I
have
six
Amazon
Echo
smart
speakers
in
my
house,
and
I’ve
tested
more,
but
my
favorite
is
the
Echo
Dot
with
Clock.
I
love
how
the
fabric-covered
LED
dot
matrix
display
makes
time
unobtrusively
accessible,
beaming
its
gentle
white
light
from
my
dresser
across
my
blackout-curtained
dark
bedroom.
(It
definitely
beats
asking
Alexa
the
time.)
So
I’m
sorry
to
be
the
bearer
of
bad
news:
Amazon
has
discontinued
the
Dot
with
Clock
in
favor
of
a
more
expensive,
less
eye-pleasing
model.
“You
can
check
the
product
page
for
the
latest
device
availability,
but
once
inventory
of
this
generation
Echo
Dot
with
Clock
is
sold
through
it
will
not
be
restocked,”
Amazon
spokesperson
Liz
Roland
tells
The
Verge.
Amazon
didn’t
tell
us
why
it’s
going
away.
At
first,
I
mistakenly
thought
it
might
be
due
to
hidden
defects
—
my
own
Echo
Dot
with
Clock
began
mysteriously
freezing
a
few
weeks
back,
completely
unresponsive
to
voice
commands
and
with
images
stuck
on
its
display.
Multiple
resets
didn’t
help.
But
after
I
successfully
argued
for
Amazon
to
credit
me
for
a
replacement
Echo,
it
began
working
again.
(I
had
to
hard
reset
it,
then
go
through
the
setup
process
multiple
times
in
the
Alexa
app
to
get
it
working.)
When
I
went
looking
for
a
replacement
$60
Echo
Dot
with
Clock,
I
was
surprised
to
find
Amazon
didn’t
stock
it
anymore
—
only
refurbished
models
were
available
when
I
checked,
even
though
the
blue
model
is
available
again
at
Amazon
and
Target
today.
So
instead,
I
took
a
chance
on
the
company’s
spiritual
successor:
the
$80
Echo
Spot,
which
replaces
the
dot-matrix
display
with
a
screen.
But
despite
being
more
expensive,
I’m
finding
the
Spot
inferior
for
my
purposes.
While
its
screen
isn’t
too
bright
for
a
dim
bedroom,
it’s
not
what
I’d
call
visually
pleasing.
It
never
lets
me
forget
I’m
staring
at
a
cheap
screen.
Plus,
the
whole
screen
is
tilted
upwards,
presumably
for
nightstand
use,
not
my
tall
dresser.
I
have
no
nightstands
in
my
bedroom.
The
Echo
Dot
with
Clock
and
the
Echo
Spot,
flanked
by
other
small
smart
displays.Photo
by
Jennifer
Pattison
Tuohy
/
The
Verge
My
colleague
Jennifer
Pattison Tuohy
is
currently
working
on
a
full
review
of
the
Echo
Spot,
and
she
likes
it
a
good
bit
better
than
me!
But
she
says
it
doesn’t
sound
quite
as
good
as
the
Dot
either
(though
audio’s
more
directional),
and
it
still
doesn’t
let
you
do
anything
as
basic
as
setting
an
alarm
with
touch
like
you
can
with
other
smart
displays.
The
main
benefits
are
music
playback
controls
and
the
ability
to
display
time,
date,
temperature,
and
the
weather
simultaneously.
Now
that
my
Echo
Dot
with
Clock
is
working
again,
I’ll
be
returning
the
Spot
—
and
the
money
that
Amazon
credited
me.
(Originally posted by Sean Hollister)
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