Best Alexa devices of 2022 – CNET

Amazon’s third-gen Echo Dot with Clock was our previous favorite Alexa speaker, but with the 2020 product line, the flagship fourth-generation Echo speaker gets the nod. At $100, the spheroidal speaker is more expensive than the $50 fourth-generation Echo Dot, but the improvements in sound quality and some intriguing smart home features justify the additional cost. 

This smart device’s shape sets Amazon’s newer Echo speaker apart. Where the third-gen Echo offered a barely noticeable sound quality improvement over its predecessor, the ball-shaped fourth-gen version has noticeably better audio output, including respectable bass for a speaker in its price range. 

On the smart home front, the fourth-gen Echo also gets a built-in Zigbee receiver, carrying over a feature from the now-defunct Amazon Echo Plus. The Zigbee receiver lets the new Echo function as a smart home connectivity point for compatible light bulbs, plugs, and other Zigbee-based accessories. That means you can use the Echo itself as a hub, without the need for an additional piece of hardware to get those devices online. 

The newest Echo Dot has the same shape as the new Echo speaker, but the improvement over the third-gen Echo Dot isn’t very apparent. It also costs $50, where you can regularly find the third-generation Echo Dot still on sale for $30 or less. 

Read our Amazon Echo (2020) review.

The third-gen Wyze Cam, like its earlier iterations, costs only $36, but this smart home device is one of our favorite cameras overall, in part because of the low price. It comes with weatherproof housing, sharper night vision than its predecessor, a wider field of view, a loud siren and more — including 14-day video clip storage and a built-in microSD card slot for local storage.

If you have an Echo Show smart display, you can also throw the Wyze Cam’s feed onto the screen with a simple voice command.

Read our Wyze Cam (2020) review.

Ring’s $150 Peephole Cam is a unique product for the Amazon-owned company. Rather than mounting to a door frame or somewhere else to the side of your door, the Peephole Cam replaces a traditional peephole.

That means this Amazon Alexa compatible device is perfect for folks living in apartments who want a smart doorbell, but don’t want to deal with a hardwired device — or otherwise messing up a door frame for the installation. None of Ring’s main competitors offer this sort of seamless solution for apartment-dwellers, making this doorbell particularly innovative alongside the other devices available today. 

Not only that, but the Peephole Cam has the easiest installation of any doorbell I’ve tested to date. It also has advanced Alexa integration. Yes, you can pull up the live feed on an Amazon smart display, but you can also chat with whoever’s at your door via the built-in speaker on the smart display with the command, “Alexa, answer the front door.“

That two-way talk feature via an Alexa smart display is unique to Ring devices.

Editor’s note, Dec. 14: Ring has been called out for its partnership with local police departments in the US, leading privacy advocates to express concern about the data Ring shares with law enforcement and how they use that information. In December 2019, thousands of Ring users’ personal information was exposed, leading us to stop recommending Ring products.

Ring has since updated its security policies, from offering customers a Control Center dashboard to more easily access privacy and security settings to requiring two-factor authentication. We have resumed recommending Ring’s products with this caveat: If you have concerns about Ring’s privacy policies, make sure to familiarize yourself with its privacy statement. You can read more about how we factor Ring’s privacy policies into our recommendations here…

Read our Ring Peephole Cam review.

The Amazon Echo Show 8 is Amazon’s latest smart display. For $130, you get an 8-inch screen with the best resolution of any Echo Show yet, a camera shutter and all the smarts of previous Amazon smart displays.

The Echo Show 8 has a built-in Alexa speaker. That means you can use this smart display to ask your Alexa digital assistant to do your bidding, whether that be asking it to play music, relay the weather or just tell you a joke. And, since it’s a smart display, it also offers advanced compatibility with Alexa-enabled security cameras.

Ask Alexa to “answer the front door” when someone rings your Ring Peephole Cam and you can see the live feed on your Show 8 — and actually talk to the person, straight from the smart display.

Read our Amazon Echo Show 8 review.

August’s Wi-Fi Smart Lock is a great smart lock. It retrofits to most standard deadbolts, so you don’t have to deal with a complicated installation. The built-in Wi-Fi makes it possible to access and control your smart lock remotely via the Android or iOS app without needing an August Connect module.

This product comes with an open/close sensor, too — called DoorSense — that attaches to the door where your Wi-Fi Smart Lock is installed. That way, the app can not only tell you whether the door is locked or unlocked, but also if the door is open or closed. 

The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is an Alexa-compatible device, so you can lock and unlock your door from an Alexa-enabled smart speaker using your voice.

Read our August Wi-Fi Smart Lock review.

Amazon’s $60 Smart Thermostat is hard to beat in terms of value. It works well with Alexa, so if you have an Echo speaker or Echo Show display, you should be in good shape to get the best value out of the device. Even for those who don’t, though, the thermostat offers a simple, straightforward design that looks great on a wall and feels great to use — plus it’ll save you around $50 per year with its energy saving settings.

Read CNET’s review of the Amazon Smart Thermostat.

Wyze is well known for its super-cheap prices, and its Wi-Fi-connected smart lightbulb is no different. For $8, you can get a bulb that connects directly to your internet and is controllable with Alexa. Screw it in, connect it via the Wyze app and you’re ready to go.

The light bulb has a great range of white light, from candlelight-like to daylight-white. Plus, despite its low price, it produces better brightness than many bulbs that sell for much more.

Read CNET’s review of the Wyze Bulb.

While other DIY home security systems work well with Alexa, the Ring Alarm Pro offers excellent performance with unique built-in Alexa integrations. In fact, with the higher-end Ring Protect Plus subscription, you even get Alexa’s security feature — Guard Plus — packaged in for free. That means Alexa will listen for glass breaking or footsteps while you’re away, and will alert you if it hears anything fishy.

Beyond its Alexa integrations, the Ring Alarm Plus offers fantastic features, like a built-in Wi-Fi 6 gateway, backup internet, local processing and storage (a first for Ring), cellular backup, professional monitoring and more. An eight-piece system costs $300, and subscriptions range from $3 per month to $20 per month — the most expensive of which still undercuts some of the best competition. In short, this system is a fantastic value.

Read CNET’s review of the Ring Alarm Pro.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini is a big name for a tiny smart plug that costs right around $12. A smart plug like this one connects via your Wi-Fi connection directly to a wall outlet and converts your nonsmart lamps, fans and other gadgets into smart devices.

Use the TP-Link app to connect and control devices — or enlist Amazon Alexa and use your voice. Say, “Alexa, turn on the reading lamp” to get the Plug Mini smart plug to control the devices connected to it with ease.

Read our TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini review.