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Apple and Amazon made a surprise move Friday, revealing to USA Today that Apple Music will finally support Alexa-enabled devices (like Amazon Echo speakers) in mid-December.
Echo speakers are significantly cheaper than Apple’s massive HomePod—especially due to Amazon’s ongoing Cyber Week deals—meaning there’s now a simple, affordable way to get Alexa and Apple Music in every room in your house.
The Echo lineup primarily consists of three speakers: the tiny Echo Dot ($29.99 on sale for cyber week), the full-size Echo ($69.99 on sale), and the brand-new Echo Plus ($149.99 on sale with a free smart bulb).
The Echo Dot is tiny, but includes a speaker and microphone for listening to music over Wi-fi or Bluetooth and issuing commands to Alexa. It costs $49.99 usually but it’s down to $29.99 this week, its lowest price ever. I have an Echo Dot in my kitchen, and I use it all the time to play Spotify for my kids. It’s simple, it’s effective, and it’s cheap. The sound quality could be better, but for $30 you can’t go wrong.
