Amazon Slashes Prices Across its Echo Smart Speaker Range for Black Friday

Amazon today began offering devices in its Echo smart speaker range at discounted prices for the first time in the products' short history, as part of its Black Friday Deals Week.

For those unfamiliar with the devices, the connected speakers' array of microphones lets users query voice-based assistant Alexa, who can be asked to do things like play music, read the news, use apps, check the weather, turn on the lights, set timers, and more.

Amazon Echo family
The full-size Echo speaker is being offered at $140 (usually $180), while the second-generation Echo Dot – a smaller variant with the same features – has had $10 lopped off the price and is going for $40.

Elsewhere, Amazon has slashed $40 off its Alexa-enabled portable Bluetooth speaker, now selling for $90 instead of $130.

Apple is also offering its own Black Friday deals this year. For all the discounts on Apple products offered on Amazon, Apple, and elsewhere, be sure to check out the MacRumors Black Friday Holiday Roundup, continually updated throughout the week.

MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may sometimes get paid if you click one of the above links and purchase a product or service.

Related Forum: Community Discussion

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...

Top Rated Comments

jjblinky Avatar
109 months ago
Does anyone know if you can/if it's easy to use Alexa alongside HomeKit/siri? I already have some things (smartplugs) set up using HomeKit/Siri, but a dedicated device such as the echo dot for voice commands would be nice. I would want to be able to use siri and the home app traditionally though. So I guess I'm asking if you can set up the devices to respond to both. So in theory I could tell Alexa to turn the light off and then tell Siri to turn it back on.
Yes you can do that. It works really well with my Hue lights.
[doublepost=1479988974][/doublepost]
Not a bad offer. But nothing Siri can't really do either, for the most part.
I was in the same place as you, but I use this way more than Siri. Its more responsive and gets it right first time more of the time. Plus everyone in the house can use it, there is no voice print.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
canyonblue737 Avatar
109 months ago
Not a bad offer. But nothing Siri can't really do either, for the most part.
sorta.

despite my Lutron Caseta smart home lighting system working with Apple HomeKit, the "Hey Siri" call function is hit or miss at best and requires me to remove the phone from my pocket to work or have it laying out. its a massive pain in the ass and almost makes it worse than just getting up and walking over to hit a switch.

i purchased 3 echo dot's for $150 total that are ALWAYS listening and cover 75% of the main and upper floor of my house. anytime i am in those 75% of areas where a echo can hear me I can literally just speak out loud at any given time "Alexa, dim my bedroom lights to 50%" or "Alexa, turn on the kitchen island lights" or "Alexa, turn off all of the downstairs lights" and it gets it 100% perfect all the time. no button press. no "hey siri" that works 50% of the time and requires a slight pause before saying a command. for me that $150 made my far more expensive lighting system WORK.

believe me i want apple to get there, the only reason i haven't bought MORE echo's is because i'm trying not to sink too much money into echo if i end up going to a similar apple solution in 2017 but for now it KILLS SIRI to actually do things people want it to do and not just demonstrate you can ask 12 ways to get it to say the weather.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
timmyh Avatar
109 months ago
Of course MR needs to make money somehow, but this is just an advertorial. Should be marked as such.
Just to be clear, nobody paid MR to highlight this discount.

We've covered news about Amazon products in the past, so we thought some readers might appreciate the heads-up. :)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Azzin Avatar
109 months ago
Hopefully this will apply to Amazon UK too-no discounts showing currently.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ed217 Avatar
109 months ago
Personally, even if I got a link saying I was able to get one for free, I just wouldn't bother.

I don't see the point in the 'smart speakers' - it can't do anything my phone can't do, and my phone isn't tethered to the power socket in one room of my house.

I don't get the hype.
I remember hearing similar words when smartphones first came out. Those proved to be less than insightful too...
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
109 months ago
How close do you have to be in order for the echo to hear you or what's the range for one unit? Do have to speak loudly for it to understand you?
It has a decent range for to hear your voice, I would estimate approximately 12-15 Feet, depending on the noise in the background. And you don't have to speak loudly per say, more so more clearly.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)