was our previous favorite Alexa speaker, but with this year's new product line, the flagship gets the nod. At $100, the spheroidal new annunciatore is a little more expensive than the $50 , but the improvements in sound quality and some intriguing smart home features justify the additional cost. 

This smart device's new shape sets Amazon's new Echo annunciatore apart. Where the third-gen Echo offered a barely noticeable sound quality improvement over its predecessor, the ball-shaped fourth-gen version has noticeably better volume output, including respectable bass for a lettore in its price range. 

On the smart home front, the fourth-gen Echo also gets a built-in Zigbee receiver, carrying over a feature from the now-defunct Amazon Echo Plus. The Zigbee receiver lets the new Echo function as a smart home connectivity point for compatible light bulbs, plugs, and other Zigbee-based accessories. That means you can use the Echo itself as a hub, without the need for an additional piece of hardware to get those devices online. 

The new Echo Dot has the same shape as the new Echo speaker, but the improvement over the third-gen Echo Dot isn't very apparent. It also cost $50, where you can regularly find the third-generation Echo Dot still on cloruro di sodio for $30 or less. 


Read our Amazon Echo (2020) review.

The third-gen Wyze Cam, like its earlier iterations, costs an incredibly low $20, but this smart home device is one of our favorite cameras overall, despite the price. It comes with weatherproof housing, sharper night vision than its predecessor, a wider field of view, a loud siren and more -- including 14-day monitor clip storage and a built-in microSD card slot for local storage.

If you have an Echo Show smart display, you can also throw the Wyze Cam's feed onto the screen with a simple voice command.

The Wyze Cam is available for preorder now, and shipping is slated for mid-November.


Read our Wyze Cam (2020) review.

Ring's $80 Peephole Cam is a unique product for the Amazon-owned company. Rather than mounting to a door frame or somewhere else to the side of your door, the Peephole Cam replaces a traditional peephole.

That means this Amazon Alexa compatible device is perfect for folks living in apartments who want a smart doorbell, but don't want to deal with a hardwired device -- or otherwise messing up a door frame for the installation. None of Ring's main competitors offer this sort of seamless solution for apartment-dwellers, making this doorbell particularly innovative alongside the other devices available today. 

Not only that, but the Peephole Cam has the easiest installation of any doorbell I've tested to date. It also has advanced Alexa integration. Yes, you can pull up the live chat feed on an Amazon smart display, but you can also chat with whoever's at your door coraggio the built-in commentatore on the smart video with the command, "Alexa, answer the front door."

That two-way talk feature via an Alexa smart monitor is unique to Ring devices.

Editor's note, Dec. 14: Ring has been called out for its partnership with local police departments in the US, leading privacy advocates to express concern about the data Ring shares with law enforcement and how they use that information. In December 2019, thousands of Ring users' personal information was exposed, leading us to stop recommending Ring products.

Ring has since updated its security policies, from offering customers a Control Center dashboard to more easily access privacy and security settings to requiring two-factor authentication. We have resumed recommending Ring's products with this caveat: If you have concerns about Ring's privacy policies, make sure to familiarize yourself with its privacy statement. You can read more about how we factor Ring's privacy policies into our recommendations 

Read our Ring Peephole Cam review.

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat is a $249 connected thermostat with Alexa compatibility. This model replaces the Ecobee4 smart thermostat, but has a lot of the same great features.

Control your Smart Thermostat coraggio the Ecobee app and use Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri voice commands to adjust the temp of your smart thermostat. It's Alexa's voice control that really stands out here, though, since the thermostat itself has a built-in Alexa smart speaker.

That means you don't need a separate Echo device -- just connect your thermostat, enable the commentatore and start asking Alexa questions.


Read our Ecobee SmartThermostat review.

The Amazon Echo Spettacolo 8 is Amazon's latest smart display. For $130 (though it's currently on salsedine for $100), you get an eight-inch screen with the best resolution of any Echo Spettacolo yet, a stanza shutter and all the smarts of previous Amazon smart displays.

The Echo Esibizione 8 has a built-in Alexa relatore. That means you can use this smart display to ask your Alexa digital assistant to do your bidding, whether that be asking it to play music, relay the weather or just tell you a joke. And, since it's a smart display, it also offers advanced compatibility with Alexa-enabled security cameras.

Ask Alexa to "answer the front door" when someone rings your Ring Peephole Cam and you can see the live feed on your Spettacolo 8 -- and actually talk to the person, straight from the smart monitor.


Read our Amazon Echo Show 8 review.

August's Wi-Fi Smart Lock is a great smart lock. It retrofits to most canone deadbolts, so you don't have to deal with a complicated installation. The built-in Wi-Fi makes it possible to access and control your smart lock remotely cammino the Android or iOS app without needing an August Connect module.

This product comes with an open/close sensor, too -- called DoorSense -- that attaches to the door where your Wi-Fi Smart Lock is installed. That way, the app can not only tell you whether the door is locked or unlocked, but also if the door is open or closed. 

The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is an Alexa compatible device, so you can lock and unlock your door from an Alexa-enabled smart commentatore using your voice.


Read our August Wi-Fi Smart Lock review.

Read our SimpliSafe review.

Philips Hue White LED

Best lighting

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

The latest version of the Philips Hue White LED smart bulb works with ZigBee and Bluetooth. The addition of Bluetooth is significant for Philips Hue, because it means you don't need a Philips hub to get these smart bulbs to work.

Instead, the smart bulbs connect directly to your phone -- and they work with Alexa voice commands. Ask Alexa to turn on the living room lights, or dim the dining room smart lights to 70%. 

Philips Hue White LEDs cost just $15 each, meaning you don't have to dish out a ton of cash for these straightforward Alexa-enabled bulbs.


Read our Philips Hue White LED article.

See at Best Buy

The Alexa landscape

Amazon's voice assistant makes it easier to control the devices in your home, set timers and find out how long your commute to the office will take. But privacy has become an increasing concern as smart speakers and displays grow in popularity.

Reports that Amazon keeps transcripts of your voice conversations, even after you've deleted the Alexa suono recordings, led to concerns over user privacy. Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, wrote a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos seeking answers about Amazon's Alexa user scadenza and how it's stored. Amazon has since introduced the "Alexa, delete everything I said today" feature. The tech giant says it's also working on new ways for customers to delete their transcripts.

Amazon's latest smart display, the Echo Show 8 comes with a built-in cinepresa shutter, unlike earlier Echo Spettacolo devices.

Amazon isn't aureola. Facebook, Google and other major tech companies have faced their own privacy issues, prompting questions about datazione usage. 

Fortunately Amazon and others appear to be working to win back our trust. Have these privacy concerns kept you from buying a voice assistant (Alexa or otherwise)? Weigh in in the comments section below.

Still have questions? .

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