Sunday, December 22, 2024

Send your Alexa smart speaker back to Amazon, and it’ll treat you to 81% off a brand-new Echo

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Amazon has slashed prices across its Echo speakers and smart home devices — but there’s a way to unlock an even bigger saving. Yes, if you’ve got an old Amazon Echo gathering dust at home, you can send the unwanted Alexa-powered gadgets back to Amazon and access even bigger discounts on a new upgrade.

That’s because Amazon is offering up to 56% off its latest line-up of Echo smart speakers and smart displays. It has dropped the cost of the Echo Pop to £19.99 and Echo Show 5 down to just £49.99.


But the US superstore is offering a clever way to supercharge that discount. Amazon will cut all of these products with an extra 25% off the sale price when you send an old Amazon Echo back to the company.

That’s more generous than the 20% off that Amazon is offering when you send-in an unwanted Fire TV Stick.

The Echo Show range offers all of the same functionality as an Amazon Echo, but adds a touchscreen capable of displaying additional information and making video calls via the built-in webcam

AMAZON PRESS OFFICE

Broken devices are still eligible for the trade-in scheme — but don’t expect to receive the same discount when you send a non-working Amazon Echo back to the company.

The discount varies based on the model and condition, but you’ll be given a rough estimate when you start the process, so you’ll have a decent idea of how much extra you’ll be able to cut the sale price, so there shouldn’t be any unwelcome surprises.

With the maximum 25% trade-in discount — plus the 56% price cut in the latest Amazon sale, you could take delivery of an Echo Pop for just £15. That’s a huge discount to the RRP of £44.99.

Echo Pop launched in May 2023 with a semicircular shape and vibrant new colours like Lavender Bloom and Midnight Teal. The diddy Bluetooth speaker can manage your calendar, set timers and reminders, read the latest headlines and forecasts, call friends and family, order takeaways, and more.

The most affordable Amazon Echo supports live radio stations, music streaming from Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, as well as audiobooks and podcasts.

echo pop in lavender bloom colour

Echo Pop, pictured here in the Lavender Bloom colour option, launched last year with a stylish new design for the most affordable smart speaker

AMAZON PRESS OFFICE

It can also double up as a Wi-Fi extender, boosting the signal from an Eero Wi-Fi router to eliminate any blackspots in your coverage at home.

These are the steps to trade-in an Echo on Amazon:

  1. Select any eligible device(s) linked to your Amazon account or search for the model if bought elsewhere
  2. Answer questions about the condition of your device(s) to receive a trade-in quote
  3. Even non-working devices will be eligible
  4. Print a shipping label and send your device(s) for free
  5. Amazon will verify the condition within 3 days after its engineers take delivery of the device
  6. Once your trade-in is complete, you’ll receive a limited-time discount towards a new Amazon Echo or Echo Show
  7. Not only that, but a bonus £2.99 Amazon.co.uk gift card will be applied to your account

Here’s the list of Amazon Echo devices included in the sale —

Echo Pop

This colourful semicircle is the most affordable speaker in the line-up — and the most colourful. With a choice of four different colours (Charcoal, Glacier White, Lavender Bloom, and Midnight Teal) this diddy speaker still comes equipped with all of the same features you’d expect from an Amazon Echo. Alexa can play your favourite songs, add appointments to your calendar, and answer general knowledge queries.

Echo Dot

The fifth-generation Echo Dot launched back in 2022, but remains the most up-to-date version of the hardware. The smart speaker arrives with a cylindrical shape designed to improve sound quality. The case uses 95% recycled fabric and 55% recycled plastics and Amazon has pledged to offset any energy used in the lifetime of the smart home gadget with clean electricity — reducing its impact on the planet. This iteration of the Echo Dot introduced a temperature sensor, so it can automatically adjust smart thermostats and other gadgets around the home based on the current temperature.

Echo Show 5

As the name suggests, this smart home device adds a five-inch touchscreen to display additional information from Alexa. For example, timers will countdown in real-time on the screen, while weather forecasts for the next five days will be shown. You can also use the Echo Show 5 to watch Netflix and Prime Video, or follow along with tutorials on YouTube. The built-in camera can be used for video calls to other Echo devices, or the Alexa app on iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets. Everything else that you’re able to do with a voice-only Amazon Echo is also possible with the Echo Show line-up too.

Echo Show 8

This upgraded model adds Spatial Audio support for improved listening on supported music streaming services and a larger eight-inch HD touchscreen. Like the pricier Amazon Echo, the Echo Show 8 lands with Zigbee smart hub functionality baked in, so you can pair and control devices compatible with Zigbee, Matter, and Thread without a separate smart home hub. Like the smaller Show 5, there’s also a front-facing camera for video calls with other Echo devices and phones and tablets with the Alexa app.

Echo Studio

If you’re looking for the ultimate speaker from Amazon — look no further than the Echo Studio. This flagship smart speaker is the only model in the line-up that supports Dolby Atmos as well as Spatial Audio. If you have a Fire TV Stick, you can pair an Echo Studio for cinematic sound. Like the Echo Show 8, the Echo Studio has a Zigbee functionality built into the speaker, so you can pair and control devices compatible with Zigbee, Matter, and Thread without a separate smart home hub.

Echo Show 10

The Echo Show 10 boasts a 10.1-inch HD screen that can pivot automatically to follow the sound of your voice, so video calls, recipes, and boxsets are always in view. Echo Show 10 has the biggest speaker of any of the touchscreen-equipped Alexa devices, which is designed to deliver premium, directional sound. The front-facing 13-megapixel camera offers improved video call quality, with auto-framing keeping you front-and-centre as you move around the room and others enter and leave the frame.

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