Amazon took the covers off of Alexa+ this week – an upgraded, AI supercharged, version of its voice assistant – but while there were hopes we’d also get new hardware, there was nothing on that front at the big New York launch event.
However, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy revealed to Bloomberg that a “brand new lineup of devices” are scheduled for release this fall, promising to be “beautiful”.
The last major refresh to Amazon’s Echo and Echo Dot speakers came in late 2022 when the 5th-gen Dot was announced. In fact, the former hasn’t had a refresh since the 4th-gen model went live way back in 2020.
These updates came at a time when Amazon was focusing heavily on improving the performance and accessibility of Alexa, while also making the Echo speakers more affordable and attractive to a wider audience and in the years that have passed we’ve seen plenty more Echo smart speaker launches, but none in the “basic” range.
The likes of the Pop and the Spot 2 have hit the lower end of the market and Amazon has clearly priortized the Show range at the upper-end, with big hitters like the Show 15 (2nd-gen) and the Show 21 going live at the end of last year.
Guide: What is Alexa+ and how much does it cost?
Alexa+ will be launching on the Show range when it’s released into the wild next month, but we are told it will work across pretty much the entire Echo line-up, bar a few ancient 1st-gen models.
It would therefore be great if we could get some proper Echo or Echo Dot upgrades to go with the AI-powered assistant, so hopefully Jassy’s comments on the “beautiful” new devices include these.
While there will obviously be hardware updates on any new devices, the promise of “beautiful” devices suggests that aesthetics will play a larger role in the upcoming refresh.
As smart speakers and home assistants become fixtures in more homes, Amazon may be looking to bring more stylish, premium designs into the market.
