Nuked Hey there, tech enthusiasts! Nuked here, your friendly neighborhood tech lover, ready to dive into some bittersweet news about my favorite gadget.
So, it seems Amazon has decided to retire my beloved Echo Dot with Clock. I’ve got six Echo speakers hanging out in my home, but this little guy is the star of the show. The fabric-covered LED dot-matrix display casts a soft white glow across my dark bedroom, making it super easy to check the time without bugging Alexa every five minutes. Seriously, who needs that?
Now for the not-so-great part: Amazon has pulled the plug on the Dot with Clock, opting for a pricier model that’s not nearly as charming. According to Amazon spokesperson Liz Roland, once the existing stock is gone, it’s game over for this gadget. They didn’t offer any reasons for the discontinuation—mystery alert!
Initially, I thought my own Dot was facing a dramatic end due to some hidden defects. It started freezing up on me—totally unresponsive and displaying a frozen image like it was auditioning for a horror movie. After a bit of back-and-forth, I managed to snag a credit for a replacement. After some hard resets and repeated setups, it miraculously came back to life!
In my quest for a replacement Dot with Clock at its original price of $60, I was bummed to discover that it was no longer in stock—only refurbished options were available. Even though the blue model miraculously popped back up at Amazon and Target today, I decided to take a leap of faith with its successor: the $80 Echo Spot.
However, despite being fancier and pricier, I’m finding that the Spot just doesn’t do it for me. Its screen isn’t exactly eye candy and feels more like an afterthought than an upgrade. Plus, it’s tilted upwards like it’s trying to impress someone on a nightstand—too bad I don’t have one! My dresser is where all the action happens.
My colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy is currently testing out the Echo Spot and seems to enjoy it more than I do! However, she also noted that its audio quality isn’t quite on par with the Dot’s (though it’s more directional) and you still can’t set an alarm by simply touching the screen like you can with other smart displays. The Spot does have perks like music controls and showing time, date, temperature, and weather all at once—but is that enough?
Now that my trusty Dot with Clock is back in action, I’m planning on returning the Spot along with that credit from Amazon. So long, Echo Spot; you were a bold adventure but not quite what I needed!
