Amazon added a new member to the Echo family with the introduction of the Echo Hub, a wall-mountable smart home hub that it hopes will tie its multiple products — and all your connected gadgets — together.
The Echo Hub, like all Amazon products, will be powered by Alexa and feature an 8-inch touchscreen with a customizable dashboard allowing you to group and manage smart devices, arm your security system, start a routine or view camera feeds. It will cost $179.99 on Amazon HERE.
The Echo Hub is one of rare wholly new products unveiled at Amazon’s fall devices event, held in its new HQ2 in Virginia. Many of its other products include refreshes of existing lines, like the Echo Show 8, or even the upgraded capabilities of Alexa. These fall tech events are common since they’re the last change for a company to get their products out before the critical holiday shopping season.
The Echo Hub has support for smart home standards Zigbee, Sidewalk, Thread, Matter, as well as Bluetooth support. It’s also compatible with more than 140,000 connected devices, Amazon said.
You can find the Echo Hub on Amazon HERE.
The device uses infrared technology to detect when somebody is nearby, with the screen transition between a clock to a smart home control screen.
“Engagement with Echo devices is at an all-time high,” said Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Fire TV. “Customers rely on Alexa for so much, including managing their smart homes, keeping up with the latest news, setting birthday reminders, and keeping their homes stocked with essentials. These new Echo devices give customers more ways to experience the world’s best personal AI—and the growing generative AI capabilities that will be coming to Alexa soon—at home and on the go.”