Prime Day is about to end, and I've decided to drop my mid-range Echo Pop for one of Amazon's best smart speakers

You can find all manner of deals during Amazon Prime Day, but you can always count on the eponymous retail giant to knock a decent amount off its own range of smart home devices — its Echo Dot speakers being one of them.

My humble little Echo Pop is still working and for the most part, its performance and features are satisfactory, but I feel a change is coming, and that change might just be the Echo Dot 5th Gen — one of the best smart speakers you can get.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Some Prime Day discounts can be restricted to the US and UK respectively, but that's not the case for the Echo Dot. Amazon US has knocked $20 off taking the smart speaker to a reasonable $29.99 (was $49.99), and Amazon UK has a similar offer, with the speaker going for £28.49 (was £54.99).

Today's best Echo Dot (5th Gen) deals

The bog-standard Echo Pop has been my loyal smart home companion for a few years and while it's done me good, I fear that it's served its time. If you're in the same boat as me, the Echo Dot 5th Gen could be the answer.

The main upgrades with this Echo Dot is the room temperature sensor, which is a great for customizing your Alexa routines — you can get the smart speaker to run certain functions when your room reaches a particular temperature. For example, if it gets too hot and you need some shield from the sun, you could set it to control your smart blinds to correspond with the heat changes.

Although it's a significant upgrade from other basic smart speakers, the Echo Dot is still a simple and easy-to-use model which is perfect if you don't enjoy spending loads of time getting used to a new piece of tech in your home.

On the sound-front, it packs a bass that's boosted compared to its predecessor, but we did mention in our review that it's a smart speaker first, and audio system second. That said, this shouldn't be much of an issue if you're using it to fill the silence in a small space where you won't have the volume as loud as a standard Bluetooth speaker.

All-in-all, the Echo Dot 5th Gen is a solid upgrade if you've been using any of Amazon's older models until now. It also a great smart hub for connecting other devices in your smart home ecosystem, and now that the new Alexa+ voice assistant is in early access, it means you don't have to upgrade to Amazon's latest Echo Dot Max or Echo Studio to make the most of its smarts.

More Prime Day deals in the US

Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18

Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99

Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29

Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools

Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99

Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99

Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung

Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199

Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186

Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99

Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing

Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial

Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99

Amazon Haul: up to 30% off

Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch

Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & De'Longhi

Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B

Essentials: household goods from £5

Fans: from £20

Fashion: up to 50% off

Gaming: up to 25% off SSDs & games

Grand Theft Auto 6: pre-order now

Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony

Laptops: from £149

Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99

Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies

TVs: from £129.99

Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock

Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

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Rowan is an Editorial Associate and Apprentice Writer for TechRadar. A recent addition to the news team, he is involved in generating stories for topics that spread across TechRadar's categories. His interests in audio tech and knowledge in entertainment culture help bring the latest updates in tech news to our readers.