Amazon today announced four new members of its Echo series of smart home speakers designed to work with the company’s new Alexa+. This includes a new Echo Dot Max, the Echo Studio, and two new Echo Show models in different sizes.
Starting with the Echo Dot Max, it features a dual-driver design consisting of a woofer and a tweeter. The new design integrated the speaker directly into the device housing instead of a separate module, which doubles the internal air space for fuller sound. The device can also tune the sound to your surrounding and Amazon claims it can produce 3x the bass of the 5th gen Echo Dot.
The Echo Studio is like a bigger version of the Echo Dot Max. It has a high excursion woofer with three full range drivers. It has support for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. And it does all this in an enclosure that is 40% smaller than the original Studio.
Both the Echo Dot Max and the Echo Studio can also be chained together for a stereo or a surround sound experience. You can pair up to 5 of each with compatible Fire TV sticks for a makeshift home theater setup.
Next are the Echo Show 8 and the Echo Show 11. They have 8-inch and 11-inch touchscreens, respectively, and Amazon says it uses in-cell touch and negative liquid crystal design to reduce layer of lamination and maximise the viewing angle. Both units also have a 13MP camera for video calls, and Alexa can also recognize you when you walk up to the device for custom information.
Both the Echo Show models have a new audio architecture, featuring front-facing stereo speakers and a custom woofer. The drivers are placed under the display and fire audio towards the user on the front.
Powering the new Echo devices are new custom-designed chips with AI accelerators. The Echo Dot Max is powered by Amazon’s new AZ3 chip while the other three use the AZ3 Pro. These new chips also have better microphone quality, faster overall response, and improved AI performance.
The prices are $100 for the Echo Dot Max, $220 for the Echo Studio, $180 for the Echo Show 8, and $220 for the Echo Show 11. All four are available for pre-order today, and US customers will get Alexa+ Early Access out of the box. The Echo Dot Max and the Echo Studio will be available on October 29, and the Echo Show models will be available on November 12.
