Best answer: The Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition is quite the little bundle: an Amazon Echo Dot (2nd gen), a kid-friendly case in one of three bright colors, a power adapter and cable, a 2-year worry-free warranty, and a 1-year subscription to FreeTime Unlimited.
Amazon: Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition ($70)
What’s in the box?
The Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition may not seem like a bundle, but indeed it is. This $70 bundle comes with quite a bit inside, although the biggest of its benefits are intangible:
- An Amazon Echo Dot (2nd gen).
- Kid-friendly protective case (available in red, blue, and green).
- MicroUSB power cable.
- 9W USB power adapter.
- Quick Start Guide.
- 2-year “worry-free” warranty.
- 1-year subscription to Amazon’s family-friendly FreeTime Unlimited.
When dealing with technology and kids, it’s accepted that accidents do happen, and Amazon knows this. That’s why while the normal Amazon Echo Dot only comes with a 90-day limited warranty, the Kids Edition comes with a two-year worry-free guarantee that will replace it if your kids get too rough with it — no questions asked.
When dealing with technology and kids, it’s accepted that accidents do happen, and Amazon knows this.
That said, the hardware is only half the story here. The Echo Dot Kids Edition’s biggest features — the bulk of the parental controls, the filtering of inappropriate content, the hours upon hours of audiobooks and family-friendly music — all of those are not a part of the Echo Dot Kids Edition itself. Those are features of FreeTime Unlimited, the subscription you’re going to want as long as you let your kids use an Amazon Echo.
FreeTime Unlimited: what sets the Kids Edition apart
Amazon FreeTime Unlimited is a one-stop shop for family content and parental controls for every device in your house. Here are some of the FreeTime Unlimited features that the Echo Dot Kids Edition relies upon:
- Ad-free radio station and playlists for kids by Radio Disney, Nick Radio, and Amazon.
- Hundreds of Audible audiobooks, including Disney stories and classic fairytales.
- Premium Alexa skills and games from Disney and Nickelodeon, including alarms with popular kids characters.
- Parent Dashboard to review activity, pause Alexa, set time limits and bedtimes, filter age-inappropriate content from sources like Amazon Music and Spotify.
- Voice Shopping disabled by default, to avoid your little ones ordering snacks every time they get hungry.
- Help shape kids’ manners by rewarding them when they ask nicely and say ‘please’ when asking questions.
FreeTime Unlimited also comes with e-books, movies, TV shows, and age-appropriate games on Android, iOS, Kindle, and Fire tablets, but all of that content isn’t free. While the Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition comes with a 1-year subscription of FreeTime Unlimited, once that year is up, the service will run Prime members $3/month for its “Single Child” plan and $7/month for a “Family” plan, which has room for up to four children. One year of the FreeTime Unlimited Family plan is $84, which makes an Echo Dot Kids Edition essentially free if our family uses the service regularly.
Family fun
Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition
$70 at Amazon
Endless entertainment
This bright little hockey puck of a speaker is ready to meet your family and answer all those curious questions your kids have about life and animals and the universe. FreeTime Unlimited’s robust parental controls and quality content ensure your kids can enjoy Alexa safely.
