Yahoo Finance Amazon's best Prime Day Echo and Fire TV sales
Amazon's (AMZN) Prime Day kicks off on July 15 this year and lasts all the way through July 16. That's two whole days for you to blow the savings you've been squirreling away for your kid's braces on a sweet new 4K home theater setup or ride-on mower.
But this is Amazon's day, which means Amazon's own products are sure to be on sale, too. And some of the hottest items are likely to be the company's Echo smart speakers and Fire TV streaming sticks and boxes.
With so many kinds of Echos and Fires, though, figuring out the best one for you can be difficult. To help you make the right decision, we're breaking down each device, and the features they offer.
Here are the Amazon Prime Day gadgets to buy.
Fire TV Stick 4K - $24.99
If you're looking for a standard streaming stick, Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K is the way to go. Sure, many TVs on the market today are "smart," but the problem with them is they slow down over time, turning your relaxing TV time into a frustrating waiting game for Netflix to load.
Streaming sticks, on the other hand, are easy to plug into your set and update. And when they start to slow down, you can just upgrade to a new one.
I suggest getting the Fire TV Stick 4K, as it provides you with 4K, HDR capabilities and includes Amazon's voice remote with Alexa capabilities. So if you're in the mood to watch horror movies, you can say, "Alexa, show me horror movies," and you'll get a list of available movies that will have you hiding under the covers all night.
Fire TV Recast - $129
If you've cut the cord, but still want to watch your local, over-the-air channels, an antenna is the best, and cheapest, investment you can make. But that means all of your TV viewing also has to be in real time, unless you have a DVR.
Amazon's Fire TV Recast is just that, a DVR for over-the-air video content. Capable of recording either two or four video streams at once, depending on the model you purchase, the Recast lets you DVR over-the-air shows and movies and then watch them back on your Fire TV stick, Echo Show, or via the Fire TV app on your iOS or Android device. And with 500GB to 1TB of storage, you'll have plenty of content to keep you busy.
Fire TV Cube - $69
Okay, so you want a Fire TV and an Echo, but don't want to spend cash on both? Then you're going to want to grab Amazon's Fire TV Cube. A tiny, well, cube that sits near your TV, the Fire TV Cube combines a Fire TV streaming device with an Echo in a single box.
Not only does that mean you can stream content and use Alexa to control your TV, but it also means you can ask the same ridiculous questions you'd waste time asking your Echo, like, "When will I pay off my student loans?"
Echo 2nd-generation - $49.99
Amazon's second-generation Echo is smaller and more attractive than the original version but still packs plenty of sound. It's easily the market leader in the smart speaker space and lets you access Alexa to control your smart home devices, play music, and do things like check the weather and your daily schedule.
And with more than 50,000 different skills, or apps, available for the Echo, as well as the ability to make hands-free calls to other Echo users, this little cylinder should definitely be on your Prime Day list.
Echo Show 2nd-generation - $159.99
The Echo Show is essentially an Echo with a 10.1-inch screen that lets you stream video and listen to music. The addition of a screen, though, opens up new possibilities for the Echo Show versus the standard Echo. For instance, you can ask Alexa to show you recipes for chicken dinner and watch a video tutorial as you cook, or pull up live video from your Ring doorbell camera.
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Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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