At its annual hardware event, Amazon announced a new lineup of Echo devices, designed to integrate with its Alexa+ artificial intelligence assistant. The assistant, currently available through an early access program, is being rolled out to millions of customers. The new devices—the Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 11—feature upgraded processing power and memory to support advanced AI functionalities.
Central to these devices are the Alexa+ integrations, which enable more natural language conversations and responses to complex queries compared to previous models, according to Amazon. Future enhancements include an Alexa+ Store, allowing access to services from brands such as Fandango, GrubHub, and Lyft. The devices will also support management of Amazon's proprietary services, including Amazon Music, Amazon Kids+, and Alexa Emergency Assist, alongside customization options for the Alexa experience.
The new Echo devices are powered by Amazon's custom-designed silicon chips, the AZ3 and AZ3 Pro, which incorporate an AI Accelerator for running AI edge models. The AZ3 chip, found in the Echo Dot, improves conversation detection, allowing interactions from across a room while filtering background noise. Amazon claims this chip also enhances wake word detection by over 50%.
The Echo Studio, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 11 utilize the more advanced AZ3 Pro chip. This processor adds support for sophisticated language models and vision transformers. Additionally, AZ3 Pro-enabled devices feature Omnisense, a custom sensor platform for ambient AI. Omnisense integrates a 13-megapixel camera on Echo Show devices with audio, ultrasound, Wi-Fi radar, accelerometers, and Wi-Fi channel state information (CSI) to enable contextual actions, such as delivering reminders upon a person's entry into a room or alerting users to an open garage door.
The Echo Dot Max, priced at $99.99, is engineered with nearly three times the bass of its predecessors, featuring a two-way speaker system with a woofer and a custom tweeter. The Echo Studio, available for $219.99, presents a new spherical design that is 40% smaller than the original model, according to Amazon. It includes a high-excursion woofer, spatial audio, and Dolby Atmos, along with an upgraded light ring for visual feedback on Alexa's activity. Consumers can connect up to five Echo Studio or Echo Dot Max devices with compatible Fire TV sticks for a home sound system.
Two new smart displays, the Echo Show 8 ($179.99) and Echo Show 11 ($219.99), feature redesigned aesthetics, improved picture quality, a 13-megapixel camera, expanded screen area, new front-facing stereo speakers, and a custom woofer. These devices will host Alexa+ Home, a new smart home experience that aggregates event summaries from Ring camera feeds and serves as a smart home hub supporting Matter, Thread, and Zigbee protocols. They also facilitate access to entertainment, home organization, family activities, and household shopping, with integrations for Amazon, Whole Foods, and Amazon Fresh for re-ordering and delivery tracking.
Amazon has also partnered with Oura to deliver personalized health and wellness suggestions through Alexa devices, with future support planned for devices from Withings and Wyze.
