Amazon is offering big discounts on the Echo Dot for Black Friday

The new Echo Dot, on the
left, and the first-generation Echo Dot, on the
right.
Stephen Brashear/Getty
Images

• Starting Friday — a week before Black Friday — Amazon is offering promotions on its new
  Echo Dot, which debuted in September.
• The Echo Dot has been Amazon’s best-selling Echo Device, and
  Amazon says it’s the best-selling smart speaker ever. 
• The new Echo Dot is said to be 70% louder than the
  first-generation version, and boasts a new, fabric-coated design.
  But the reason why people seem to love the Echo Dot so much
  probably has to do with its small footprint and unobtrusive
  looks.

Starting Friday, Amazon is offering incredible deals on its
best-selling smart speaker, the Echo Dot. 

Amazon debuted a redesigned version of the Echo
Dot in September. Both the old version and the new version
typically cost $50, but starting Friday, Amazon is offering a
steal: three Echo Dots for $69.97.

If you’re trying to do the mental math, that’s a savings of
$80. 

Amazon has offered deals on the Echo Dot in the past. Sometimes,
you can get one free with the purchase of another Echo device;
other times, Amazon will knock $10 or $20 off the price. 

But if you were thinking of buying a few Echo Dots as gifts, it’s
hard to beat 80 bucks off. 

If you’re not swayed by this deal, you can wait until Black
Friday actually kicks off: starting November 22, Amazon will sell
the new Echo Dot for $24, or more than 50% off. 

Read more: Amazon
revamped its most powerful Echo, the $150 Echo Plus — here’s how
it compares to the old version

The
Echo Dot in charcoal.
Amazon

What makes the new Echo Dot so great, anyway? 

The new Echo Dot has a lot of similarities to the
first-generation speaker. Still, there are a few improvements
that make it worth the money.

Amazon says that the new Echo Dot is 70% louder than the
previous model. 
The updated Echo Dot also has a
new mic array so you can hear everything more clearly — the
device doesn’t just have boosted volume, but louder sound “with
lower distortion and enhanced bass reproduction.”

Additionally, it sports a new fabric-covered design — a
design that, it should be noted, makes it look a lot
like Google’s
Home Mini smart speaker.

Otherwise, not much has changed. Just like the previous
version, you can ask the new Echo Dot random questions, command
it to play music, check the news and weather, set timers and
alarms, and even order stuff from Amazon — all of that is powered
by Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa. 

But the reason why people seem to love the Echo Dot so much
— Amazon says it’s the “best-selling smart speaker ever” —
probably has to do with its small footprint and unobtrusive
looks. It’s about the size of a hockey puck, which means you can
put it virtually anywhere in your home — or even your car. And it doesn’t
have a screen or a camera, which likely makes it feel slightly
less invasive than other Echo devices, like the Echo Show or Echo
Spot.

Plus, it’s hard to beat the price (although Google sells
its competing Home Mini for about the same amount of
money).

If you want to try it for yourself — or gift it to loved
ones — you can order an Echo Dot (or three) on Amazon’s website.