What has changed in the Echo range?
Amazon refreshed its Echo range on 28 October 2026, and the headline change is the Echo Dot. Engadget's roundup lists the new Dot at $99, with an AZ3 chip, four beamforming microphones and support for Zigbee, Thread and Matter, so it doubles as a smart home hub. It can also act as a Wi-Fi extender, but only on an eero network.
The same event brought four other products, summarised below. Only the Dot is described as a hub in the coverage we found; the Studio and Show are pitched as Alexa+ displays and speakers with cameras.
| Device | US price | Reported UK price | Smart home hub? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Echo Dot (new) | $99 | £94.99 | Yes: Zigbee, Thread, Matter |
| Echo Time (alarm clock) | $199 | £184.99 | Not mentioned |
| Echo Studio with Camera | $250 | £239.99 | Not mentioned |
| Echo Show 16 | $500 | Not in reported UK line-up | Not mentioned |
| Alexa Photo Frame | $200 | Not in reported UK line-up | No |
Why does the Echo Dot hub matter for Home Assistant users?
For most Home Assistant users it changes little, because Home Assistant already talks to Zigbee and Thread devices through its own radios. A hub inside an Echo pairs devices to Alexa, and Amazon has not announced any local API that lets Home Assistant use that radio as a coordinator. Treat it as a second ecosystem, not a replacement for a dedicated hub or Zigbee stick.
Matter is the useful overlap. A Matter device can be shared with several controllers at once, so a sensor added through Alexa can also be added to Home Assistant, as covered in our Matter setup guide. Check each device's multi-admin limits before relying on it.
If you also use Alexa voice control, the existing route stays the same: expose your entities through Home Assistant, as in our Alexa integration guide. Nothing in the announcement changes that.
What do the new Echo devices cost in the UK?
UK pricing comes from Cordbusters, and TechRadar reports the same £239.99 for the Echo Studio with Camera. We could not verify prices on Amazon's own UK pages, so treat them as reported, not confirmed.
The Dot's reported £94.99 is a real step up. Cordbusters says it sat at £54.99 for most of the last four years and rose to £79.99 earlier this year. For comparison, our Echo Dot 5 review covers the model this replaces. No UK release date was given for any of the devices, and the Echo Show 16 and Alexa Photo Frame were reported as US-only for now.
Should you wait for the new Echo Dot or buy now?
If you only want an Alexa speaker, wait for confirmed UK pricing and a release date before paying a premium. If you want a Zigbee or Matter hub for Home Assistant, don't buy this expecting it to replace a coordinator. A Matter device and a Home Assistant-controlled radio remain the safer setup.
What we don't know yet: whether Home Assistant can discover the Dot as a Thread border router, how many Zigbee devices it supports, and whether Alexa+ features land in the UK at launch. We will update this article when Amazon publishes UK specifications.
