Amazon Echo Glow Hands-on Review: A smart night light for $30

If you want to introduce your kid to Alexa, but are creeped out by the idea of an Echo speaker in their bedroom you are the target demographic of Amazon’s Echo Glow, one of the cheapest devices that the company unveiled at its September 25 launch event in Seattle.

It’s a cute smart lamp that can change color and create some simple lighting effects.

Contrary to its name, the $29.99 Echo Glow isn’t an Echo speaker. It’s actually an Echo accessory, much like the Echo Buttons Amazon released in 2017. That means Alexa isn’t built into the Glow; there’s no speaker and no microphone. Pair the Glow with an Echo or other smart speaker, and you can use Alexa to control it.

I played around with the Echo Glow for a few minutes — here’s what it was like.