Amazon’s big 2025 hardware launch has just finished – and as usual, there was an avalanche of new launches across its range of Echos, Ring doorbells, Kindles, Fire TVs and more.
There were so many announcements, it’s actually tricky to pick a standout headliner. Amazon said its four new Echo devices – the Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 11 – are the most powerful it’s ever made, so they certainly have a good shout for the title.
But if you’re a Kindle fan, you might instead be most excited about the new Kindle Scribe range, which includes the first-ever color model. Elsewhere, we also saw a new Fire TV lineup, along with a new 4K streaming stick, plus more Ring doorbells than we’ve seen in our lives – including the first 4K models.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed and not sure which to add to your Black Friday shopping list? Here are all of the big announcements in one handy place…
1. We met the Echo Dot Max
It’s been a while since Amazon really gave its Echo Dot line a shake up, but it did so today with the arrival of the Dot Max.
As the name implies, this is a bigger, more powerful Dot – it has two drivers and Amazon says it has “nearly 3x the bass” of the existing Echo Dot (5th gen). It also runs on more powerful silicon in the form of the new AZ3 chip, which will apparently allow for better microphones and improved conversations.
But what really stands out right away is the classy new design: the 3D knit fabric mesh is effectively seamless, and looks great.
It’ll ship with Alexa+ inside it too, of course, and will cost a reasonable-sounding $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$199 when it arrives on October 29.
2. There’s a new Amazon Echo Studio too
Amazon launched four new Echo devices at its big hardware-fest – and the audiophile-friendly Echo Studio could end up being the most popular.
A successor to the old Echo Studio from 2019 (which won a TechRadar ‘product of the year’ gong that year), it’s now 40% smaller and looks rather like an oversized Echo Dot Max.
Like before, the Echo Studio ($219.99 / £219.99 / AU$429) is packed with audio tech – including Dolby Atmos support, Spatial audio, and a high-excursion woofer with three full-range drivers.
It can also act as part of your TV’s surround sound system alongside four other Echo Studio and Echo Dot Max devices.
3. The new Echo Show devices look ideal for Alexa+
Prefer your smart speakers to have touchscreens? Good news, Amazon has also refreshed its smaller Echo Show devices, which promise to be fine hubs for Alexa+. In fact, Amazon says they’re the best way to experience its next-gen voice assistant.
There are two models available, an 8-inch one costing $179.99 / £179.99 / AU$349 and an 11-inch version (a new screen size for the series) available for $219.99 / £219.99 / AU$429.
Amazon says the touchscreens have been improved with better viewing angles, while the 13MP camera will apparently recognize who’s using it to serve up relevant info.
The real potential, though, could come from the Alexa+ Store, which will help the Echo Show connect to thousands of services like Uber and now Oura for your health and wellness data.
If you don’t mind your smart speakers knowing a lot about you, the new Echo Shows could be the home hubs you’ve been waiting a while for.
4. We got our first-ever color Kindle Scribe
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We’re big fans of the Kindle Scribe series, which are like e-readers with the note-taking powers of a Remarkable tablet. And now Amazon has given them their biggest overhaul yet, revealing three new models including the first color version.
The new Kindle Scribes have larger 11-inch screens with a more paper-like texture and a new front-light system to help reduce the size of the bezels. But the star of the series is that new Colorsoft version, which uses Amazon’s own display tech and promises weeks of battery life.
Naturally, it doesn’t come cheap at $629.99 / £569.99 (Australian pricing tbc), but it looks like a blast for brainstorming and reading comics. It’ll be available “later this year” in the US, and in 2026 elsewhere, including the UK.
5. The first 4K Ring video doorbells arrived
Amazon’s hardware show kicked off with some big Ring doorbell news – its first-ever 4K models, and some new image-boosting software (AI-powered, of course) called Retinal Vision.
Those first 4K models include the Wired Doorbell Pro, Spotlight Cam Pro, Floodlight Cam Pro, and Outdoor Cam Pro, which get Retinal 4K tech. Amazon is promising better low-light performance and 10x zoom from that software, which also comes to other models in the form of Retinal 2K.
There are seven new models in total, and all are available for pre-order today.
6. Search Party melted our hearts
Amazon knows the way to our hearts – dogs. Specifically: lost dogs. So its new Search Party feature was guaranteed to have us welling up.
This is an AI-powered feature for Ring cameras that promises to reunite lost dogs with their families once they’ve been reported, by crowdsourcing nearby doorbells.
The way it will work is that if someone reports a lost dog in the Ring app, anyone with nearby outdoor Ring cams can start a search party. This will use AI to look for possible matches and the camera will in turn notify the owner (of the camera, not the dog) if it gets a positive result. They’ll then be able to share the good news with the dog owner.
With Familiar Faces (face recognition tech to help reduce your number of notifications) and Alexa+ Greetings (automated responses to manage deliveries and more) also announced, Ring devices have definitely stepped up their game.
Search Party for dogs will start rolling out in November, followed by cats and other pets, and Alexa+ Greetings and Familiar Faces available in December.
7. There’s a slew of new Fire TVs
Amazon’s gone all in on TVs today – which makes sense, given that its Fire TV sets sell by the bucketload over Black Friday.
There are new Fire TV 2-Series models, 4-Series models, and Omni QLED Series models, all in various sizes ranging from 32in for the 2-Series up to 75-inch for the Omni, and most sizes in-between.
As you’d expect, the prices vary wildly too. That 32-inch 2-Series costs a mere $159 / £249.99, whereas the Omni QLED Series starts at $479.99 for the 50-inch model, rising to $1,199 for the 75-incher, with 55in and 65in models falling between those extremes.
All will have Amazon’s Omnisense tech – which turns on the TV when you enter the room and turns it off when you leaves – plus a new Dialogue Boost mode. The Omni is also said to be 40% faster and 60% brighter, and has Dolby Vision and HDR10+ Adaptive support, among other features.
You can pre-order the new sets now, with availability starting in October.
8. And there’s a new cheaper 4K Fire TV Stick
Amazon says the new Fire TV 4K Select is “the fastest 4K stick under $40” – which is not something that we can test until we get our hands on it, but which is welcome if true.
That speed is at least in part due to its new operating system Vega OS, the same platform that will power the new Echo devices too. And as you’d expect, it also makes for plenty of AI skills; it will support Alexa+, and can carry out nifty tricks such as jumping you to a specific scene in a movie if you ask it to do so.
It’ll come with all of the major streaming services on board and is available to order now and shipping next month for $39.99 / £49.99 / AU$89.
9. We got two new Blink cameras
We’re rather fond of Blink’s home-watching cameras, with the Mini 2 and Outdoor 4 both riding high in our guide to the best home security cameras. So we’re looking forward to having a closer look at its two new arrivals, both announced today at Amazon’s event.
The Outdoor 2K Plus is, as the name suggests, a battery-powered camera that can keep an eye on the outside of your property. It has 2K resolution and apparently comes with improved low-light performance. It’s also temptingly affordable at only $89.99 in the US (there’s no news on international availability), but bear in mind that some features like person and vehicle detection need a Blink Plus Subscription.
If it’s an indoor cam you’re after, there’s also the Mini 2K+ ($49.99 / £39.99 / AU$59). It’s even cheaper and offers similar features to its Outdoor sibling, but needs wired power instead.
Both will begin shipping from mid-October, but it could be worth holding fire and looking out for Black Friday bargains.
10. The Blink Arc does something rather different
Behold, something new in the world of home security cameras – the Blink Arc is like a bug-eyed chameleon, offering 180-degree coverage from one spot (and a single charging point).
The two cameras handily stitch their footage together to give you one panoramic view of your yard. The downside is that in order to get that full 180-degree view, you need a Blink Subscription Plus Plan. You’ll also need Blink’s weather-resistant power adapter to use it outdoors.
Still, if you have an annoying blind spot in your security cam coverage, it could be a handy solution. The Arc costs $99.99 / £89.99 / AU$109, and if you already have two cameras you can also buy the mount separately.
11. Alexa+ finally got some more homes
Yes, Alexa+ was announced back in February, but the voice assistant is slowly edging towards the mainstream.
Not a lot has changed in terms of the rollout – it’s still launching in slow-motion across the US in an “early access period”, before launching more widely over the coming months”.
It’s a shame Amazon didn’t have much more to share in terms of the global rollout of Alexa+, but at least we have a bunch of new devices that have been designed to play nice with it.
Some of these, like the Echo Dot Max, are relatively affordable at $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$199. And while Alexa+ itself costs $19.99 per month, it’s also free for all Prime members – another nice perk to keep you hopelessly locked in.
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mark.wilson@futurenet.com (Mark Wilson)
