Amazon has been on a bit of an Alexa Gadget kick related to health. A few months ago we saw the release of a Smart Soap Dispenser that pairs up with Alexa to ensure you and your loved ones are washing for the full recommended 20 seconds. Now, Amazon has announced a new Smart Air Quality Monitor that also works with Alexa to keep track of particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), humidity, and temperature in your home.
The small countertop device uses a fan to blow air past its sensors to measure the air quality in your home. An LED indicator on top lights up green if the air quality is good, yellow for moderate air quality, and red for poor air quality. When paired to an Alexa device, like an Amazon Echo or Echo Show, you’ll be able to ask for the current measurement of its 5 different sensors.
Within the Alexa app, you’ll be able to see more details about your air quality and its trends. In addition to the current value of each sensor, you’ll be able to view a chart showing how the value changes hourly, daily, or weekly. If you have multiple Smart Air Quality Monitors, all values will be displayed and charted. This information can also be seen on the screens of Echo Show devices.
You can pre-order the Smart Air Quality Monitor for $69.99 and it will be released on December 8th. Amazon is offering it bundled with a 4th-gen Echo Dot for $10 more or bundled with a 2nd-gen Echo Show 5 for $20 more. Those bundles will save you $40 and $75, respectively, versus buying each item at list price.
Perhaps Amazon should put their minds to work and design one of these to test for Covid-19/Influenza/Etc. then provide them to schools and other institutions. That would make a truly lasting legacy for Mr. Bezos.
For what this device does in it’s current form…meh.
While I don’t know that it would be possible in the short term to do such testing cheaply and accurately, the idea of having detectors for common biological contaminants such as viruses and bacteria would be revolutionary, especially if it were able to be connected to cleaning systems (A/C filters and UV treatment) to reduce such particles.
That would be fantastic but probably a ways off.