Other Alexa (or Alexa Compatible) Speakers
- Amazon Echo Pop for $40: The Echo Pop (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is a perfectly fine little speaker, and the cutest one in Amazon’s lineup. Does it have great sound? No. It’s fine enough for background tunes or if you’re limited to a dorm room, but you’ll get much better sound for a similar size from the Echo Dot (but you’ll pay a little more, and you won’t get as cute of colors!)
- Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) for $90: This smart display is another just-fine option, but it’s too small to be a great display, and the included camera makes it a no for a bedside table; better to go with the above Echo Spot or an Echo Dot.
- Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) for $250: This smart display has big sound, but its wonky shape makes it hard to seamlessly fit into your home. It’s cool that it can follow you around while you speak to it, but also kinda weird. It’s great if you have a big kitchen island you’re always moving around, but not much else.
- Amazon Echo Show 15 (2nd Gen) for $300: This smart display is a good display, but it clearly wants to double as a TV and isn’t very good at it yet. I’m hoping we see better TV-related performance in the future to make it worth adding to a kitchen or office. It does a great job with widgets, though, thanks to the massive 15.6-inch screen. There’s also the larger Echo Show 21 ($400), which is essentially the same thing but larger.
- Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) for $227: The Beosound A1 is a durable, beautiful, and great-sounding listening companion, and this second-generation version has an Alexa integration to make it an Alexa speaker anywhere you go. It’s a great speaker, but it’s more expensive than the Sonos Roam.
Other Devices With Alexa Inside
Why only ask Alexa for help while you’re at home? These accessories let you take your favorite voice assistant with you everywhere.
- Echo Frames (3rd Gen) ($330): WIRED reviews editor Adrienne So was fully prepared to hate these combo eyeglasses and headphones, but she actually liked them a lot. They look good, they’re surprisingly comfortable, and the sound is OK—although a little tinny, since the speakers are placed just next to your ears. You can answer calls while running and going for walks, and the microphone is good enough that she sounded like she was still on her phone. But the charging base is annoying. The glasses’ arms don’t quite fit into the stand, and you have to be careful to balance the frames at two points.
- Echo Buds (2021 Release) ($120): We liked the original Echo Buds, but we’re even bigger fans of the 2021 version (8/10, WIRED Recommends). Amazon’s earbuds come with wireless charging, noise-canceling tech, and a surprisingly ergonomic fit. Better microphones mean that Alexa voice controls work even in loud environments. The overall experience of using the headphones feels like a future we’ve seen in sci-fi movies. Need to set a timer, check the weather, or see what happened with your favorite sports team? Just ask these earbuds. Amazon also has a 2023 version ($50) that is much cheaper, much uglier, and does not have ANC.
What’s Alexa+?
Amazon will start rolling out the new and improved Alexa soon, named Alexa+. This second generation of the Alexa voice assistant is supposed to be more conversational, able to execute complex tasks and learn new information, and be much more personalized. That’ll be due to generative AI powering it.
It’ll be available for $20 a month, or free if you have an Amazon Prime membership. While you likely have a membership if you added an Alexa device to your home, it’s a big jump from the previously free assistant. Amazon says early access will begin to roll out next month in the US, beginning with Echo Show smart displays, specifically the Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21.
How to Remove Spam From Your Echo Show Screen
If you’re using an Echo Show device, you’ve likely noticed there’s tons of default content the device will show you. Sports scores! Local news! A recipe you might be interested in! It makes the device exhausting and annoying to be near.
Here’s how you can control what you see:
- Swipe down from the top of your Echo Show to pull up the menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings menu, choose Home Content.
- There are upwards of 40 options you can toggle on and off on this menu, and you should remove as many as you can that you don’t use. I usually remove all but weather forecasts and recently played audio.
While you’re able to turn off interest-based ads from third-party skills (this is under Alexa Privacy in the Settings menu), it won’t stop all ads. The only setting that is ad-free is choosing Photo Display mode, which can use either Amazon’s included library of photos or your own. The only downside is that turns it into a digital photo frame, so you won’t even see a clock or features like widgets.
