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With non-essential shops opening back up in the UK this week, Amazon has decided it's no longer crass to put its tech products on sale... which is oddly comforting.
Amazon has discounted 15 products across its Echo, Fire TV and Blink lines. So if you've been looking around your home in despair at all its ugly unconnectedness the past few months, read on for our top picks, as per our fully tested WIRED Recommends guide to the best Alexa compatible tech. All the deals below run until June 24 with the Fire TV discounts ending on June 26. Amazon also has a fashion sale on right now - we've done an edit of watches, running shoes, sneakers and accessories.
It's Prime Day 2023, so we've uncovered the top discounts. Check out the best Prime Day deals in the UK here.
Get an Echo Dot with Clock for £35
What is it? We've tried out all the Echo smart speakers and we reckon the Dot with Clock is the best bet for most people. Not only is it a super affordable gateway to Alexa voice controls for your lights etc, it's the best-sounding Dot, the mic is sensitive enough for you to talk quietly to the smart assistant and the design is both compact and unobtrusive while thanks to the LED clock still useful.
What's the real saving? Amazon lists this one as £25 off the RRP. While strictly true, the Dot with Clock's been going for £40 recently. Still £5 off an already ludicrously cheap Alexa controller is worth it. Get a few.
Get the Echo Dot with Clock for £35 on Amazon
The Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet is down to £70
What is it? Our top Amazon pick for kids tablets is the Fire 8 HD Kids Edition (£130) but the now much cheaper seven-inch tab is also well worth a look. You get a seven hour battery life, decent enough seven-inch screen and 16GB of storage as well as the all-important parental controls, drop-proof case with a kickstand and a year's access to the books, apps and games on Kids Unlimited.
What's the real saving? Prices on all the Fire tablets bob up and down but it's £30 off the already very reasonable retail price. The regular Fire 7 is also on sale, down to £50.
Get the Fire 7 Kids Edition for £70 on Amazon
Get £20 off an Amazon Fire TV Cube
What is it? The best all round Alexa A/V device, the Fire TV Cube gives you hands-free voice control of your TV as well as any Sky boxes, soundbars and AV receivers. The 4K HDR picture quality is superb, the interface is easy to get on with, performance is lickety-split and if you have the right kit, there's Dolby Atmos support too.
What's the real saving? The Cube is £20 off this week, on a regular price of £110. That's still at least double the sub-£50 Fire TV sticks, which sell by the Amazon warehouse-load, but we think it's worth considering.
Get the Fire TV Cube for £90 on Amazon
More Amazon device deals
£10 off Fire TV Stick 4K, down to £40: You're getting terrific 4K picture quality out of this budget streaming stick that does Netflix and Disney+ and comes with an Alexa Voice Remote.
The basic Fire TV Stick is down to £20: The cheapest Fire TV Stick is the same sell as the 4K model above, including the Voice Remote, but handles 1080p video. It usually goes for £30 - the RRP of £40.
Echo Dot is £20 off, down to £30: Don't need the clock? Go for the basic, third gen Dot.
Echo Show 5 is £20 off, now £60: This is a good price for Amazon's nifty, compact smart display, a nice addition to bedside tables that does video calls.
£30 off the Echo Show 8, down to £90: This is the Echo Show we'd pick for kitchen worktops for calls, photos, smart home controls and recipes.
Blink XT2 is down to £75, £25 off this week: This is Amazon's 1080p smart security camera that can be used indoors or outdoors. The best bit? No extra monthly fees for cloud storage.
£5 off Echo Input, down to £20: Don't need the speaker but want the smarts? This is a plug-in Alexa controller with a USB port for charging phones and 3.5mm and Bluetooth to connect to your existing speaker setup.
£35 off a third-get Echo, down to £55: This is the current full-sized Echo smart speaker and with fabric covers it's not too obtrusive. Down from £80.
Blink Mini indoor security cam for £30: Just £5 off but again, if you're happy with Amazon in your home, you might as well take advantage of these ludicrously cheap 1080p smart cameras with motion detection.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
