Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Playbook Mashable Selects In My Bag Look Up Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series Amazon is getting a head start on Prime Day speaker deals. Lois Mackenzie is a freelance reporter at Mashable. Over the years she has written for many publications, covering everything from the local news to the best pair of running shoes. You can find bylines in publications including Fit&Well, Metro, and Coach magazine, usually covering deals on everything from earbuds to TVs, or guides on how to beat your half marathon time. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series All of these devices are compatible with the new AI-powered Alexa+. Ashley Keegan is a freelance contributor to Mashable. Stacia Datskovska is an NYU journalism major (graduating this December). Her work has appeared in USA Today, Boston Globe, Teen Vogue, HuffPost, Bustle, and more. When she's not writing something or other, Stacia can be spotted crying over poetry, making a home-cooked meal, or walking on an NYC pier. Samantha Mangino, is an e-reader expert. She's tested all the Kindle and Kobo e-readers, diving into the buzziest models. Her love of reading extends beyond the e-reader beat, covering books and authors, too. In the tech space, she covers tablets, smart rings, and headphones.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series Get a head start on your holiday shopping wishlist. Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what's actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons . Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series These discounts essentially cancel out last month's price hike -- and then some. Christina Buff is a Nashville-based freelance writer for who covers shopping with a splash of entertainment. If you're ever wondering what streaming service you need to watch something (and the cheapest way to sign up for it), she's your girl. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen Be prepared to pay more for an Echo Dot, 16 GB Kindle, Fire TV Stick HD, and Amazon eero 7 mesh router, among several other products. Amazon Echo Dot (left), Google Home Speaker (center), Apple HomePod mini (right). Amazon has raised prices on Echos, Kindles, and other products. The price of an Echo Dot has risen by 60% to $79.99. Amazon blamed the hikes on the costs of memory and storage chips.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Here are the existing Echo smart speakers and displays most in need of a refresh. After skipping last year, Amazon is back with a big fall hardware event slated for next week, and we're expecting plenty of new Echo smart speakers and displays that make the most of Alexa+, Amazon's AI revamp of the Alexa voice assistant. Plenty of other hardware will also be unwrapped during Amazon's September 30 event in New York City; for example, we're sure to see new Kindle tablets, as well as Fire TV models and perhaps even some Ring cameras. For now, though, we're concentrating on new Echo devices, and there are a few popular Echo speakers and displays that are ripe for an upgrade.

"Alexa," I asked the Echo display in my kitchen, "what was that song from The Hills? You know, that MTV show? Can you play it on the Echo Show in the office?" The old Alexa wouldn't have had a prayer of answering such a poorly worded query. But the new Alexa, now packing AI-enhanced smarts, handled it easily.

One of the most confounding moments after I got my first Amazon Echo Dot was when its light ring began pulsing yellow, signaling… well, what exactly? Indeed, Echo devices such as the standard Echo, the Echo Dot, the Echo Pop, and the Echo Show can display flashing indicator lights in a range of different colors, and they can be pretty confusing–even aggravating–if you don't know what they mean, or how to make them stop. Luckily, deciphering the flashing lights on your Echo device is simple, and once you know the code, the lights can warn you when something's amiss with your Echo, let you know when you have incoming messages, alert you when Alexa is listening, and more. Let's start with the light that confused me the most when I got my first Echo (the ever-popular Echo Dot). Generally accompanied by a cheerful "bum, bum!" alert tone, the flashing yellow light lets you know when Alexa has a notification for you, or if you missed a reminder.

After more than a year out of sight, Alexa –the new Alexa with its AI-powered revamp–took center stage at a crowded coming-out party in New York City on Wednesday, and I got a first-hand look at what this turbocharged voice assistant can do. Following the big unveiling, we were all led to a demonstration hall with about a half-dozen break-out rooms, where we were able to see and hear--but not participate in--Alexa's new conversational tricks, from controlling smart home devices and researching sports tickets to suggesting recipes and dialing up tunes on Amazon Prime Video. If all that sounds like old hat, consider this: While the old Alexa requires falling back into what Amazon devices head Panos Panay rightfully described as "Alexa-speak," the new Alexa is a far more flexible and understanding companion, capable of sussing out your intentions from the vaguest of queries, and--at least, from what I saw on Wednesday--getting it right more than it failed. While the demonstrations we saw appeared carefully choreographed, we were frequently assured that what we were seeing and hearing was the "live" Alexa, rather than a canned demo--and from someone who's spent a fair amount of time with ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode, the exchanges sounded genuine. Here are my biggest takeaways after sitting through Amazon's Alexa show-and-tell, starting with… Naturally, everyone's waiting for the new AI-powered Alexa to bungle a command or start hallucinating, but the demos I saw on Wednesday went surprisingly smoothly.

Smart speakers have become the ultimate multitaskers for your home, combining great sound with the convenience of voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri. Whether you're streaming your favorite playlists, checking the weather, controlling your smart home devices or setting reminders hands free, a good smart speaker can make your day-to-day life a whole lot easier -- and more fun, too. If you're an audiophile, some models prioritize high-quality sound that can fill a room. If you're on a budget, there are plenty of affordable options that still pack in tons of features. And if you're deep into the smart home ecosystem, finding a speaker that seamlessly connects to your devices will be a game-changer. We've picked out the best smart speakers for every need, whether you're after booming bass, a sleek design or advanced voice assistant capabilities.