This year\u2019s 2021 Amazon event held a lot of surprises \u2013 along with some notable absences.<\/b>
\nThis year\u2019s 2021 Amazon event held a lot of surprises. There was a smart home robot called Astro that combines huge swathes of Amazon\u2019s technology portfolio into one companion device \u2013 smart displays, video cameras, and the like \u2013 as well as an Amazon Glow toy for games beamed via projector onto the floor in front of it. We also saw more information about a Ring camera drone, a new security system and Wi-Fi 6 router in the Ring Alarm Pro, a Blink Video doorbell, a Halo View fitness tracker with a built-in screen, and more. But for every big surprise announcement, there was also a notable absence. Despite Amazon having built its technology reputation on the Amazon Echo speaker range, there were no new iterations to be had. Considering previous years have seen reimaginings of the Echo (with the kind of glowing orb befitting a Pixar villain) or even Echo Studio speakers that an audiophile wouldn\u2019t feel completely embarrassed to be caught listening to, it\u2019s odd not to see anything announced in that product category this time around. As a category at the core of Amazon\u2019s gadget ranges, though, it\u2019s clear that the retail giant still has big plans for it \u2013 and more hardware iterations will certainly come next year for a number of Echo models. When it comes to Black Friday, then, there should be plenty of discounts on existing models to keep up interest in the Echo range \u2013 and shift aging stock before a new generation of Echo speakers arrive on the scene. Last year we saw price cuts on a number of Amazon products, including $20\/\u00a320 the RRP of the fourth-gen Echo Dot, $40\/\u00a340 off the Fire TV Cube, $60\/\u00a360 off the Ring Video doorbell, and the like. We already see lower prices on the third-gen Echo Dot (now $40 \/ \u00a340 compared to the fourth-gen\u2019s $50 \/ \u00a350) and that gulf is only likely to widen in the sales period. Everything from the mainline Amazon Echo to the higher-end Echo Studio should be seeing price cuts too \u2013 and the absence of any immediate Echo hardware refreshes means the focus will be entirely on older models. We similarly expect to see discounts on the Fire TV range. It was highly unusual not to see any new Fire TV products announced at an Amazon launch event, though it\u2019s likely down to the Fire TV models that were already on the horizon. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max was unveiled a few weeks previously \u2013 possibly to allow the September event to focus on other gadgets and first-time products, like the Astro smart home robot \u2013 while Amazon\u2019s range of Omni smart TVs are already on the scene too. Cheaper, older Fire TV Sticks like the Fire TV Stick (2020) and Fire TV Stick Lite \u2013 even the regular Fire TV Stick 4K \u2013 should all get $10-$20\/\u00a310-\u00a320 off their RRPs, making Black Friday the best time to buy a new Amazon streamer, if you didn\u2019t end up buying one during the Prime Day sales earlier in the year. Even the 4K Max model could well get a small saving, though, as Amazon tries to jump-start interest in the new dongle with a flash discount, and we could see the same thing with the new Halo View fitness tracker \u2013 which builds on the Halo wrist gadget with a screen. So where new hardware is available, it\u2019s well worth checking out whether the latest model in a range is getting a discount \u2013 before you settle on a less advanced version for a similar price. We don\u2019t expect to see Black Friday discounts on the Astro robot \u2013 largely because it\u2019s part of Amazon\u2019s \u2018Day 1 Edition\u2019 program for innovative products, so you need to sign up for the privilege of buying one. It\u2019s also only available in the US for now. But if you\u2019re considering the adorable ( dangerous?) little scamp, the $999 launch price is expected to rise to $1,499 after the first few months on sale \u2013 so it may be the real saving to be had before 2021 is out.<\/p>\n