The infiltration of smart home gear happens slowly. You buy a money-saving LED bulb here, an intelligent plug there, and suddenly connected gadgets are doing everything—from waking you up to ordering more toilet paper. Scores of such devices have come and gone, but one of the most useful (and popular) is the smart speaker. Amazon's fourth-generation Echo Dot is its newest and best iteration thus far, as well as the best Alexa speaker. Right now it's on sale for only $30.
Nary a month goes by that we don't see some sort of discount on one Amazon device or another, so as we've advised before, you should never pay full price for them. The fourth-gen Echo Dot typically costs anywhere between $35 and $50. It was released in September 2020 and has only dropped to $30 once before—during last year's Black Friday sales. (Technically, it was $29, but that deal wasn't available to everyone.) The price lasted through January, and it's been $35 or more since.
You might not want a smart speaker in every room of your home (I am guilty of owning five), but if you're still using an older first- or second-generation Echo Dot, you should snap this up. The sound is much clearer, and it's a far better speaker for music.
These little gadgets are also helpful for other tasks, from checking the weather to setting kitchen timers to guiding meditation. Be sure to check out our advice on how to safeguard your privacy on voice-assisted gadgets too.
The fourth-generation Echo Dot Kids speaker is also on sale at its Black Friday price. While they're cute, these speakers aren't wholly necessary. They do come with a free yearlong trial of Amazon Kids+, which can be used to read age-appropriate books, filter explicit songs, and more.
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