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Add Alexa to your favorite speaker for $20 (save $15)

The Echo Input is once again on sale, but it might make more sense to hold out for an Echo Dot deal.

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Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
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The Echo Input turns dumb speakers into Alexa-capable smart ones.

 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

You know those little adapters that add Bluetooth wireless capabilities to "dumb" speakers? The Echo Input adds Alexa .

This little puck normally runs $35, but for a limited time, Amazon is offering the Echo Input for $19.99.  

See it at Amazon

Cool, right? Yes, except for one thing: As CNET's Ry Crist points out in his Echo Input review, the Echo Dot can do the same thing -- and it has a speaker of its own.

Granted, the Dot sells for $50, though it routinely goes on sale. As Mother's Day draws near, it's a good bet you'll be able to score a Dot for around $35, possibly even less. (Following the holidays, Amazon cut the price to $30 and kept it there through February.)

In fact, the Echo Dot Kids Edition is on sale right now for $35. And today only, A4C has the 2nd-gen Echo Dot for $29.95.

Make no mistake, the Echo Input is a decent deal at $20, but a Dot might be a smarter buy -- especially if you can score one in the same price range.

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Watch this: The new Amazon Echo Dot: Does it sound better than before?

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