It was such a simple idea that it’s hard to believe Amazon didn’t think of it sooner. Take the already excellent Echo Dot and add an LED digital clock face. Suddenly, your old clock radio is redundant, replaced by a stylish, smaller alternative with better sound quality. That’s the idea anyway and I was a big fan when I reviewed it for Expert Reviews earlier this year. At the time, it would set you back £60 – £10 more than the third-generation Echo Dot. But, as part of Amazon’s Black Friday celebrations, it’s down to £35 , making it a real bargain. For those that don’t know, Amazon’s Echos are what are known as “smart speakers”. That means that they have a built-in AI called Alexa that will respond to things you say to it. Alexa can tell you about your day, play specific songs or albums and even tell you jokes. It can also control bits of your smart home with the right equipment: lights, heating and so forth. The current generation of Echo Dots has pretty good sound quality, but if you’re a bit of an audiophile, you can always use the included audio jack to plug in a better speaker setup. Then again, the main point of the Echo Dot with a clock is to sit by the bedside, so that might be overkill. Rather neatly, Amazon has also included the ability to silence alarms by tapping on top, like an old-school alarm clock. You don’t have to use it there, of course, and the display can also show countdown timers, which might be handy for kitchen use if you like to have Alexa helping out with cookery timings. However you use it, it’s a great product. As I wrote in my review: “Alexa still isn’t as good as Google Assistant but, in terms of hardware, the Echo Dot comfortably beats the Google Home Mini, so until somebody puts Google Assistant in a dinky speaker with a 3.5mm audio jack, Amazon has this market pretty much sewn up. The clock is just icing on an already delicious cake.” Buy now from Amazon