Amazon's New Echo Dot Is $99.99, and the Studio Got a Camera

The Echo Show 16 ships Dec. 16 at $499.99, $100 less if preordered, while Echo Time and Photo Frame start at $199.99.

The Echo Dot, which Tom's Guide noted once went for $50 or less on Black Friday, now starts at $99.99.

Amazon put the new Dot on sale Wednesday with three other Alexa devices and opened preorders for a fifth, the Echo Show 16, which The Verge reported ships Dec. 16. Across the lineup it costs more to get in, and more of the hardware can see: Amazon's top speaker now has a camera, and the company is pitching its new bedside clock as the one without.

Amazon makes its own case for the Dot's price. A smart home hub now sits inside the speaker, a first for the Dot line, according to Amazon's announcement. The company also lists a custom AZ3 chip, 50% more bass and a built-in eero extender that stretches a home's Wi-Fi by as much as 1,000 square feet. Tom's Guide said the Dot comes four years after the last one.

Here are the five devices on the same five points, using the prices Amazon listed Wednesday:

• Echo Dot. Price: $99.99, or $109.99 for two Kids versions that include a year of Amazon Kids+. Available: now. Screen: a small light arc on the front, according to Tom's Guide. Camera: not announced. New, per Amazon: the hub. Tom's Guide says its Omnisense sensor also picks up presence and room temperature.
• Echo Studio with Home Camera. Price: $249.99. Available: now. Screen: none, The Verge reported. Camera: yes. Amazon says owners can check on the room from the Alexa app, and Alexa can read things held up to it, like a board game box. New: Amazon says video calls through a compatible Fire TV are on the way.
• Echo Time. Price: $199.99, with a Kids version from $209.99. Available: now. Screen: 3.2-inch touchscreen, per The Verge. Camera: none. Amazon calls the design camera-free. New, per Amazon: sleep sensing without a wearable, which wakes you during lighter sleep within 10 to 60 minutes of the set alarm.
• Alexa Photo Frame. Price: The Verge put the black frame at $199.99 and the wood ones, birch or walnut, at $229. Available: now. Screen: 10-inch anti-glare touchscreen. Camera: not announced. New: Alexa inside a picture frame, which Amazon says no frame had before.
• Echo Show 16. Price: $499.99 with a wall mount, or $569.99 with Amazon's Nanomatte anti-glare screen. Available: preorder, shipping Dec. 16. Screen: 16 inches. Camera: yes. Amazon lists night vision, never before on an Echo Show, along with auto-framing that keeps people in the shot. New: the full Fire TV experience and eight woofers, per The Verge.

Amazon's announcement plays up cameras on two of the five. Anyone who wants the Studio's sound without a lens can still buy the plain Echo Studio, which Amazon lists at $219.99, $30 less than the camera model.

The trap is the frame. Amazon devices chief Panos Panay called it "the world's smartest photo frame," The Verge reported. But it pulls pictures only from Amazon Photos, which can back up Android phones and iPhones and import from iCloud, and can't import from Google Photos yet. For a family whose albums live with Google, the smartest frame can't reach them.

The frame does have one edge over the pricier screen. The Verge noted that, unlike Amazon's Echo Show hubs, it never shows an ad, and that beyond Amazon Photos it doesn't need a subscription. Prime members also get unlimited photo storage.

On the Show 16, buying early pays. The $100 preorder discount brings it to $399.99, or $469.99 with Nanomatte, before it ships.

Every price in that list comes with one more line, the last in Amazon's own announcement: "Certain features require Alexa+, which is included with a Prime membership."

Source: The Verge, retrieved October 28, 2026. Other sources: tomsguide.com, aboutamazon.com.