Amazon's Echo Dot for $22 is the best smart speaker purchase you can make on Black Friday

Just as predictable as a Black Friday deal on Amazon is a Black Friday deal on Amazon devices like the popular line of Echo smart speakers. We've never seen a deal as good as this Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for just $22, and we think you'd be crazy not to take advantage of it!

Since this is a site for Apple fans you may be thinking that an Echo speaker may not be the best purchase for you, but as I've argued before, an Amazon Echo smart speaker is actually a great complement to an Apple ecosystem. I am as much of an Apple fanboy as they come, and have multiple iPhones, an iPad, an iMac, and two MacBooks in various locations around my home. I think Siri is great, and my family subscribes to Apple Music and has numerous purchases on iTunes. But you know what? We also have (at least?) 7 Echo devices around the house, along with 3 Fire TV devices, and we've found that Siri and Alexa can coexist and be copacetic together.

If I were you, I'd grab several Echo Dots at this price and scatter them around your house for the ultimate in affordable smart home utility.

What makes the Echo Dot so great is not just that it's a cheap little smart speaker, but it's actually a GOOD little smart speaker. Amazon revised the styling on the third-generation device to look softer and more inviting than previous versions with a fabric covering over the speakers. It also introduced several different color options including Charcoal, Sandstone, Heather Gray, and a brand new Plum color.

Since I have all three generations of the Echo Dot in my home, I can personally attest to the fact that the speaker quality is also much better on this third-generation compared to previous versions. When I ask Alexa to play some music from the Echo Dot (3rd Gen) in my office, the sound is as good, if not better, than my Echo (2nd Gen) or Echo Show 5!

It's true that Amazon Music sounds great coming from this little speaker, but you can also set your preferred music service to be Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, or one of several other options. You can listen to your favorite podcasts from TuneIn or NPR, and there are hundreds of Flash Briefing skills that you can add for additional news, sports, and weather updates. One of my favorite things to listen to on the Echo Dot is whatever my latest download from Audible is, and Alexa will remember my place and pick back up where I left off, whether I was streaming a book on my iPhone, laptop, or some other source.

Let's also not forget that the Echo Dot and Alexa make for an easy way to control your smart home devices. Amazon makes it super easy to connect smart home devices from various manufacturers through the Alexa app (which is available for iOS), and from there you can manage your smart cameras, control your smart thermostat, or turn your smart lights on/off via Alexa with ease.

So don't delay, dash to Amazon and pick up a few of these awesome Echo Dots to put under your tree and around your house this holiday season!

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