Amazon Echo Studio, Show 8, Flex, Dot with Clock: All your questions answered – CNET

Amazon just announced five new Echo speakers at its annual event on Wednesday. The product lineup includes the Echo Studio, Echo Show 8, a refreshed Amazon Echo ($100 at Crutchfield) for 2019, Echo Dot with Clock and the Echo Flex. Along with these new devices are new commands to ask Alexa, more options to delete your voice recordings, support for added languages…the list goes on.

Amazon also introduced the Echo Glow ($30), which pairs with Alexa and serves as a smart night light. It isn’t actually a smart speaker, though, so we’ve left it off this list. The Echo Glow’s functions include setting sleep timers, pulsing light to the beat of music and campfire mode, which gives you the illusion of a bonfire. 

Here’s everything you need to know about Amazon’s new Echo speakers for 2019, from their price and availability to the features that make them unique from the rest.

What the Echo devices do

Echo Studio: Amazon is positioning this as the one with the best sound. This is arguably the most advanced Echo of the bunch, with three speakers located left, right and at the top of the device. Echo Studio is the first of its kind to have 3D audio. You can stream two Studio speakers at the same time while watching TV to create a theater-like listening experience. 

Echo Show (2019): The newest Show is a speaker with an 8-inch HD screen. It has a microphone and camera off button for user privacy.

Echo (2019): This device looks similar to the Echo Plus and includes a 3-inch woofer and increased rear volume. It also has a fabric design and includes a new color, twilight blue.

Echo Dot with Clock: This looks and works just like the Echo Dot, a small and portable speaker, but now it has an LED display clock. So you don’t always have to ask Alexa what time it is. Here’s one new feature: Now when your alarm goes off, you can tap the top of the speaker to snooze.

Echo Flex: This is the first Echo device that’s cordless and instead plugs into your wall’s outlet (you could also likely plug it into a power strip). The Flex has a small built-in Alexa speaker so you can give it commands, but it’s “not optimized for playing music.” So we’re assuming it can play music, but it’s not ideal. The Flex includes a USB port that lets you charge your phone and plug in other accessories, like a motion sensor and new Amazon Smart Nightlight.

When can you buy them?

All of these Amazon Echo devices are available for pre-order on Amazon.com now, but it’s unclear when they’ll actually ship out to customers. However, we do know the Amazon Echo Show 8 will ship in time for the holidays.

How much do they cost?

• Echo Studio: $200
• Echo Show (2019): $130
• Echo (2019): $100
• Echo Dot with Clock: $60
• Echo Glow: $30
• Echo Flex: $25

Alexa assistant gets new commands and skills, too

• Amazon wants to improve the way Alexa communicates, so it has created these two new commands: “Alexa, tell me what you heard” which leads Alexa to tell you what it thought you said, and “Why did you do that?” which gets Alexa to explain why it performed an action (like playing music).
• Automatically delete voice recordings after 3 or 18 months
• Neural text to speech
• Multilingual Mode
• Mimics celebrity voices (with their permission)
• Frustration Detection for Alexa
• Alexa Guest Connect
• Alexa Communications for Kids
• Alexa Education Skill API

Want to see what else Amazon released today? Check out Amazon event 2019: Echo Buds, Echo Frames, Alexa privacy updates, Amazon Smart Oven and everything announced and Echo Loop puts Amazon’s Alexa on your finger.