Skip Amazon's New Alexa Devices And Try These 5 Smart Alternatives

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On October 28, Amazon revealed five new smart home devices, all of which are designed to take advantage of Alexa+ — the company's AI-powered version of its smart assistant. The list of new products includes a smart alarm clock called the Echo Time and a refreshed Echo Studio that now has a camera on it, along with the Alexa Photo Frame, a bigger Echo Show 16, and a new Echo Dot. Prices range from $99.99 for the Echo Dot up to $569.99 for the Echo Show 16 with the Nanomatte display.

Apple, Google, Sonos, Hatch and Aura all sell devices that line up with at least one of Amazon's new releases. None of them run Alexa+, but each one costs the same or less than the Amazon device it's being compared to here. Additionally, some of them — such as the Aura Carver and Sonos Era 100 — have been around long enough to build up thousands of reviews from owners, though Apple's HomeView is brand new. If Alexa+ isn't a priority for you, then any of these could end up being a better fit for your home and your budget.

Apple's much-awaited HomeView was finally revealed on October 13, and it goes up against the Echo Show 16 for a lot less money. The HomeView is priced at $299, while Amazon's display starts at $499.99. The two aren't the same size, though, as HomeView has a 7-inch screen and the Echo Show 16 has a 16-inch one. HomeView runs Apple's Siri AI on the A18 chip and controls the accessories in Apple Home. It can identify up to six people in a household, and each person gets their own Home Screen with their calendar and reminders on it. Apple included the TV app and FaceTime, plus a camera view that fits up to nine security feeds on one screen.

HomeView will be available on November 13, and preorders opened the same day Apple announced it. Some features — such as showing your calendar and messages — will require a paired iPhone or iPad to be somewhere nearby. If you'd rather put it on the wall, Apple will also sell a wall-mounted model for the same $299, though you'll need to pick up one of its power mounts separately, which start at $59.95.

Amazon's Echo Time is a $199.99 alarm clock with a display that brightens like a sunrise before the alarm goes off. It can also use the built-in sensor to detect when someone is in lighter sleep and wake them anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes before the alarm time, without the need for a wearable. The Hatch Restore 3 sells for $169.99 and is built around the same idea — though its more of a sleep device than a smart home product. On Amazon, the Restore 3 has a 4.2-star average from more than 3,300 ratings. It remains one of the best sunrise alarm clocks to upgrade your morning routine. At night, you can have it set to dim the lights and begin a bedtime routine.

There's also the option of Hatch+, which is a paid add-on. Luckily, the basic sunrise alarm, sleep sounds and light options don't require it, though it might be worth checking out if you want all the sound options available. The one thing you won't get with the Restore 3 is sleep tracking, which Hatch saves for its $249 Sleep Clock. Still, if waking up to a sunrise is what you're really after, the Restore 3 does that for $30 less than the Echo Time.

Amazon's new Alexa Photo Frame costs $199.99 and uses Alexa+ to find pictures in your Amazon Photos library — such as photos of a certain person, pet or trip. For slightly less ($149) the Aura Carver offers a 10.1-inch screen with a touch bar on top for flipping between photos. The Aura Carver also comes with unlimited photo and video storage as well as an option that lets family members add pictures to the frame directly from their own phones using the Aura app.

It can also pull photos directly from iCloud and Google Photos, making it easy to stock up your favorite family photos from just about anywhere. As for the overall consumer satisfaction with the device, it has an average rating of 4.7 stars on Amazon. Because the Carver's screen is horizontal, it automatically pairs portrait photos side by side so they don't get cut off, and it can turn itself on and off on its own. You can even preload photos before it arrives if you're giving it as a gift, which makes it a great option for grandparents or anyone who lives far away from family.

The Google Home Speaker costs the same $99.99 as Amazon's new Echo Dot, but it swaps out Alexa+ for Gemini for Home. You can still control your smart home functionality, assuming it works with Google Home, and you can even sign up for Google Home Premium if you want to get more out of your smart speaker — such as longer conversations with Gemini Live and more. Thankfully, every speaker comes with a 30-day trial, so you'll get to see whether it's something you'd actually use before paying for it. On top of that, the speaker can act as a Matter hub and Thread border router, which can make it even easier to connect newer smart home devices.

One place that Amazon's Echo Dot fares better is the fact that it has a built-in eero Wi-Fi extender. However, if your home is already set up with Google Home, then Google's speaker is likely going to fit in much better than an Echo Dot would. And since it runs for the same price, you lose almost nothing by going with it instead.

Amazon's Echo Studio with Home Camera costs $249.99. Its camera lets Alexa recognize objects in the room, and the Alexa app can show a live view from it. The speaker supports Dolby Atmos. The Sonos Era 100 costs $219 and doesn't have a camera or Dolby Atmos. It's a music speaker that connects over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and AirPlay 2, and it can be controlled with Alexa.

The Sonos Era 100 is a worthy successor to the Sonos name, and its bass has proven to be even deeper than the HomePod Mini's. Despite being cheaper, too, some even prefer its overall sound to the more expensive HomePod. Sonos also uses a feature called Trueplay to tune the speaker's sound to the room it's in, which is similar to what Amazon does with the Echo Studio. And if you ever want to expand your audio setup, then you can easily do so by grouping the Era 100 with other Sonos speakers.

To find good alternatives to Amazon's new slate of home devices, it was important to look for products that offered the same core functionality, or even some with additional features. We started by looking at the manufacturer's specs, to ensure our selection of alternatives was comparable to Amazon's options. We also wanted to make sure we were highlighting devices that people actually recommend so – aside from the Apple HomeView — most of these devices have a solid lineup of consumer ratings and reviews to dig into. Prices and ratings were checked on October 29, and may have changed since then.