Amazon's most exciting device in a long time is finally up for pre-order
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Essentially established back in 2014 as an experiment of sorts meant to highlight the early strengths and versatility of Amazon's now hugely popular Alexa virtual assistant, the smart speaker "market" gained incredible traction in just a few years, jumping from, well, zero sales to an estimated 147 million units around the world in 2019.
Naturally, the industry's pioneer maintained its trendsetter and global dominator status for this entire period of remarkable growth, but even though Amazon continued to regularly expand and improve its Echo product lineup, many of the new releases in the last couple of years failed to generate the enthusiasm of their forerunners.
That was definitely not the case when the third-gen Echo Show 10 went official alongside the fourth-gen Echo and Echo Dot around four months ago. While all three "all-new" devices came with radically transformed designs, the upgraded 10-inch smart display was undoubtedly the most exciting of the bunch, promising to offer a vastly improved set of skills as opposed to simply a cosmetic revision.
The big day has arrived at long last
Unfortunately, unlike its little brothers, the first-ever Echo to incorporate auto-framing and advanced motion technology into its Alexa-powered list of features didn't go up for pre-order immediately after its formal announcement. Instead, Amazon kept prospective buyers waiting until today for a chance to be among the first to own a Charcoal or Glacier White-coated Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen).
Unsurprisingly, the feature-packed smart display is still not ready to ship right away, but if you order it at the time of this writing, you should receive the giant as early as February 25. Priced at $249.99, this bad boy is predictably enough costlier than its 2018-released predecessor, although we wouldn't exactly call the $20 difference dramatic.
Better yet, you can currently use the "SHOW102PACK" coupon code at checkout to shave $100 off the regular price of two units or simply order the third-gen Echo Show 10 together with a $35-worth Blink Mini indoor smart security camera at only a $5 extra charge.
Key features and selling points
Said accessory goes great with the latest Echo Show 10 edition, but you actually don't need any sort of companion to keep an eye on the inside of your house while away.
The built-in 13MP cam can show you if an intruder is walking around your home, and perhaps more importantly, this thing will move as you move to always keep you front and center while video calling your family, following a YouTube recipe, and even watching your favorite show (pun intended) on Netflix.
In addition to arguably the most exciting new feature of the third-gen Echo Show 10, this puppy also has powerful speakers delivering "premium, directional sound" going for it, as well as a large and sharp 10.1-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, and one-button microphone and camera disabling for security purposes.
That easily beats the capabilities of Google's $229 Nest Hub Max, but for what it's worth, the search giant is reportedly preparing a new smart display of its own with potentially game-changing sleep tracking technology on deck.
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