https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/27/amazons-echo-plus-features-a-built-in-smart-home-hub-for-149/ >Sure, the new Echo is a more premium (if lower cost) version of Amazon’s wildly popular home assistant. But Amazon had another big surprise up its sleeve. The Echo Plus features all of the new higher end sound features built into the new Echo, along with a built-in smart home hub that aims to make the product an even more essential part of the smart home. >The key difference here is that the device works with a number of different smart home devices right out of the box. There are already 100 different partners on-board, including Philips — in fact, the new device ships with a Hue light bulb out of the box.