Earlier this week, Amazon released an Echo speaker made just for kids. The speakers go on sale May 9 and cost $80. That’s $30 more than the hockey puck-sized Echo Dot for adults.
What you get for your money is a $50 Echo Dot — the same hardware, the same Alexa assistant in the cloud — wrapped in a foam padded enclosure that comes in blue, green, or red. That kid-friendly case almost makes sense, and it’s the same sort of padding Amazon uses to protect Fire tablets for kids. But the Echo Dot for kids is just like the one for adults in that it must stay plugged into the wall.