistant will also soon support voice profiles for kids.
All of the new Echo devices will also have a low power mode this year, something that’ll also roll out to existing devices eventually. The fourth-generation Echo Dot is up for preorder today with a ship date of October 22nd. The one with the LED display will ship on November 5th and you can preorder it. The panda version of the Kids Edition model won’t ship until December 9th with preorders live today, but the tiger model will ship on October 22nd.
