Amazon puts Alexa in a picture frame and a 16-inch wall display

Amazon announced five Alexa devices on Oct. 28: a redesigned Echo Show 16, the Alexa Photo Frame, a bedside clock called Echo Time, a new Echo Dot and an Echo Studio with a camera. All of them run the new Alexa, and Amazon says certain features require Alexa+, which it includes with a Prime membership. Three of the five ship immediately. The two that matter most for anyone who puts screens in homes are the two that are not out yet.

The Alexa Photo Frame is a 10-inch anti-glare touchscreen that Amazon built to look like an ordinary picture frame. It syncs with Amazon Photos, so new photos appear as they are taken, and Alexa picks what to show, favoring smiling and seasonal shots and skipping screenshots and clutter. You can ask it for pictures of a person, a pet or a trip, swipe through albums on the glass, and attach voice notes to individual photos, Android Authority reports. It costs $199.99 in black or $229 in a real birch or walnut frame. Android Authority says Amazon estimates shipping as early as next week.

The Echo Show 16 is Amazon's largest and most expensive smart display. It has a 16-inch full HD screen with 10% more viewing area than the Echo Show 15 in a body that Amazon says is nearly 40% thinner. It switches among three Screen Styles: a family organizer with color-coded calendars, chores and meal plans, a digital photo frame, and a smart home dashboard. Fire TV is built in and a remote comes in the box. The 13-megapixel camera adds night vision for the first time on an Echo Show and recognizes people up to 17 feet away, and a physical control turns the camera and microphones off.

Preorders opened at $499.99, or $569.99 for a Nanomatte version that Amazon says cuts glare by more than 90%. Preorder customers get $100 off. Amazon's own announcement gives no ship date; Android Authority reports shipping starts in the second half of December. Amazon also said the Echo Show is its fastest-growing Echo line, up more than 25% year over year.

What else is in the lineup

• Echo Time, $199.99, available now. A 3.2-inch round touchscreen for the nightstand with hundreds of clock faces and no camera. An ultrasonic sensor tracks sleep without a wearable and wakes you within 10 to 60 minutes of the alarm during lighter sleep, brightening the display first and adding a tone if needed. A kids version starts at $209.99 with a year of Amazon Kids+.
• Echo Dot, $99.99, available now. The first Dot with a built-in smart home hub (Zigbee, Thread and Matter) and an eero Wi-Fi extender that adds up to 1,000 square feet of coverage. A new AZ3 chip handles on-device AI and the speaker has 50% more bass. Thurrott notes the price is $20 above the Dot it replaces. Kids versions are $109.99.
• Echo Studio with Home Camera, $249.99, available now. The first Echo Studio with a camera, which supports live view from the Alexa app and lets Alexa+ answer questions about what it sees. A dedicated button turns off the camera and microphones. The camera-free Echo Studio stays on sale at $219.99.

A map of the house, and a second big bet on the category

Alongside the hardware, Amazon previewed Alexa Home Map, an interactive 3D map that shows every light, lock, thermostat and camera where it sits in the home and lets you control devices from the map. The Echo Show 16 displays it as part of the smart home dashboard. Amazon says a preview arrives later this year on an iOS app, in the Alexa and Ring apps, and on select Echo Show devices.

The timing is the other story. BGR notes the Echo Show 16 follows Apple's debut of its HomeView smart display earlier in October, and Thurrott puts HomeView at $299. Amazon's answer is larger, wall-mounted and sold alongside a frame that hides the fact that it is a computer at all. For integrators and anyone who specifies screens for homes and lobbies, the smart display went from a quiet category to one with two new flagship bets inside a single month.