Amazon takes on the smart alarm clock with the $130 Echo Spot

Many have tried and failed to bring the world a smart alarm clock (remember Chumby?), but no one has been better positioned than Amazon to deliver on the promise. In essence, the product is a tiny Echo Show. Echo Show crossed with Echo Dot = Echo Spot. Get it?

The product features a 2.5-inch display in a half circle design. As Amazon put it, anything the Show can do, Echo Spot can do, too – including making hands-free calls and video calls. But the new Spot comes at the much more affordable price point of $130. Like the Dot (and unlike the Show), the Spot doesn’t have much in the way of on-board audio, owing to its palm-sized form factor. Though as with the smaller Echo, the product has audio out and Bluetooth so it can be hooked up to external speakers, if you don’t care for the built-in speakers. 

Amazon is clearly hopping the Spot will serve an Echo Dot-like purpose for the product, convincing users to install one in every room of their home — though obviously a $130 price point is far more price prohibitive than the $50 Dot. At $130, the product could serve as a viable alternative to a  bedside alarm clock.

Amazon’s existing security camera compatibility is present here as well, which is an interesting use case in and of itself, offering users a quick glimpse of your front door. I have to say, of all of the Echoes announced at today’s event, the Spot is easily the most compelling. It’s a much better looking product than the Show, in a much more manageable form factor.

And at $130, it’s much more affordable than the Show. As such it will almost certainly hook in those who were interested in the larger product but had misgivings about price. The December ship date is no coincidence, either. Amazon’s going to sell a ton of these come the holiday season. In fact, I wouldn’t be too surprised if the Spot becomes the best-selling Echo for the holidays.