Release dates for Amazon Echo Buds, Echo Frames, Echo Loop, and more

Amazon hosted its on Sept. 25, where the company announced the introduction of a slew of new products. Dave Limp, senior vice president of devices, opened up the event with a talk on privacy before jumping into why everyone was really there.

You can now say “Alexa, tell me what you heard,” and the smart assistant will read you back your last voice command. Coming later, you’ll be able to ask, “Alexa, why did you do that?” for cases in which Alexa does something you don’t understand.

In addition to some privacy updates, Alexa is getting some fun new upgrades. Later this year there will be a , for when you want a change of pace in how the smart assistant speaks to you.

As for the devices that house Alexa’s voice, there are a handful of new ones to get excited about. 

In an attempt to compete with Apple’s AirPods, Amazon has introduced its own wireless earbuds, called Echo Buds. They’re pretty basic wireless earbuds that give you hands-free Alexa access and feature Bose active noise reduction technology. They’re decent competitors for AirPods, but probably won’t be a must-have for Apple users.

The Echo Buds cost $129.99 (only $30 cheaper than standard AirPods) and are set to be released on Oct. 30, but you can pre-order them now.

One of the more bizarre announcements from Amazon’s event comes in the form of a pair of glasses. Echo Frames are eyeglasses with Alexa built in. Unlike Google Frames, there are no cameras or a display — they’re meant just to make Alexa available with you throughout every step of your day. There are tiny built-in speakers and microphones so you can say Alexa voice commands and hear the responses as well as listen to music or podcasts. The speaker is supposed to beam sound toward the wearer’s ears, so it’s not audible to surrounding people.

Echo Frames are ~exclusive~ and available only by invitation, which you can request in order to purchase the $179.99 frames with or without prescription lenses.

Another interesting product announcement, the Echo Loop is a smart ring for when you want to wear Alexa on your hand. Amazon takes “talk to the hand” literally. The ring is supposed to act as a shortcut to quick calls, fast answers, and tidbits of information to help you manage your day. The ring is scratch- and water-resistant and has an all-day battery. 

The Echo Loop is another exclusive product available only by invitation, which you can request in order to buy the $129.99 ring.

According to Amazon’s blog, Echo Dot users have asked Alexa to tell them the time billions of times. So, the company finally did something about that. The newest iteration of the Dot features a vivid LED that displays the time, temperature, or alarm times. If used as an alarm clock, you can just tap the device to snooze the alarm for a few minutes. These new additions make the Echo Dot with clock an awesome bedside table accessory.

The Echo Dot with clock will be released Oct. 16 and is available for pre-order for $59.99 starting today. Read more about all the new Echo speakers here.

The standard Echo speaker is getting an upgrade, inheriting the same audio architecture as the Echo Plus. This includes neodymium drivers, a three-inch woofer, and increased back volume to strengthen the base and clarify mids and highs. It’s got a fabric exterior and comes in a new twilight blue color.

The Echo will be released Oct. 16 and is available for pre-order now for $99.99.

Amazon made an Echo device for its audiophile customers with the introduction of the . Unlike other Echo devices, this one features 3D sound, which uses Dolby Atmos technology that uses speakers to take a digital sonic read of a room and calibrates the music output accordingly. It’s very similar to Apple’s HomePod.

The Echo Studio is available for pre-order today for $199.99.

Amazon catered to its audience with the introduction of the earlier this year, a more compact and affordable version of its Echo Show. They’ve now added another size option to the lineup with the announcement of the Echo Show 8. It’s slightly larger than its predecessor and features the camera shutter for privacy, but with the crisp, powerful audio of the full-size Echo Show. It’s like the Goldilocks of Echo Show devices.

The Echo Show 8 will be released on Nov. 21 and is available for pre-order for $129.99.

As smart technology becomes more integrated into homes, it turns into second nature for kids. Amazon is catering to a younger crowd with the Echo Glow, a multi-color smart lamp that pairs with Alexa. This seems to be a slightly more fun version of the Echo Dot Kids Edition.

Echo Glow will be released on Nov. 20 and is available for pre-order now for $29.99.

The Eero mesh WiFi router is also among the products getting a refresh. Its combination of dual band radio and TrueMesh technology gives you whole-home coverage with no more dead zones.

The all-new Eero is available for $99.99 or $249.99 for a three-pack.

You likely have Echo devices in multiple rooms in your home and adding a whole other speaker to each new room seems a bit excessive. That’s where the Echo Flex comes into play. It’s a tiny device equipped with all of Alexa’s skills, but it plugs right into your wall outlet for a discreet smart home touch. It features a smaller speaker, so it’s not optimized for music, but truthfully not every room in your house needs to be optimized for music. The Echo Flex also has USB ports so you can charge your devices.

The Echo Flex will be released on Nov. 14 and is available for pre-order for $24.99.

The new Stick Up Cam is Ring’s most versatile security camera, working both indoors and outdoors. It can run off its battery, plugged into a wall, or from a solar power source. It has the 1080p HD video, motion detection, and night vision from the original Stick Up Cam, but at a fraction of the price.

The Ring Stick Up Cam launches Oct. 23 and is available for pre-order now for $99.99.

If you already have an outdoor system, The Ring Indoor Cam is perfect for security inside your home. It’s small, so it won’t overtake your home décor and it can be placed almost anywhere. It has the same great features as other Ring cameras, but it’s the lowest-cost cam in the brand’s lineup.

The Ring Indoor Cam is available now for $59.99.

Amazon introduced an Alexa-enabled microwave last year and had us all wondering why we would really need a smart assistant in our microwave. It wasn’t anything super special. But Amazon is back at it with smart kitchen appliances, unveiling the Amazon Smart Oven. It’s a combination microwave, convection oven, air fryer, and food warmer with intelligent voice commands built in. 

The Smart Oven actually lives up to its name as you can preheat with just your voice and Alexa will announce when to stir food during cooking and let you know when it’s finished. You can even scan hundreds of packaged foods and the instructions automatically preload onto the oven.

The Amazon Smart Oven will be available on Nov. 14, but you can pre-order it for $249.99. And it comes with an Echo Dot because why wouldn’t it?

The updated Fire TV Cube is the fastest, most powerful Fire TV device yet and is designed to support Dolby Vision and HDR, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos. There aren’t too many new and exciting updates with this device, though.

The new Fire TV Cube will be released Oct. 10 and is available for pre-order now for $119.99.