Amazon plans higher-end products with Alexa+ to better rival Apple, big plans in store with AI

Amazon plans to reshape its Alexa product lineup with Alexa+ and new premium tier AI-powered products to better compete with the likes of Apple.

Anthony Garreffa

Gaming Editor

Published Mar 17, 2025 3:03 PM CDT

2 minutes read time

TL;DR: Amazon Devices head Panos Panay plans to introduce a premium tier for Alexa gadgets with the AI-powered Alexa+. These devices will feature improved audio, battery life, and security, aiming to compete with Apple. The new Alexa+ ecosystem will leverage edge-processing chips for enhanced AI capabilities, marking a shift in Amazon's product strategy.

Amazon Devices boss Panos Panay will be adding a new premium tier to the next-generation Alexa gadgets, centered around its new AI-powered Alexa+.

In a new report from Bloomberg, we're learning that the higher-end Alexa+ products will better compete against Apple products, with Panay pledging to reengineer Amazon's hardware from the silicon insides, to the design and materials on the outside. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writes that whether they fall into the "entry, core or signature" he said that they will get the same love and attention.

Panay says that the higher-tier Alexa+ devices will have better audio, battery life, and security. He added: "I want perfection in every single product that we ship - period. There won't be a corner cut. It won't matter if we tried it before.It won't matter what you thought it used to be".

At the center of this new ecosystem will be Alexa+ which is the company's new AI operating system, and thanks to upcoming "edge-processing" chip upgrades, these future devices will eventually be capable of handling more and more AI processing themselves. Panay says that "we're envisioning what's the next thing for a customer when it comes to AI devices and we have some incredible ones"'.

Read more: Amazon's new Alexa+ announced: costs $19.99, free for Amazon Prime members

As it stands, Amazon is more known for its cheap under $50 TV sticks and plug-in smart speakers, and not for high-end AI-powered devices. With the likes of Apple flopping around in the wind when it comes to AI and its DOA Apple Intelligence launch that is now YEARS away from becoming reality with an AI-powered SIri... Amazon is seemingly swooping in and wanting that AI-powered Alexa+ business, and it seems serious about it, too.

Especially when if you consider that Panay was poached by Amazon from Microsoft around 18 months ago, and that before he joined the Amazon team he headed up and launched the Surface for Microsoft -- you know, the higher-end iPad competitor that runs Windows. It didn't start off too well, but it turned into a well-oiled machine of multiple generations of very successful laptops, tablets, and all-in-one desktop PCs.

This new expansion from Amazon could even lead into the world of AR glasses and wrist-worn devices reports Gurman, while it also feels like we could see a revival of the Fire smartphone, powered by Alexa+ I'm sure. Amazon is completely refocusing its product lineup, so it'll be exciting to see what the company can cook up between now and CES 2026... which is only 9 more months away now.