Everything Amazon announced at its Fall 2021 hardware event

Today was the Fall 2021 Amazon event! As with most other hardware launches from the company, we saw many new smart home products. We also saw some updates to Amazon’s various services and a few other interesting surprises.

Below, we’ve rounded up everything announced at the event. Most of the products are either available for pre-order now or will be before the start of the holiday shopping season, so get your wallets ready!

Amazon Smart Thermostat

Amazon is finally going after the smart thermostat market by making a very simple, Alexa-powered device. Amazon says it will work in most homes with existing wiring. It auto-adjusts the temperature by determining if you are home or away and you can control it with your voice. You can also manually turn the temperature up or down, as one would expect.

The Amazon Smart Thermostat will cost just $59.99, which is around half the price of its big-name competitors. The company did not announce availability details.

Echo Show 15

The newest Echo Show announced at the Amazon event is very different from others. Instead of being a standalone device that sits on a counter, you mount it on a wall like a picture frame (although you can also prop it on a counter with a base if you like). Because of its new 15.6-inch display form factor, it features slightly different software and a different visual layout.

Outside of the unique form factor and software, it does all the smart display things you would expect, including Alexa voice commands. It will also eventually get support for Sling TV, although that’s also coming to other Echo Show devices, too.

The Echo Show 15 will cost you $249.99 and will be available later this year.

Amazon Glow

This new device launched at the Amazon event combines video calling with activities. It’s like a smartphone boxed into a tiny projector that allows kids to actually interact with family, friends, teachers, etc. The projection is touch-enabled so kids can play games, solve puzzles, and perform other activities with the person they are communicating with.

Mattel, Hasbro, and Disney are partners with Amazon Glow. Amazon is also working on developing other partnerships with independent devs so they can create their own apps.

The device has an 8-inch LCD display and is about the height of a box of cereal.

Amazon Glow will cost $249.99. To get one, you need to apply for early access, so not everyone is going to get one. When it does launch for general buyers, it will be slightly more expensive at $299.99.

Amazon Halo View

The original Halo Band is just an inert smart band with no display. Amazon is now going right after Fitbit and other smart band manufacturers with Halo View. The new smart band has a full-color AMOLED display and looks a lot like a Fitbit.

Related: The best fitness trackers

As one would expect, the Halo View integrates with the Halo subscription service. It tracks your overall health and gives you feedback on what you can do to get healthier.

The $79.99 price of the Halo View includes a full free year of the Halo service (normally $3.99 per month). That includes the brand new Halo Fitness and Halo Nutrition features, which are incorporated into Halo.

Ring Alarm Pro

Why do we need a Wi-Fi router and a smart security system base station? Why not have the devices do double-duty? That’s what Ring Alarm Pro does. It’s a mesh Wi-Fi router that is also a security base station. You get the base station and various add-ons in different packages. You can then add mesh nodes to the system to have mesh internet in your home without needing to buy a new base system.

The basic-level Ring Alarm Pro package costs $249.99, with more expensive packages also available. Pre-orders open today for a November 3 launch.

Blink Video Doorbell

Hot on the heels of the first Nest-branded wireless doorbell, Amazon is rolling out the Blink Video Doorbell. It works in wired or wireless modes, features night vision, two-way audio, and the other usual smart doorbell integrations, including Alexa, naturally.

As usual, Amazon is severely undercutting the competition with the Video Doorbell starting at $49.99. Pre-orders are open now for an October 21 general release.

Blink Floodlight Camera and Solar Panel Mount

This is basically a mount that holds the existing Blink Outdoor camera. It has floodlights on either side to allow for better vision at night.

You can buy a bundle that includes the floodlight mount and a Blink Outdoor for $139.99. If you already own a Blink Outdoor, you can buy the Floodlight Camera mount on its own for $39.99.

In addition, there is a Solar Panel Mount you can add that will use the power of the sun to give some juice to the whole system. A Blink Outdoor with the Solar Panel Mount (but not the Floodlight Mount) will cost $129.99.

Astro

This is Amazon’s rumored autonomous robot. It’s basically an Echo Show display mashed with a robot vacuum (although it is not actually a vacuum). You can ask for it to come to a specific room and ask it questions. It can also roam around your home while you’re away as a security measure. You can use its periscope camera to get a view of pretty much anything in your house, such as checking to make sure the oven wasn’t left on, for example.

It can also be used for video calls. It will follow you around the house and attempt to keep you in the video frame no matter where you go.

ASTRO can also live in other people’s homes. For example, you could put one in your elderly family member’s home and use it to check up on them. The new Alexa Together subscription service will work well for this type of use case.

This robot will cost you $999.99. However, it’s a Day One device, which means you will need to apply to get one. It will become more generally available in 2022.

Miscellaneous Amazon event announcements

• Ring Always Home Cam: We saw the autonomous indoor home camera drone at a previous Amazon event. Now, though, invites are open to actually buy one.
• Privacy on new Echo devices: Echo Show 10 or newer Echo devices will have the option of only processing voice commands locally on-device.
• New Amazon Kids Plus content: Amazon is bringing some new kids-centric content to its children’s service. That includes Do Re Mi, Super Spy Ryan, Arpo: Robot Babysitter, Blippi’s Treehouse, plus more.
• Halo Fitness and Halo Nutrition: These two new health-focused features are new additions to the existing Halo subscription service. They will arrive with no extra charge for current and new subscribers.
• Hey Disney: Disney and Amazon have created an Alexa offshoot called Hey Disney. Kids (and, let’s be real, adults) can use the “Hey Disney” hotword and get information, play games, and find secret Easter eggs from Disney characters. This will be central to Disney theme parks which will have Alexa-powered smart speakers in hotel rooms. Hey Disney in private homes, though, will cost you money. Amazon and Disney didn’t release how much it will cost, and it’s not coming until 2022.
• Package alerts on select Ring devices: You’ll be able to get notifications when someone leaves a package in view of your camera. You can also now teach select Ring cameras about specific types of events, such as vehicles parking in your driveway.
• Alexa Together: This new subscription service is geared towards keeping families connected to elderly family members. It allows for your Alexa-powered devices to interact with other people’s Alexa devices to stay connected. It could help with, for example, a loved one falling and needing assistance. It will cost $19.99 each month.

That’s everything we saw at the Amazon event today! Which device are you most excited to check out?