Amazon launched its first Echo device in 2014. The original Echo was announced on November 6, 2014, initially as an invitation-only product for selected customers and Prime members.
The Echo was a cylindrical smart speaker built around Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa. Users could ask it questions, play music, set alarms, create shopping lists, and control compatible smart-home devices. Amazon developed the project under the internal codename “Project D,” during work at its Lab126 hardware division.
A common mix-up is confusing the announcement year with the year the Echo became broadly available. Amazon opened sales to all U.S. customers in July 2015, but the first-generation device itself debuted in 2014. Later products, including the Echo Dot and Echo Show, expanded the lineup rather than representing the original launch.