Amazon Unveils Echo Show 16, Echo Time and Echo Dot

Amazon has unveiled five new Echo devices built around its Alexa+ assistant, led by a $99.99 Echo Dot that doubles as a smart home hub and the 16-inch Echo Show 16. The range, announced on About Amazon on 28 October, also includes a refreshed Echo Studio speaker, a bedside clock called Echo Time and the company’s first digital photo frame with Alexa built in.

“The new era of Echo starts now,” Amazon said on X, describing devices “redesigned from the ground up—all powered by the latest version of Alexa+”. All the performance and design claims below are Amazon’s own; TSN has not tested any of the devices. Prices are in US dollars, and Amazon has not given UK prices or dates.

In brief

Amazon launched five devices: Echo Dot ($99.99), Echo Studio ($219.99), Echo Time ($199.99), Alexa Photo Frame and Echo Show 16 (preorder from $499.99).
The Echo Dot gets a built-in smart home hub and eero WiFi extender for the first time, Amazon says.
Amazon says certain features require Alexa+, which is included with a Prime membership.

Five devices, and what each one does

Echo Dot. The new Dot costs $99.99 and ships from 28 October, with a Kids version at $109.99. Amazon says it has a smart home hub built in for the first time, plus an eero WiFi extender covering up to 1,000 sq ft. It runs on Amazon’s AZ3 chip with an AI accelerator, and Amazon claims 50% more bass than before.

Echo Studio. The speaker costs $219.99. A version with a home camera costs $249.99 and ships from 28 October. Amazon says it supports Dolby Atmos and adapts its sound to the room. The camera version lets owners check in on the home from the Alexa app. Amazon’s examples include Alexa explaining board game rules or recognising a box of cereal so it can be reordered. Amazon says the camera model will soon pair with compatible Fire TVs for video calls.

Echo Time. Amazon calls this “the first Echo device purpose-built for the nightstand”. It costs $199.99 and went on sale on 28 October, with Kids versions from $209.99. It has no camera, offers hundreds of clock faces and a sunrise display, and uses sleep sensing that Amazon calls Omnisense to detect lighter sleep and wake the owner within 10 to 60 minutes of the set alarm, with no wearable needed. Amazon says it carries the National Sleep Foundation’s SleepMark.

Alexa Photo Frame. A 10-inch anti-glare frame that Amazon describes as “the first photo frame with Alexa built in”. It syncs with Amazon Photos and, Amazon says, surfaces shots of smiling faces or seasonal moments while skipping screenshots. Amazon’s news account on X puts it at $199.99 in black, or $229.00 with a birch or walnut wood frame. Amazon’s news account on X puts it at $199.99 in black, or $229.00 with a birch or walnut wood frame.

Echo Show 16. The largest device is available to preorder from $499.99, or $569.99 with Amazon’s Nanomatte anti-glare screen, which Amazon says cuts glare by more than 90%. Preorder customers get $100 off. Amazon says it is nearly 40% thinner than earlier models, has 10% more viewing area and 20% more power, and carries the best camera it has fitted to an Echo Show, with auto-framing and night vision for the first time. Amazon’s Echo Show 16 page says it will begin shipping later this year, and it adds a 13-megapixel camera that Amazon says can recognise a user from up to 17 feet away.

A screen that becomes a control panel

Owners can switch the Echo Show 16 between screen styles: a family organiser, a photo frame or a smart home dashboard. The dashboard is built around a new Alexa Home Map, which Panos Panay, Amazon’s head of devices and services, described on X as “an interactive 3D map that controls your smart home”. The screen also has Fire TV built in.

Amazon says Alexa itself now reasons more deeply, asks clarifying questions and keeps conversations organised as “Cards” across Echo devices, the Alexa app and Alexa.com. The company says sales of its Echo Show line are growing by more than 25% year on year, a figure it did not break down. The launch follows its Alexa tablets running Android and Google Play earlier this month and the Bee Frontier wearable.

Alexa+ is doing the selling, not the hardware

The hardware is an upgrade, but Amazon’s own wording shows where the value sits. “Certain features require Alexa+, which is included with a Prime membership,” Amazon says. That ties the most advertised features of a $99.99 speaker to a subscription. For Prime members the cost is hidden. Anyone else needs Prime or, according to Engadget, a standalone Alexa+ subscription, and Amazon can reprice or reshape either. Amazon’s X article on the Photo Frame says each one comes with 90 days of Alexa+, which points the same way: the device is the entry point, and the service is what keeps buyers paying.

The Echo Dot’s built-in hub is the more practical change. Putting a smart home hub and a WiFi extender in Amazon’s cheapest speaker means more homes can run connected lights and plugs without a separate bridge. Rivals are moving the same way. Google recently moved Philips Hue bridges to local Matter control in Google Home. Whichever company’s hub sits in the most homes is better placed to sell the assistant that runs it.

Cameras in the kitchen, and none in the bedroom

Two of the five devices carry cameras: the Echo Studio with Home Camera and the Echo Show 16, now with night vision. Amazon’s examples, from recognising a cereal box to reading a board game’s rules, rely on Alexa seeing what is in the room. Amazon says the Echo Show 16 has a button that disables the microphones and camera, a light that shows when Alexa is engaged, and an Alexa Privacy dashboard for reviewing interactions. Neither announcement says where the images Alexa uses to recognise objects are processed or how long they are kept, so buyers should check those settings before putting a camera in a family room. The Echo Time is pointedly camera-free, which suggests Amazon knows the bedroom is where that question is hardest to answer.