Motorola’s $150 Alexa Moto Mod is available for preorder Today!

Last month, Motorola officially announced its Moto Smart Speaker with Amazon Alexa. The Smart Speaker is the latest Moto Mod for the Moto Z family, and it allows you to take Alexa and a beefy external speaker with you wherever you go. Motorola initially said that the Moto Smart Speaker would be available for purchase at some point in November, and now it's been revealed that preorders for the accessory will officially start on November 7 through Amazon, Best Buy, and Motorola's own website.

Official sales will begin on November 13, and you'll be able to pick up the Smart Speaker at Verizon starting November 16. As noted when Motorola first announced the Moto Smart Speaker with Amazon Alexa, it’s worth remembering that you can just buy an actual Amazon Echo for $99 (or a $129 Echo Spot, or a $149 Echo Plus), and get a device with better microphones, a larger speaker, and compatibility with more than just a handful of Motorola phones. Like other Moto Mods, the Moto Smart Speaker isn't cheap with a price tag of $150. Having a tiny Alexa speaker that you can take with you wherever you go is neat, but an Echo Tap only costs $80 and offers the same general functionality. The Moto Smart Speaker does have the unique ability to attach to the back of your phone and should have considerably better battery life than the Tap, but seeing as how the Mod covers the camera lens for your Moto Z device, you likely won't want to have this thing attached to your phone at all times.