Dottiness Take #3

For a third year, the Echo Dot is on sale for Black Friday / Cyber Monday. This time, it’s not $19.99, it’s $22. However, the quality of the third gen Dot is much greater than that of its two predecessors. There’s also a lot more capability in Alexa than there was a few years back.

If we adjust for inflation, we probably get a bit closer to the $20 mark. Maybe the component prices have also gone up? However, I think there’s some psychology behind dipping below the $20 that makes Echos less appealing.

For some time, the Eufy Alexa Built-In speaker has been less than $20. It’s quality compared to the Dot is considerably less. The build quality and the mic array are inferior. However, there’s a way to get into Alexa hardware for sub-$20. Echo Flex is also sub $20. The Echo Input is down to $15.

The biggest deals and the ones that will likely have the most impact on those who purchase them are on higher end products like the Echo Show 10 or the Echo Sub. Even the standard Echo is 33% off, which is a good deal for the sound quality.

Over at Google, they’re also offering 30–40% off. Same with the Facebook Portal. If you’re looking into getting voice first devices, now’s probably a good time to buy them. At least until next year.