Amazon wasted no time this week in trying to upstage Google. Knowing that Google’s own AI-infused Gemini Home devices won’t be ready until spring 2026, Amazon is beating Google to the punch big time by unveiling four new Echo devices: the Echo Dot Max ($100), Echo Show 8 ($180), Echo Show 11 ($220), and Echo Studio ($220), all purpose-built for Alexa+, Amazon’s next-generation AI assistant.
new brains, newish looks
Amazon says Alexa+ is noticeably smarter at answering more complicated questions and handling more complex commands than regular, old Alexa, although its rollout this past spring was a little more bland than many had hoped for.
The Echo Dot’s new AZ3 chip powers a new microphone array that Amazon says will “(support) even more natural, free-flowing interactions with Alexa+, filtering out background noise, and improving Alexa’s ability to detect the wake word by over 50%.”
The Echo Studio, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 11 use the AZ3 Pro chip, which expands upon the AZ3’s capabilities by also adding support for “state-of-the-art language models and vision transformers.”
Like much of Amazon’s product announcement, it’s light on the nitty gritty how-to of what’s under the hood of these new capabilities. Amazon does go into detail on Omnisense, a custom sensor platform that interacts with the new chips, though.
It strings together data from a range of sensors, including audio, ultrasound, Wi-Fi radar, accelerometer, Wi-Fi CSI, and the 13-megapixel cameras on the Echo Shows to provide more helpful information based upon a greater awareness of its surroundings.
Amazon gives the example of the new Echos delivering a reminder only when a specific person walks in the room, and another of an unprompted reminder that your garage door is open when it’s late at night.
The Echo Dot Max ($100) will be available on October 29, the Echo Show 8 ($180) and Echo Show 11 ($220) will be available on November 12, and the Echo Studio ($220) will be available on November 15.
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