Wait! Don’t rush in and buy the first Amazon Echo you see. There are ways to save money, whether you want to buy the Amazon Echo, the Echo Dot or a cheeky Fire TV bundle. Here’s how to find the cheapest Amazon Echo.
Which cheap Amazon Echo to buy?
We’re going to set a price limit of £60. At first glance, this gives you five choices (but read down where we talk about special offers):
Amazon Echo Input, £34.99
This coaster-like object hooks up to an existing speaker you own via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm cable. It’s the cheapest way to add Alexa (Amazon’s digital assistant) to your home or office, although bear in mind you’ll need to have your speaker permanently powered as well as the Echo Input, which comes at an energy cost.
Refurbished Echo Dot (2nd Gen), £34.99
You can save a tenner by buying a refurbished Echo Dot. It’s one generation old, but frankly you don’t miss out on much. We wouldn’t use an Echo Dot to enjoy music, but it’s a proper speaker and a great little device for sprinkling Alexa around a home (for instance, you can broadcast “Dinner time!” to everyone at once). Our co-editor Barry even fitted one in his car.
Note you can buy second-hand Echo Dots (and other Echos) from Ebay and the like, but they tend not to come with a warranty. All refurbished Echos bought from Amazon still include a year’s cover.
Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen), £49.99
The latest Echo Dot offers slightly better sound – although still some way short of the full Echo – and a tweaked design. We wouldn’t rush in and buy it at £49.99, though. Either wait for discounts (as covered later in this article) or buy the Fire TV Stick bundle below.
Fire TV Stick bundle with Echo Dot (3rd Gen), £49.99
This is a cracking deal while it lasts. We’re huge fans of the Fire TV Stick, although note this is the 1080p version – if you want 4K TV, buy the Fire TV Stick 4K. It’s a wireless streamer that you plug into one of your TV’s HDMI ports, and it then brings you Netflix, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and all sorts of other on-demand TV services. The interface is lovely and quick too, so it’s an excellent upgrade for sluggish smart TVs.
Refurbished Amazon Echo (2nd Gen), £59.99
Squeaking under our admittedly arbitrary £60 limit is this refurbished Amazon Echo. It’s the latest generation and sounds great. And as with other certified refurbished Echos sold by Amazon, it’s covered by a full year’s warranty.
But hold on: what about special offers?
Over the years, we’ve become conditioned by Amazon not to buy its speakers at full price. That’s because we know full well that come any special event – Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Black Friday, Blue Tuesday – it will discount the price of several Echo speakers.
As I write this, the next price cut is likely to come in the run-up to Mother’s Day on 31 March. Here are some other notable dates when you can expect slashed prices:
- Easter Sunday, 21 April
- Father’s Day, 16 June
- Summer holidays, starting mid-July
- Black Friday, 29 November (in fact, we expect lower prices in the second half of November in the lead up to Black Friday)
- Cyber Monday, 2 December
- Christmas… so pretty much all of December
Do you have any money-saving advice to give Amazon Echo buyers? Let us know in the comments below.
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