Few years ago, smart homes were expensive, with the original Nest Learning Thermostat ($220 at Amazon.com) clocking in at $250 and the original Amazon Echo costing $180. So the prospect of setting up a voice assistant-driven home – filled with connected lights, cameras, doorbells and various sensors – was untenable for many consumers.
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The New Gens
But it’s 2024, and smart homes are more affordable than ever. Not only can you get an Alexa-voiced device for $20, but you can get all the things Alexa controls for super-cheap prices, too. In fact, you can make an Alexa-powered smart home for less than the original Echo cost. Here are the cheapest and best products to do it.
Amazon Echo Pop
Although the majority of people would prefer the Echo Dot, Amazon’s first genuinely fashionable smart speaker has all the Alexa features you could ask for. With its unique cone form and clean lines, the $40 Echo Pop is without a doubt the most stylish smart speaker available for the money. With some strategic feature reduction, it is also somewhat less expensive than the majority of its rivals, including Amazon’s Echo Dot. It is also an excellent digital assistant, featuring a fast processor, sensitive microphones, and comprehensible speech.
Amazon Echo Dot
The best, cheapest smart speaker Amazon offers is the ever-solid Echo Dot. Their newest generation has impressive sound quality and all the smarts of the higher end speakers. Not only is the Dot a reasonable $50, but you can also catch it on sale for $25 often.
Amazon Echo Show
The $90 Echo Show 5 brings all the visual smarts of Amazon’s other smart displays on a compact screen that fits in on your bedside table. You can find it on sale for $50 fairly often, and it gives you a screen to display the feeds of smart cams – not to mention controlling smart devices with the tap of a finger, rather than voice commands.
