Amazon has introduced a string of new smart home products, including a redesigned Echo Show 16, a next-generation Echo Dot, a new Echo Studio with Home Camera, the Echo Time smart clock and the Alexa Photo Frame. It also previewed Alexa Home Map, a 3D model of the home that places and controls connected devices where they sit.
Amazon says customers using the new Alexa experiences talk to it two to three times more often. Several features require Alexa+, which is included with Prime. For integrators, the key pieces are Home Map, the Echo Show 16’s smart home dashboard and a Zigbee/Matter/Thread hub in the $99.99 Echo Dot. Details come from Amazon’s announcement posts.
Alexa Home Map: a 3D control layer for the whole property
Per Amazon’s Home Map announcement, the feature renders the home and property in 3D, inside and out, with Echo devices, Ring and Blink cameras, Fire TV, lights, locks and thermostats shown where they are installed. Users can control core functions from the map, which updates in real time, showing light colors and active speakers. The exterior generates from the home’s address; interiors are scanned room by room with a compatible iPhone, and devices are placed manually.
With compatible Ring cameras, the map adds a 360-degree aerial view, animates people and vehicles outside and flags arrivals saved in Familiar Faces. A timeline rewinds the last 24 hours across all cameras. Some features require a Ring Protect Pro or Virtual Security Guard subscription.
Home Map rolls out in preview later this year on a dedicated iOS app, the Alexa and Ring apps, larger Echo Shows including the Echo Show 16, the Amazon Ember Artline with Fire TV and the new Alexa Tablets. Amazon did not say whether third-party control platforms will integrate with it.
Echo Show 16: a wall-mount smart home dashboard with Fire TV
Amazon says Echo Show is its fastest-growing Echo line, up more than 25% year over year. Per its Echo Show 16 announcement, the 16-inch full HD display has 10% more viewing area than the Echo Show 15 in a frame nearly 40% thinner. An optional Nanomatte screen cuts glare by more than 90%, Amazon says. The unit wall-mounts or sits on an optional stand.
A Smart Home Screen Style turns it into an always-on control dashboard with Home Map; other styles make it a family organizer or photo frame. Omnisense temperature and presence sensing can drive automations such as adjusting the thermostat or lights. It also adds Fire TV with a remote, eight micro woofers and two tweeters, and a 13MP camera with auto-framing and night vision for Live View.
The standard model is $499.99 and Nanomatte is $569.99, with $100 off preorders, now open. It ships later this year. Stands run $69.99, or $124.99 for swivel-and-tilt.
Echo Dot: a $99.99 Zigbee/Matter/Thread hub and eero extender
Per Amazon’s Echo Dot and Echo Studio announcement, the new Dot is the first with a built-in smart home hub, supporting Zigbee, Matter and Thread. It also includes an eero Wi-Fi extender that Amazon says adds up to 1,000 square feet to an existing eero network. Other upgrades include Amazon’s AZ3 chip, a fourth microphone, Omnisense temperature and presence sensing, and 50% more bass. The Dot ships now for $99.99; Kids editions start at $109.99.
Echo Studio with Home Camera: spatial audio plus room awareness
The flagship speaker keeps its woofer, three full-range drivers and Dolby Atmos, and adds Advanced Room Adaptation. The camera version adds Live View monitoring and visual recognition, such as reading a board game’s rules from its box. Amazon says big-screen video calling via compatible Fire TVs is coming soon. An LED lights when video streams to the cloud. It costs $249.99; the camera-free Echo Studio stays at $219.99.
Echo Time: a camera-free bedside clock with sleep sensing
Per Amazon’s Echo Time announcement, this spherical bedside clock has a 3.2-inch round touchscreen, hundreds of clock faces and no camera. An optional smart alarm uses Omnisense sensing, including ultrasound, to wake users during lighter sleep within 10 to 60 minutes of the set time, with no wearable. Amazon says it earned the National Sleep Foundation’s SleepMark. Sleep sensing is opt-in. Echo Time is $199.99; the Kids version starts at $209.99.
Alexa Photo Frame
Per Amazon’s Photo Frame announcement, this 10-inch anti-glare touchscreen frame syncs with Amazon Photos, where Alexa+ picks images by faces, season and sentiment and skips screenshots. Users can search by voice and attach voice notes, and family members can share photos directly to it. It costs $199.99 in black or $229.00 in birch or walnut, with 90 days of Alexa+ included.
Alexa+ and availability
Every device ships with the latest Alexa+, which Amazon says reasons more deeply, asks clarifying questions and handles multi-step requests. Conversations are organized into Cards that carry across Echo devices, the Alexa app and Alexa.com.
The Echo Dot, Echo Studio with Home Camera, Echo Time and Alexa Photo Frame are available now. The Echo Show 16 is in preorder and ships later this year, while Home Map arrives in preview later this year.
