James Bond Amazon has really found its stride with its smart speakers over the past few years. The latest-generation Echo Dot is a testament to that, offering useful features, and full access to Amazon’s services, at an affordable price. The tiny speaker can be used to listen to music or podcasts, read out news and weather reports, and invoke Alexa for any number of useful queries. It can also be used to control your favorite smart home accessories, such as smart bulbs, and it just so happens that Amazon is giving you two free Hue White smart bulbs in this Black Friday combo deal.
This deal is specifically for the Echo Dot with clock model, meaning it comes with an LED display. It’s a bit rudimentary, but it’s capable of showing the current time, as well as alarms, weather information, song titles, and more. As for the Philips Hue bulbs, you get a two-pack of the White A19 smart bulbs. They are dimmable only, so there are no fancy colors, but they are still endlessly customizable, and controllable via voice commands.
Why is this a good deal?
The pricing alone makes this an incredible deal. The Echo Dot typically runs in the $50-$60 range, and the Philips Hue 2-pack bulb set, when purchased separately, is $30. But beyond that, these are two well-reviewed products that will work together instantly out of the box (provided you have a wireless network) to make your life a little easier. We named the Dot our Best Value pick in our roundup of the best smart speakers, and Philips Hue always makes our best smart light brands list.
The Dot can be used as a standalone speaker, or it can be plugged into higher-end systems if you’d prefer to listen to music or talk to Alexa at a higher volume. It’s a tiny speaker, standing less than 4 inches tall, and we noted in our review that the sound quality was a bit mediocre. Where the Dot really shines, though, is the Alexa ecosystem. Not only do you have access to Alexa, and its massive library of skills and commands, but you can also connect to other Alexa devices to create a wireless, whole-home, smart speaker system.
The Philips Hue A19 bulbs are rated at 11000 Lumens, 75W, and are compatible with Bluetooth and Zigbee’s smart home platform. They also work with both Alexa and Google Assistant, and of course, can be paired with other Hue lightbulbs (though a hub may be required). They can dim to various degrees of brightness, and you can set timers and program scenes to set the mood for any occasion.
Whether you have yet to dip your toes in the smart home waters, or you’ve already built up a network of smart accessories, this Echo Dot combo pack is sure to prove itself useful. It’s one of the best smart home deals we’ve seen thus far this year, and it’s sure to be a popular item this week. So don’t wait too long to take advantage of it.
