LocalDot Turns an Echo Dot Into a Home Assistant Speaker
LocalDot swaps a 3rd-gen Echo Dot's mainboard for an open ESP32-S3 and ESP32-P4 board that runs local Home Assistant voice control, from $50 per board.
If you have a third-generation Echo Dot gathering dust, LocalDot wants to give it a second life. The open-hardware replacement board from AAElectronics swaps out the smart speaker's mainboard and turns it into a local voice assistant for Home Assistant, keeping the original microphones, speaker, buttons and LED ring. LinuxGizmos reported on November 6 that the project is now running a Crowd Supply campaign.
- LocalDot uses an ESP32-S3 for Wi-Fi and device control and an ESP32-P4 for audio processing
- The 83 x 37mm board installs without soldering or modifying the Echo Dot's case
- Wake-word detection runs on the device, with commands sent to your own Home Assistant server
- Pricing starts at $50 for one board, $98 for two and $145 for three, per LinuxGizmos
How Does the LocalDot Board Work?
LocalDot splits the job between two Espressif chips. The ESP32-S3 handles Wi-Fi connectivity and device control, while the RISC-V ESP32-P4 takes on audio duties, including signal processing for the Echo Dot's four-microphone array with beamforming for directional pickup. A TAS5805 amplifier drives the original speaker, and the physical buttons and LED ring remain fully usable.
Installation is a board swap: open the enclosure, replace one of the two original PCBs, and close it back up. Power still comes from the original Echo Dot adapter. The design targets the third-generation Echo Dot, and LinuxGizmos notes the version with a clock has not been tested yet.
Can You Use an Echo Dot Without the Cloud?
That is the whole point. LocalDot integrates with Home Assistant and ESPHome, and wake-word detection happens on the board itself. Recognized commands travel over your local network to your Home Assistant server. Smart-home control, timers and notifications can keep working without an internet connection as long as your local server and integrations are running. The project also supports experiments with voice notifications and intercom features, and developers will be able to modify the wake-word and audio pipeline.
Open Source Hardware and Project Status
AAElectronics plans to publish schematics, PCB layouts, a bill of materials, ESPHome configuration for the ESP32-S3 and ESP-IDF firmware for the ESP32-P4. The hardware is intended for release under the CERN-OHL-S-2.0 license. The project's GitHub repository already hosts the revision 2.0 schematic and connector pinout, and notes that hardware and firmware are still in development, so expect the details to evolve. According to LinuxGizmos, manufacturing follows the campaign, with fulfillment by Mouser Electronics and shipping at $8 in the US or $18 internationally.
Why LocalDot Is a Smart Self-Hosted Upgrade
This is my favorite kind of maker project: it keeps working hardware out of landfill and puts your voice data on your own network. For a full rundown of what to run your server on, see our Home Assistant hardware guide, and if you want to start tinkering with ESPHome yourself, our look at the Apollo ESP32-C6 ESPHome starter kit is a great entry point. More boards live in our mini computers section.
Sources: LinuxGizmos — November 6, 2026; LocalDot on GitHub — accessed November 7, 2026.
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