You can buy an Amazon Echo Dot for just $8 this weekend

The Amazon Echo is a great device for expanding your Amazon ecosystem, especially if you have any smart home peripherals, like the Amazon Ring or Echo Show. Unfortunately, the latest Amazon Echo devices can be prohibitively expensive if you want to grab more than one, which is why we think this deal from Woot on the 2nd Gen Echo Dot is great. While the units are refurbished and might have some blemishes, Amazon renewed them and only cost $8, which is a steal.

While it doesn't have the higher audio quality of the latest Echo Dot, the Amazon Echo Dot 2nd generation is still a great device, especially since you can use it as a standalone speaker to stream audio. That said, the speakers aren't that powerful or have high audio fidelity, especially in today's market, but what you’re really after is access to Alexa. With the Alexa Skill Kit and smart home APIs, there's a lot you can do, from changing lights, turning switches on and off, and essentially using any device that can be connected to a smart home ecosystem. You can even put in Amazon orders through the Echo Dot, which is an interesting feature, although we’re not sure how often you will use it.

Besides that, you can also access a few streaming apps like Spotify and Pandora through Alexa, which is an excellent feature, since you won't have to pull out your phone to get some music going. You can even connect it through Bluetooth with a higher-end speaker that doesn't have music streaming, so in a way, it's also a cheap way to get online access to normal speakers. Another great feature that's great if you have a family is that you can use the echo dot as an intercom; that way, you can speak to any other Echo Dot device and ask for help with a chore or let everybody know dinner is ready, which is why picking up a couple of these is great.

All in all, the Echo Dot 2nd Generation is a bit on the older side, but it still has many excellent features you can use, especially since it's only going for $8 on Woot, meaning you can grab up to three. Even so, if you’d rather go for the latest generation, take a look at our breakdown between the 2nd-gen vs. 3rd-gen Echo Dot to see if it's worth it, and check out some of these other great Echo Dot deals if you’d rather go for something newer.