Amazon is once again expanding its family of Alexa devices, and rather than dropping an entirely new device, it’s bringing back a familiar face. The Echo Spot, the miniature smart display many used on a nightstand or a desk, is officially back after disappearing in 2019.
The Echo Spot is now being dubbed a “customizable smart alarm clock,” and the accompanying feature set and design updates that stick with the general formula of a half-circle definitely fit that mold. Central to the experience is the front display, and unlike the original, which boasted a circular screen with thick bezels around, Amazon opted for a 2.83-inch touchscreen that lives on the top half of the device, kind of as a semi-circle.
Here, you’ll see the time and date at a glance, but Amazon has also developed a variety of clock faces that you can pick from, as well as special visuals for core functions like alarms, music playback, and displaying the weather. With the latter, the team behind the Echo Spot designed illustrations for many forecasts, like a shining sun, storm clouds, or even a snowflake.
To better fit your space, you can customize the visual interface to six colors: orange, violet, magenta, lime, teal, or blue.
Below the display is a 1.73-inch front-firing speaker hidden behind a mesh grille, and it appears to be the same as the one inside the 5th Gen Echo Dot or Echo Dot with Clock. That means the sound should be pretty solid for the bedroom. There are microphones on board so that Alexa can hear your requests, and there is a button to mute the microphones on the top. It’s sandwiched between a volume up and a volume down.
Unlike the Echo Show 5 or Show 8, which some use on a nightstand, the Echo Spot does not have a camera built-in, so any privacy concerns should be dispelled. Regarding audio recordings, you can still delete those Alexa requests or queries via the Alexa app on Android or iOS. It has a sensor for detecting motion, so you can tap the top of the Echo Spot to dismiss alarms in the morning.
Overall, the Echo Spot seems like a well-rounded device that isn’t set out to accomplish a long laundry list but is designed to succeed as a smart alarm clock.
Amazon has focused on designing the interface around the most common queries and shipping it with several clock faces to pick between. It also looks quite similar to the Echo Pop or Echo Dot, even down to the colors, as the Spot comes in Black, Glacier White, and Ocean Blue.
The Echo Spot costs $79.99 / £79.99 / AU$149, but if you’re a Prime member, you can score it for just $44.99 through July 17, 2024. Amazon dubbed that discount as a celebration of Prime Day, and hey, alongside some spectacular deals across the site, launching a new smart screen is a fun way to join in on the party.