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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.

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").
Rick Broida
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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.  

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.

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

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