Save half-off the price of this Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for Prime Day
Some of the best Amazon device deals this Prime Day are not just on the newest Echo speakers. In fact, big bargains can be found all over the site if you're willing to look at Amazon's previous generation products.
Take the Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for example. This device is the pinnacle of the original hockey puck disc design that inspired an entire generation of smart speakers like the Google/Nest Mini devices. It may not be the newest product in the lineup, but it is still a big seller. Why? Well, not only is it half the size of the Echo Dot (4th Gen), it's also generally much more affordable than the newer device. That's a pretty compelling proposition for a lot of people.
Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen) | $20 off at Amazon
The iconic Echo Dot (3rd Gen) may not be the most amazing speaker ever, but it is one of the best smart speakers that you can buy. Its petite footprint means that it can fit just about anywhere you want to put it, and it makes for the perfect discrete smart home controller.
The first three generations of the Amazon Echo Dot all shared a similar cylindrical shape that was at once both utilitarian and iconic - they almost looked as if someone took a Ginsu knife to a full-sized Echo speaker and chopped it into four or five smaller pieces, and viola, Echo Dots.
Amazon kept this form factor for so long because it worked so well. The Echo Dots were immediately recognizable, and you knew right away where the buttons, ports, and LED light were. The Echo Dot (3rd Gen) was hands-down the best-looking iteration of the original design, at least in my opinion. In this version, Amazon softened the look and feel, adding a fabric coating to the speaker's sides in place of hard plastic, and it also marked the first time we saw interesting colors beyond black and white.
The Echo Dot (3rd Gen) sounds fine... it's not going to win any audiophile awards, but that's not really why you buy this thing. It's meant to sit unobtrusively in your home, out of the way, not calling attention to itself and yet always at the ready to help you out. The microphones are super-quick to respond to your queries and commands, and they make great ambient computing devices. They're priced at a point where you can afford to pick up a handful of them to place around the house, which is great for guest room alarms, paging the kids for dinner, or just listening to music while you clean. As much as I love the spherical look of the 4th Gen Echo Dot, this is a better value if you are new to the Echo "ecosystem" or if you just want to spread a few more Alexa devices around your home.
Echo Dot (3rd Gen) with Mandalorian The Child stand | 35% off at Amazon
We've come across a lot of cute Echo Dot stands, but this has to be just about the cutest ever. Even if you're not a huge Star Wars nerd like me, you have to admit that these green Grogu ears make Alexa even more approachable and fun. You can pick whatever color Dot you like, but I happen to think the Sandstone and Charcoal versions look the best here.
Echo Dot (3rd Gen) bundle with "Made for Amazon" Mount | 34% off at Amazon
While it's true that the Echo Dot (3rd Gen) can fit just about anywhere due to its small size, sometimes you still don't have available counter space. Maybe you just want to hang it up on a wall or under a cabinet to be more useful and accessible. That's what this bundle allows you to do.