This was a big week for new product announcements. Amazon, Bose, KEF, Ring, Wyze and a number of other well-known manufacturers announced new products. Here’s what you need to know.
This was a big week for new product announcements — a lot was announced. Amazon announced several completely redesigned Echo speakers and indoor drone. KEF announced the next-generation LS50 speakers, which are essentially the ultimate Sonos competitors. And Wyze announced a video doorbell that costs just $30. But that’s just scratching the surface.
Below, we round up all the important products that were announced this week.
Amazon Echo (4th-Generation)
Amazon
The new Echo smart speaker has a spherical design. It’s essentially combination of the the Echo and Echo Plus speakers, with support for Dolby stereo sound and a built-in smart home hub. It costs $100 and is available in three different colors: charcoal, chalk and steel blue. It will be released on October 22.
Logitech’s new, very small wireless mouse called the MX Anywhere 3. Aside from being small and portable, it’s standout feature is that it has customizable side buttons that can be programed to toggle your microphone and video off and on during Zoom or Microsoft Teams video calls. No need to find the mute or video on/off buttons on the actual video call anymore. The MX Anywhere 3 costs $80 and is available for preorder right now. You’ll be able to buy it from most retailers in early October.
The Ring Always Home Cam is, according to Amazon, “a small, autonomous indoor camera” — to us, it’s a drone. It will automatically fly to predetermined areas of your home, therefore giving you multiple viewpoints and the ability to better keep an eye on your home with just one camera. Amazon claims that it will only record video when it’s flying, as when it’s docked the camera is blocked. The Ring Always Home Cam will be $249.
The redesigned Echo Dot shares a similar spherical shape as the new Echo, but it’s a much smaller smart speaker. The Echo Dot costs $50 and is available for preorder today. Amazon also announced a new Echo Dot with an integrated LED clock, which costs an extra $10. Both will be released on October 22.
The KEF LS50 Wireless II are updated versions of the KEF’s 2018-released powered active speakers, the LS50 Wireless. The new models are built with KEF’s new proprietary Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT), which absorbs 99% of the unwanted sound radiating from the rear of the driver and makes them sound significantly better than their predecessor. They start at $2,500 and are available in four colors: carbon black, titanium gray, mineral white and a special edition crimson red.
The KEF LS50 Meta are updated versions of the LS50 passive loudspeakers. The new versions are very similar to their predecessors, but they are built with KEF’s new proprietary Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT), which absorbs 99% of the unwanted sound radiating from the rear of the driver. They start at $1,500 and are available in four finishes: carbon black, titanium gray, mineral white and a special edition royal blue.
Wyze expanded its line of affordable smart home devices this week with the announcement of the Wyze Video Doorbell. It costs just $30 — yes, $30 — which is a fraction of what most other video doorbells costs, yet Wyze’s Video Doorbell has most of the same features, including HD video recording, night vision and two-way audio. It will be start shipping on October 6.
The Jabra Elite 85t are the company’s newest pair of wireless earbuds, the successor of the Elite 75t, and its first to have active noise-cancellation. They will cost $229 and be available for pre-order next month. Maybe more interestingly, Jabra will be bringing its noise-canceling technology to Elite 75t and Elite Active 75t earbuds via a firmware update next month, too. The software update is free.
Bose officially announced the second-generation of its Sleepbuds, the wireless earbuds that fit inside your ears and, using low-energy Bluetooth connection, play specially-engineered sounds that cancel out ambient sounds while sleep. The first generation models were discontinued after experiencing battery issues, but Bose claims to fix those on its new Sleepbuds.
The Echo Show 10 is the company’s third generation Echo Show with a completely new design. It a 10-inch screen that rotates — when you ask Alexa something, the screen will turn to face you. This is designed so that Echo Show 10 always is facing you when it’s answering your questions or helping you with a cooking recipe. It costs $250 and will be available later this year.
The Xbox Series X was first announced late last year and earlier this month Microsoft finally gave us a price: $500. This week, the next-gen console finally became available for pre-order. It’s expected to arrive on November 10.
The Xbox Series, Microsoft’s more affordable next-generation console which is designed for non-4K TVs, also became available for pre-order this week. Like the Series X, the Series S will be available everywhere on November 10.
Amazon announced two next-generation streaming sticks: the Fire TV Stick and the Fire TV Stick Lite. The Fire TV Stick costs $40 and streams full-HD content; most importantly it supports HDR and Dolby Atmos, The Fire TV Stick Lite is basically the same thing but does not support Dolby Atmos. It costs $30. Both will ship with Amazon’s Alexa remote that has a dedicated volume, power and mute buttons.
Amazon
