Amazon's updated Echo Dot is the best smart-home value out there by a mile

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.The original Echo Dot was so popular Amazon couldn't keep up with demand.It's easy to understand why: Amazon took all the intelligence from their full-sized Echo and shrunk it down.Not portable like the Echo Tap, or as good a speaker as the standard Echo, the Dot is meant to make your home smarter without taking up space.Instead, the hockey puck-sized smart home hub has a standard 3.5mm audio out, so you can hook it up to any stereo receiver or set of speakers. In that way, it's the most powerful audio device in the Echo line.Despite its small size, the Echo Dot is just as smart as any other Alexa-enabled device. You can use it with any compatible smart home device to do everything from turning off your lights to changing your home's temperature.Amazon has changed the Dot's hardware slightly between generations; instead of controlling the Echo Dot's volume by turning the top of it, there are dedicated volume buttons. They also dropped the LED light off the back of the device.The design may not have changed much, but the price certainly has. At $50, the second generation Echo Dot is 50% cheaper than the original, without losing any functionality.The point of the Echo dot is to make your home significantly smarter without much of an investment. They're selling the Dot at a low cost, and even in packs of six and 12(buy 5-get-1-free style), so you can keep one in every room. I own a full-sized Echo and love it,but I'm probably going end up buying one of these for my mom and a couple of other family members this holiday season.If you're looking for the best value in the smart-home space, the Echo Dot is the winner. With the release of this gadget, Amazon has taken the lead in the smart-home space and extended it.Amazon All-New Echo Dot (2nd Generation), $49.99DON'T MISS:How the Amazon Echo won me over and became the center of my smart homeSEE ALSO:5 gadgets you might not know work with the Amazon EchoJoin the conversation about this story
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