by Amazon announced that it is hosting an event for its Ring devices, services and products that will take place at 12 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. .
The fact does not come completely out of nowhere. Amazon often hosts a product launch around this time every year with similar announcements coming in 2020 and 2021. Based on its history, we can expect the retail giant to unveil new introductions to its best-in-class range of smart speakers – the Amazon Echo – and from calling Ring We imagine we’ll see a new best video doorbell or the best home security camera enter the scene.
It might also give us some hints about the kinds of deals we can expect to see in October’s Prime Early Access Sale (read: Prime Day 2) – with the deals event acting as a precursor to its Black Friday 2022 sale. Amazon announces a new Echo Dot (for example), then we’ll likely see older models get a big discount during the upcoming sale.
So what do we think will be announced?
Expect the expected
Amazon hasn’t specifically said what it will show, but we can make some educated guesses.
During last year’s Amazon 2021 event, we saw the entire Echo Show line get a refresh – with the Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd gen), Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd gen) and Amazon Echo Show 15 revealed. Likewise, this year we expect to see new Echo announcements, but for its more traditional smart speakers.
Amazon Echo (2020) and Amazon Echo Dot (2020) are definitely new models. These replaced their predecessors after only a year, so some new releases are already a year late, depending on how you want to think about it.
Plus, as we’ve seen before Amazon usually makes some kind of Echo announcement at these events, so a new Echo and Echo Dot make a lot of sense.
Beyond the Echo, we’ll also likely get a Ring announcement, with Amazon specifically mentioning the Ring when it described what the September 28 event entails.
Ring has quite a few products that haven’t been updated in a while, so we might see a lot from the Amazon-owned security company.
And while we haven’t heard any information about Blink’s release so far, it’s entirely possible that Amazon will but security company will also appear with updated products.
Alternatively, Amazon could surprise us all with a brand new Echo, Ring or Blink type device, but we’ll just have to wait and see. There haven’t really been any leaks or hints to show us.
Another (bad) thing…
In addition to the more standard device announcements, Amazon loves to reveal weirder products at these events as well.
At the lower end of the scale, we’ll likely see it launch a new whacky case for its Echo smart speakers – to match the Mickey Mouse and Grogu case (opens in new tab) we already have. This stand will likely be compatible with all of the new Echo devices that Amazon is announcing, and will likely be tied to yet another Disney property — though it could also be inspired by one of Prime Video’s best shows, like Rings of Power .
Maybe we’ll also get an update on Astro, the cute little robot that Amazon wants to act as our home assistant and bodyguard, but it disappeared shortly after its announcement.
After its launch, the only thing we heard was a supposedly leaked internal document warning that the Astro is dangerous and accident-prone – something Amazon denied in a statement to us. Perhaps Amazon wants to take the time at this year’s event to remind us of Astro, update us on its development, and claim that the robot isn’t a little menacing.
But this is all just our best guess, to really know what Amazon is announcing, be sure to keep an eye out for our live coverage of the event and our reviews when we get a chance to try out the new products for ourselves.
Don’t want to wait for a new Amazon smart speaker? Check out our picks for the best Amazon Echo deals available right now.
