Christian de Looper/BGR

It's been a while since the Amazon Echo Dot has gotten an update — four years, in fact. Amazon finally unveiled the Amazon Echo Dot (6th Gen) in October , and it's designed to dramatically improve what the Echo Dot can offer while also doubling in price compared to the fifth-gen model (though it's worth noting that model recently received a price hike to $79.99).

At $99.99, the Echo Dot (6th Gen) does still sit below the $119.99 Echo Dot Max, but it still isn't necessarily cheap. In terms of what you get for that higher price, the Echo Dot (6th gen) essentially serves as a smart home hub and Eero Wi-Fi extender. The hub is what makes it more useful in a smart home setup than its predecessor, since the 5th Gen already had Eero.

Of course, at this price point, it has to compete in even more areas. For example, its price isn't far off from the HomePod mini 2 and the new Google Home Speaker .…