Echo | With premium sound, smart home hub, and Alexa | Charcoal

10 reviews for Echo | With premium sound, smart home hub, and Alexa | Charcoal

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   SubieNewbie – April 6, 2021

   
   This is an honest review and comparison of the new 4th Generation Echo (not Dot) vs. the 2nd Generation Echo Plus (the last Echo Plus that was launched with the 3td Generation Echo).I actually purchased two 4th Gen Echoes to create a Home Theater Group with the FireTV Stick 4k latest variant. I’ll include notes about that as well.Sound Quality Pros: I really enjoy music from different genres and I like to tinker with equalizer settings so that I get the fullest sound out of even a cheap speaker. I also like when a speaker(s) can pull double duty as a surround sound system for my television as well. That’s what attracted me to the new Echoes.Regarding music streaming from Amazon Music HD, I must say the sound is really smooth and crisp. I adjusted the equalizer settings for the individual devices in the Alexa app to boost the mid most, followed closely by the treble and a moderate bass setting (if they are paired in a stereo pair or Home Theater, adjusting one device automatically adjusts the other). I have my Echoes placed about 12 feet away in front of my primary seating spot on the sofa and the are spaced about 8 feet apart flanking the television. They are situated about 4 feet off the ground on book shelves. This positioning has been perfect for the accoustics in my 15×18 living room with tall ceilings. The speakers really fill up the space. And I am most impressed with how the sound bounces off of the walls and truly feel as if it surrounds me and immerses my eardrums into it.This holds even more true for when I watch a movie with the Dolby Atmos setting on. I can hear the channels fairly well and it really seems like I own my own private movie theater in my living room. There’s been times that there’s a sound affect so specific to one channel and reproduced so clearly that I’ve actually muted the show thinking that I was hearing some noise from outside or in the hallway of my apartment building.These two devices together get pretty loud without any noticeable distortion. Now I haven’t played much bass heavy music but I do love action and sci-fi movies that are sound effect laden and peppered with bass booming explosions etc. The new 4th Gen Echoes keep up very nicely.In contrast, though I thought I really loved the Echo Plus 2nd Gen, I now find that I really can’t enjoy music or movies as much on it. I think that this is because the main speaker fires downward and the rest of the sound is omni directional. This sounds good on paper but in practice, at least for my uses, that type of speaker just seems muffled and really a waste of sound waves. Let me explain. How often to you place the Echo device in the center of a room to benefit from an omni-directional speaker? Most people don’t have floor outlets under their coffee tables so it sits on an end table or bookshelf. It’s usual home in a bedroom is on the end table. Even in a kitchen, unless placed on the island, the Echo rests with it’s back to a wall. So, why then, would you want (let’s say) 40% of the sound waves to be directed to a big slab with no ears to appreciate it?The directional sound setup of the new Echo 4th Gen is ideal, really, for it’s positioning in most homes. Sound is really diminished if you are behind it or immediately to it’s side but comes barrelling at your ear drums when you are any angle in front of it. It’s louder, more clear, and much more advanced when it comes to being able to utilize Dolby Atmos playback. I definitely choose the 4th gen over the 2nd Gen Plus any day. I almost feel bad for unloading the Plus onto my parents when I bought the 4th Gen. I’ll upgrade them this Christmas. Lol.The omni-directional speaker would be a benefit if it were placed in the center of a patio for a gathering or party, but again, where’s your outlets? Not in the middle of the concrete or deck floor. So chances are, even on the patio, it will be placed backing up to an exterior wall. So the myth of the omni-directional speaker advantage is busted in my book.Voice Recognition:At first, I felt there was a noticeable difference with the Plus having the upper hand when I comes to summoning Alexa. However, I believe there have been some fairly large software updates recently that included fine tuning adjustments to the mics on the 4th Gen devices. They now clearly pick up my questions or commands from across the room and quickly cancel out the other Echo Dot I have on the far side open floor plan nearest the kitchen. Before, with the Plus, it was a toss up as to which one would respond because I firmly believe the best mics are still on the Echo Dot 3rd Gen with clock variant. Hands down. If only the echo show 5 in my bedroom would be even half as good, I’d be happy ( that unit is by far the worst with just 2 lack luster mics vs the 4 on the Dot and Plus).Alexa is also quicker to respond on the 4th Gen too. Now that’s a combination of the 450-ish gbps internet speed I am fortunate enough to have but I understand it’s also due to a better processor and improved software.And let me just say one thing… I don’t know anyone who buys their smart home devices with Zigbee compatibility being the #1 consideration. Who cares? I have bought the best reviewed for the price smart bulbs, TV, and plugs etc not giving a thought to Zigbee because the latest generation smart devices don’t require a hub.All of my smart home devices work just fine by enabling the skill on the Alexa app with that of the manufacturer’s chosen app and linking the accounts. The biggest issue I have is trying to remember what I named each lamp and group to turn on and off the lights. First world problems, I know.For what it’s worth, the big 3 smart home apps which seems to be used by these el cheapo devices are Kasa, Govee, and Smart Life. I have devices on all three and the Alexa integration is seemless. Except the darn ceiling fan speed control. Still haven’t completely figured that one out entirely.Setting up the devices and Grouping:Both the Echo Plus and 4th Gens are very easy to set up initially. The Alexa app, though not entirely user friendly regarding the UI, does all the work and guides you through the process fairly quickly. The oddball thing that’s a bit more challenging is knowing what the difference is between a stereo pair, a home theater and a speaker group.First, a stereo pair must be two identical models (I believe an Echo Sub woofer can be added as the one off) and the pairing is only for music streaming. Only one Echo will respond at a time when you are conversationally interacting with Alexa.In a Home Theater grouping, one or more Echo devices of the same model can be joined with a FireTV device such as the Stick 4k. A sub can also be added. The crummy part at first, is that you can’t include your existing sound bar into this Home Theater Group. Amazon devices only, folks. So you must choose which you want to listen to.Now, I’m not horribly disappointed because the sound quality of the two 4th Gens on each side of the TV is really great so the sound bar isn’t needed but I hate the thought of the wasted money sitting 32 inches wide in front of me producing no sound at all.IF, you have a smart TV like a Vizio, there is a way to activate the sound bar and have the Amazon Home Theater working at the same time. And here it is: the sound bar must be hooked up to an optical cable and the audio setting on the TV must be set to PCM not automatic. Auto defaults to whatever device you are streaming on ie a FireTV Stick. Then, while playing your FireTV Stick, choose the Home Theater as your audio source on the Fire TV menu. So in essence, the TV thinks it must send sound to the sound bar only while the Stick thinks it should be using the Home Theater. Through whatever glitch, I now have all three speakers working in tandem. BUT ONLY while using the FireTV device. It does not work if I am using the smart TV streaming apps from the Vizio home screen. Which I don’t do anymore except for a couple things that are not found on the Amazon App store.FYI, I don’t believe that the Fire Edition Insignia and Toshiba televisions sold here and at Best Buy have the capability to set up the Home Theater function with the Alexa app.Finally, a speaker group is the best way to get unlike models to sync with each other to play music. However, there’s a catch… You must ask for that group’s every time at the end of your request to play music etc.Meaning, with the stereo pair and home theater, music and movies are automatically played through those selected speakers by means of the Alexa app. You would simply make the standard request for Alexa to play a song or album with no extra added specification. But remember, you’re limited to only pairing the same models together for this to work like that.Now, with a speaker group, you can include your Echoes, Dots, Shows, Spots, Inputs, FireTVs, Tablets etc etc into that group and have them all going at the same time through out your home, so long as you name this all-Echo inclusive group something like “Every where” or “all speakers” or “whole house”. Be creative :) “Echo Symphonic Orchestra”, “Live from the Love Shack”, or “on all decks of the Enterprise” (you can even call your individual room groupings for lights and sounds things like ” the Bridge” -Living Room, “Ship’s Galley” -Kitchen, “Ten Forward” – dining or rec room, “Shuttle Bay Two”-garage, ” Engineering”-utility room/basement, and “Captain’s Quarters”-master bedroom, “Risa” -backyard patio). Lol. Alexa groups can be named whatever you want! I digress though….The point is you have to tell Alexa to play music AND include the name of the speaker group everytime or else music will just play from the device you speak into. Ex: “Alexa play the song Starships on all decks of the Enterprise” or (boring) “Alexa, play Mr. Robot-o, everywhere” or “Play a lullaby in the dirty diaper factory (nursry)”. Get it?! I can sense your mind is starting to ignite like a solid rocket booster, now.I really hope this helps someone. I know it’s been a learning curve for me. And not always a lot of fun. Just wait til you first start exploring how to build your own custom routines or then decide to relocate devices into different rooms as you upgrade with new ones. It can be a labor of love…or regret.Bottom line, if you are looking to upgrade but aren’t entirely sure, try out the new Echo 4th Gen (especially in a pair for a Home Theater) and decide within 30 days if you really like them. Definitely explore the Alexa app and routines. And commit to replacing at least one bulb in each room with a color changing LED smart bulb to experience the fun you can have with this device. Also, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what many people say is a drawback about being a directional speaker is really a benefit for most user’s needs, including yours.Some people will find fault in anything and some will find that they can’t have everything to their exact liking. There’s not a perfect smart speaker out there, so figure out what you must have features are, your nice to haves, and your deal breakers are and make the choice.Regardless, enjoy these little glimpses of the future. Heck, they’re even spherical shaped just like what the future devices and ships looked like in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Space Balls or a Borg scout ship, even. You gotta think that’s at least a nice nod for sci-fi fans everywhere. Or if you are a devotee of mod design or simply a believer in form following function, then this ball of joy is sure to please. So, enjoy your new Echo; It’s outta this world!-Picard, out. Hailing frequencies closed.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   S. Fox – August 18, 2023

   
   This was my first smart speaker purchase. Initially, I only wanted a portable Bluetooth speaker to move between my office and garage. I didn’t find anything with decent sound for under $100, so I started looking at smart speakers compatible with Amazon and Google. Per the many reviews I read, both the Amazon Echo and the Google Nest have good sound, but the Echo has better sound than the Nest. The Echo also has a 3.5mm jack while the Nest does not, so I chose the Echo. I wanted that jack as a way to connect my Walkman and listen to my playlists instead of using Bluetooth and draining Walkman battery.My Echo arrived a few days ago and here is my review. Other smart speaker brands like Sonos, Bose, and Sony were way too expensive for my application and many were not fully compatible with all of the Alexa and Google features. That was a surprise. Plus, they were still mono speakers like the Echo and Nest.Amazon immediately sent a link so I could start the setup process before receiving the Echo. That also gave me time to download and take a good look at the Alexa app on my Android phone. This initial setup process only took a few minutes. When the Echo arrived, I read the documentation, then plugged it in and finished the setup process using the app. There are a lot of possible settings, but many didn’t apply to me because I am not using any smart devices. This process also was easy.I plugged my Walkman into the 3.5 mm jack and didn’t hear any audio. Later, I figured out that the jack can be configured as an output to another speaker or as an input from devices like my Walkman and the default is as an output. Problem solved.The buttons on top of the Echo are clearly marked and are raised, so they are easy to identify and operate. The Echo has some weight to it that makes it stable when placed on my desk or workbench. It is light enough to make it portable. The Echo is not considered as a portable device because it must be plugged in, so I added a power supply ($15 on Amazon) in my garage and now I do consider it portable. The ring at the bottom turns blue when Alexa is connected. There is a button to turn the microphone off if desired. The sound is pretty decent; not Hi-Fi but certainly good enough for my purposes and better than the portable Bluetooth speakers I initially looked at. The Bluetooth connection between the Echo and my Walkman took less than a minute to create. That’s great because my Walkman has had issues trying to connect to external speakers in the past. The Echo also recognized a Bluetooth signal from other devices in my house, but I didn’t need to connect any of them.I had not planned to use the Echo as a smart device, but found it so easy and convenient that I am using it fairly often for weather forecasts, to find out what channel a game is on, for current news, and other things. It’s fun and Alexa answers almost immediately. Some reviewers complained that they have to repeat requests or speak loudly to get a response from their Echo. I have not had any issues at all, even with Amazon Music playing and the volume up.The best thing is that Amazon was selling the Echo for half price when I purchased it. I neglected to choose a color so my order defaulted to blue. It’s a soft blue and I like it. The only thing I don’t like, and other reviews have commented on this, is that regardless of the Echo color the power supply and cable are white. They should be same color as the Echo.So far, I am thrilled with my purchase. Easy to setup, easy to use, responsive, sounds good, portable, and looks good. I can operate the Echo either directly through the speaker and buttons or through the Alexa app on my phone. Both work well. I started with my phone during setup, but now only use the speaker.Update: Amazon replaced my Echo with a new one. The hum problem is now resolved. It is just as responsive and sounds just as good as the original echo that I returned had has no issues. Now that I have spent some time with the Echo I am glad I chose it over the Google Nest.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   fussnfeathers – September 21, 2023

   
   I bought two of these refurbed, so I saved a ton of money. 1 echo for $100, two refurbs for $120. No brainer, and I wanted stereo off the bat. Hooked them up with Alexa, painless. Listened for an hour or so, grabbed a sub…needed it. By themselves, they sounded crystal clear, great mids (I’m a live sound man, mids are critical..after drums). But the low end was obviously lacking. Good for a desk in a small office, maybe, but these suckers get LOUD with zero distortion. I like the way a paired set defaults to one volume control. Nice.I got the sub, hooked it up relatively painlessly, fired up a test track, “Riding the Crest” by a-ha. Super deep lows, pristine mids, top notch highs. I actually hat to turn the bass down. Amazing sound.Two tips-as much as you’re tempted to hide them, don’t. They need to be out in the open. Two tweeters on the front point out in either direction, for max coverage. The mid/low speaker is on top, facing downwards a bit. Get the picture? Stick ‘‘em in a bookcase or enclosed shelf, all the sound is close to completely muffled. Keep ‘em out completely. Yes, they’re a ball. So are baseballs and basketballs. The whole reason for that was to use larger speakers in a wider sound pattern-something the tube style couldn’t do.The sub-no brainer. I know , Sonos is supposed to sound better. They don’t. They actually sound worse. Add in their sub with the lauded variable crossover…unless you’re an immediate super audiophile, it’s gonna sound like mush. That’s where Amazon was smart. The crossover between the echoes and the sub is perfect, almost seamless. One reason-they were designed that way. Now, another tip. I know countless mags and audiophiles tell you you can hide a sub anywhere. Bull crud. They need to be out in the open. Not going into frequency science here, but the best position for the sub is about a foot out on any side-don’t stick it in a corner. It’s designed to fire out all the way around, it’s pointed toward the floor. Those little slots absolutely need to be clear all the way around. I’ve got the two echoes (I kid you not) on top of a pair of highish end KRK studio monitors. The sub is on the floor, a little to the left of the left hand echo, about maybe 10 feet from my head, sub out in the open.Bam. Easily the best sounding system I’ve heard in its class. Sorry, Sonos, no comparison. See ya. Of course,,my studio rig demolishes them, but to be fair, the two 8” 200watt each biamped and room tuned desktops have a range of 34hz to 40kHz. That’s about 22kHz higher than the human ear can hear. The somewhat overdone matching 400 watt sub goes all the way down to 18hz…the human ear stops at 32hz. So yeah, obviously sound better. Cost $1500 USD, they’d better sound better than my echoes. Jet’s be realistic here.Simply put, this little setup ain’t gonna fill a huge living room with a 72” whatdidyabuythatcrapfor? Drop ‘em an a bedroom of a decent size, or a small tv room, you will not be disappointed. One last thing… people here complain about dropped signals, unpairing…these things run off wi-fi. They don’t directly connect, so if your router is two rooms awa with a fridge in the way, you’ll be dropping signal, same as your laptop..they need to either be near the router, or at least have one or two boosters for a clear shot. I have yet to drop at all, no random unpairing, zero problems. Keep that in mind…even though I have a 1.2 gHz internet speed, I only get 600mHz or a bit more across the house. Get your signal path clear. No more problems.

4. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   C – December 15, 2020

   
   The new Echo 4th Gen is a big change in aesthetics and design for the Echo line. The new spherical shape is wider and shorter than previous Echo versions, and now focus sound in one primary direction instead of 360 degrees. It adds an extra tweeter, and seems to produce more sound than previous versions. Here are my early thoughts so far, after using it for about 24 hours:THE GOOD:Setup was incredibly simple. I just powered the device on, and the Echo announced that it was ready for setup. I opened the Alexa app on my phone, and the new Echo was automatically detected and set up instantly. I didn’t have to enter any information at all. It can’t get any easier than this.BETTER SOUND. This new Echo has an extra tweeter, for a total of two 0.8 inch tweeters, and the same 3.0 inch Sub from the Gen 3 Echo. This new Echo is designed with the tweeters pointed forward, and the speaker placement seems to generate more bass also somehow, even with the same Sub as the Gen 3. All in all I think it sounds much better than Gen 3, with a little more bass and louder max volume. This could also be do to the sound-mapping feature that allows Echo to maximize the sound by detecting the acoustics and shape of the room. You can also pair two of these in stereo; and you are supposed to be able to use it as a speaker for your FireTV device, though I haven’t tested that out yet.Temperature sensor included. Yes, you can ask Alexa what the temperature is, and it seems very accurate so far. This is a nice touch, and I look forward to doing more testing, to see if I can set up routines based on temperature.AZ1 Processor. This new Amazon processor promises better voice recognition and faster Alexa responses. In my testing so far, I have barely noticed a slight speed improvement (for example turning on certain room lights) but there are supposed to be upcoming updates that will make an even bigger difference in speed.Zigbee + Sidewalk Bridge. This comes with a Zigbee hub, just like previous versions of the Echo Plus. It also contains the new Sidewalk Bridge, which allows the Echo to use bluetooth and radio connections to connect to some smart devices at long range, and push data to the internet.THE BAD:No 360 degree speakers. While I personally prefer the sound of this new version, some people might miss the 360 degree speaker setup of previous Echo generations. It certainly might lead to a situation where the ideal placement of the Echo in your room could be different.White power cord. This is minor, but a strange choice. No matter what color Echo you get, the power cord is white. Some people might find that annoying.Voice detection is not great while loud music is playing. This surprised me, as previous generations haven;t really struggled with this in my experience. I’m not sure if it is because this speaker is much louder, but Alexa hasn’t heard me a few times when I talked while the music was playing at max volume. This could be annoying if you often listen to very loud music.NEUTRAL: -Aesthetics. I think I preferred the look of the cylinder design, instead of this new sphere shape. This is totally personal preference of course. I also wish the entire sphere was fabric, instead of being plastic on the back side. Some people might prefer the ball shape though, so that is up to you.All in all, I’m keeping this new Echo because of the better sound and faster responsiveness, but it is not really a massive upgrade. Pretty decent so far, I’ll update this review and try to answer any questions in the future!

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Arthur – March 17, 2023

   
   Well, I have to say I love that its a speaker that has Alexa on it. If I had to complain though it would be easy truthfully. The music function. I had the advertised Unlimited plus music feature, after it was advertised as the only way for my grandmother to play certain old songs she was looking for with ease instead of her asking and then getting a different song with an advertisement worked in. However, it worked out for 2 seconds because I thought, why not pay more and get an Amazon Echo dot too for her room ao she could listen through the house. So that apparently added almost 20 bucks a month to a free service we had before. Mind you, I already pay for Prime and I added the Music Unlimited. But because she wanted to play her music softly in her room for ambience and then play it differently in the livingroom, Amazon said she had to upgrade to another more expensive music package called Unlimited Family. Thats the only way to she can listen to music she wants on her devices throughout her home. Again, the service costs more than most video services and is more than spotify, xm radio, or well just about any radio service that allows the option to pick a song via voice recognition these days. They really like to nickel and dime you for the most basic things and it isnt riggt in my opinion. If you pay to have music options through Amazons library, why should you pay more and more for ease of getting to that music? I mean, Amazon music uses to have all the music I could ever look for free with my Amazon Prime membership. And I think they added the voice search feature before this fee on top of a fee thing happened. It is crazy to me that every time you want to actually use the products that come out to the desirable extent they are advertised, you get either microtransactions blown at you, or even worse now you get a hefty monthly additional bill. Again, after being a member with the company paying a monthly fee for over a decade. Why would they think this would keep customer loyalty? All it does is make customers hope for and await another option that has something similar or even a little less nice for a better price. Can you imagine if a competitor like Ebay or Facebook got together and created a decent music library access via buying something like soundcloud or spotify. It has to be easy for the CEOs to themeselves want another option on a platform built similar to the Echo. And people themselves in the public that for the middle class have to like me be eager to seek out that second option. Yes the supply chain and easy shipping options makes it the onlyntrue source to buy things quickly and easily and Prime is still a great deal for that reason. But the echo, the dot, etc… are all just waiting to be taken off the shelves at this rate. And it is awful, because the advertised version and or even the versions where you can use the full functionality after burning a million dollars on unlocking them each month proves the Echo and its component products can do and be great products that make amazon something worth keeping a membership with for years to come. However, selling a product to active prime members and then putting limiters all over the software with the intent to create more monthly revenue on a loyal cusyomer base that you could of just succeeded in making that much more reliant on keeping a membership. Thats jist greedy and dumb at the same time. The echo or other products of this line have zero need to have these extra upcharges is the point. Get rid of them before your customers get rid of the products tge moment a better option becomes viable. Yes we will keep prime for the shipping. But heck, prime video is just rediculous right now with advertisements, fees for decent shows and movies and then just nothing of real value for prime members. It used to be a great service with limited options. But we loved and used it all the same because it was free for Prime members. Same with Amazon music. I loved it and used it all the time. No its advertisements for every song or monthly fees. So tired of the fee onslaught that comes with buying anything that looks like its useful these days. Thats the summary here. Amazon, you dont need to do what your doing. Your products have the ability to be in every household and used regularly everywhere. You will make a killing just selling the next updated color of the echo. Imstead of closing up video and music access. Eat the costs on rights and give it to your prime customers. You already raised rates for that too. But your cutting services on top of raising rates. What are you thinking. Your monopoly isnt unbeatable. Its difficult to see past the day people choose something better knowing what your chains look like right now. But Im telling you, this way of pushing customers for everything you want just because you can at the moment will end up making you the myspace of well….you know. Thats just my and millions of other peoples opinion though right now. So take it for what its worth.

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Morgan – August 23, 2023

   
   The Amazon Echo with Alexa is truly impressive and has become an essential part of my daily life. This smart speaker has exceeded my expectations in various ways, providing convenience, entertainment, and an overall enhanced living experience.First and foremost, the voice recognition capabilities of Alexa are outstanding. The accuracy with which it understands and responds to my commands is remarkable. I can ask questions, set reminders, create shopping lists, control smart home devices, and much more, all through natural language commands. It’s like having a virtual assistant at my beck and call.The sound quality of the Echo is also noteworthy. The audio is clear, crisp, and offers a surprising amount of depth and volume for a device of its size. Whether I’m listening to music, podcasts, or even audiobooks, the Echo delivers a pleasing audio experience that fills the room.Integration with various services and apps is seamless. I can easily connect to streaming platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music, making it effortless to enjoy my favorite tunes. The Echo’s compatibility with smart home devices has also been incredibly convenient. I can control lights, thermostats, locks, and more, all through simple voice commands.The routine feature is a game-changer for me. I’ve set up routines to start my day, which include turning on lights, providing weather updates, and playing my preferred news briefings. It’s a great way to streamline my morning routine and get the day off to a productive start.And let’s not forget the skills and capabilities that Alexa continuously gains through updates. From jokes and trivia to language translation and recipe suggestions, there’s always something new to explore and enjoy.In conclusion, the Amazon Echo with Alexa is an excellent addition to any home. Its impressive voice recognition, sound quality, integration with services, routines, and constantly evolving skills make it a versatile and genuinely useful device. It has quickly become an indispensable part of my daily life, enhancing convenience and entertainment in ways I hadn’t anticipated.

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Greg – November 3, 2020

   
   I have 8 Echos in various rooms and from several generations. Yep, I have a big house… What attracted me to this generation was that onboard voice capabilities that makes response faster and sure, who doesn’t want even better sound quality? I also liked the design better than the looks of the previous generations and that I could see the activity ‘light ring’ when I was sitting down. The spherical designed has some real advantages and it’s apparent in the improved sound. And improved it is. Music is easily better, more complex and effortless. This is NOT supposed to be a blast the neighborhood out speaker, but it did fill a larger room with quality sounding music that is noticeably improved to past generations. Voice commands and responses are practically instant and tigger happy quickly improved… Me likes so much that I replaced 2 of my 8 for in the areas where I am most using them. I even returned my first gen to amazon to get 25$ off then new one. Understand, my old ones are in pristine condition with all the original packaging and boxes, but how great to be able to do this!My whole house is voice controlled, lighting, fireplaces (ceramic logs with LED ‘fake fire lights’), thermostat and as an early adopter of the Echo Voice Assistant, I’ve never looked back. Being able to ask any question, to ask about a stores hours before even driving there to make sure it’s open and then being given the option to phone DIRECTLY from the device, is sweet. And how about NEVER having to touch your alarm clock to hit snooze or turn it off again? Yes please. Get quick and accurate local weather reports instantly, air quality too! Need to be reminded, multiple timers or announcements and intercom functions. Just say the word. I have every news channel I want set in my flash briefing and LOVE these, hearing them most days. Here’s my line up: Daily scripture, this day in history, Fox news, BBC news, Management tip of the day and a few more. You can easily add what YOU want to hear and it’s a treat. I LOVE podcasts and there’s a series called “Hardcore History” with hundred of episodes. Some of which are 6 hours long! What’s cool is I can start one of these while I’m cooking in the kitchen, tell the device to stop when I’m finished and when I later (day, month, weeks or whatever) tell it to “Play Hardcore History” it will name the episode I left off on and pick it up for exactly the same spot! How sweet that??And guys, knock yourselves out because there are thousands of podcasts on virtually any subjects to enjoy and learn from. I love having this ability!!! LOVE, Love, love the ability to always be learning new things from this device while still doing what I do do in the background. There’s so much more and I could literally go on for hours with what a great enhancement this has been in so many ways, learning, security, information, entertainment, news, communications, etc. Being able to have my arms full, walk though my house and just TEll a light to turn on along the way without having to touch or find a switch is sublime! Yep, you need the right lights, but boy, talk about convenience and living in the future now. NEVER going back! Even my landscaping lights and sprinkler control system, my security cameras works with it. And if I want to make an announcement to the whole house, I just say, “Echo, repeat EVERYWHERE” and then tell it what I want to say. And all 8, in every room will go off: “Dinner is in 5 minutes!” So sweet!I also have 2 of the Echo Clocks that work with the device and they are awesome. The LED ring and countdown before the alarm going off is sweet.But guys, I even LOVE just telling the Echo to play rain/storm sound effects and it’s calming, deep and healing. What a wonderful, effortless device with so many capabilities. Even during one of my personal bible studies, I can ask Echo for some background on virtually anyone I reading about and background is forthcoming.Yes, I was an early adopter and man, these are a purchase I’ve never regretted making. I use them EVERY day and they have enhanced my life in ways that are special, rich and convenient. Like something out of a Dick Tracy comic from the 1930’s, this system is here, ripe, mature and developed. I’m such a fan!The only suggestion I have for Amazon would be to give me the option in a metal package. Who wants to dust fabric? Lastly, IF you built in even great Biblical knowledge capability, you’d sell even millions more. Give me a teaching assistant that has a data base to field just about anything biblical I could ask of it.LOVING this product and the direction it’s going. The future IS now and ECHO is the best, most supported, device with thousands and thousands of functions. Thank you Amazon and keep enhancing this baby because I’m upgrading all along the way. I returned on for a discount and the other 1st gen is going to a charity raffle. And heck, it’s in perfect condition with all the original packaging and boxes.Hot Dog!-G

8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Bob Bobinsky – October 9, 2023

   
   Bought 2 of these on sale at $54ea to connect to my fire tv while on vacation. I’m used to a large 5.1 surround sound system so this by no means gets close to that…..BUT, for being 2 smaller speakers in a smaller room, that fill the room with sound. Even better in stereo paired mode for music. I’m usually a Google home person because Alexa is just dumb as a rock sometimes, but with the sound and the temperature sensor built in I’m very happy I bought them.

9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jeff S – November 22, 2022

   
   I have my apartment which is not a small apartment and it has a loft as well for my 12-year-old son so he has his own area he’s getting to that age so anyway I had I think 5 echo dots and one echo show that had the visual screen for pictures and things like that but without a subwoofer or anything I was fine with the multi room music and I used it for that and basically also used it so I could just tell any of my echo dots or just basically when I open the door I would say Alexa Turn on my apartment!! Immediately all of my lights would come on and some of them are dimmed to a certain level which you can do in the settings on your Alexa app that most people have on their phones. I even have a couple lightbulbs that are multicolored so I have them set to green and red currently for Christmas!! So the lights all come on when I tell Alexa to do that including my living room TV as well. You can add numerous other items that are compatible with Alexa and/or SmartThings app and you name it. If you don’t have something that is compatible or doesn’t have Bluetooth or wifi etc… as long as you use a plugin for that item you can at MINIMUM turn it off and on with your voice or touch screen on your phone or Alexa show and I bought 2 of these Echoes because my friends have one or more and it is a sphere. So even though it’s twice as big as the echo dot, in the newer generations at least, they started out looking like a hockey puck which is still good and people have them still but I started using Alexa products just a couple years ago so, mine are all round balls that you can talk to and play music and control lights and cameras for security while home or check on your home while you’re not there!!I bought 2 regular Echoes to replace 2 of the echo dots because they have 3 or 4 different speakers in each one!!! Crazy how much sound you get from the dot but the bigger one the regular echo, sounds like a huge floor speaker but it’s just a ball and you can get black or white or blue and more so I got 2 of them to pair together for stereo sound and to my Samsung TV that has an Alexa app built into it. So I can rock out or get surround sound when paired with my TV and Soundbar Sub woofer which I don’t use the soundbar anymore the echoes sounded better but I got them last month. They were 49.99 a piece!!! That’s like half price and why I hadn’t bought them before so for 100 bucks I have a completely wonderful set of speakers that you barely notice and they sound wonderful and you can buy them with a Studio speaker by Amazon or an Amazon Subwoofer bundled for even more awesome sound but I live in an apartment so I don’t want to get kicked out!!! They act as a hub for all of your Amazon devices also so you don’t need anything else but one echo honestly to run all of your lights just get the type of bulbs they suggest and they have bundles for those also and it’s truly amazing what quality of sound and other things that they can do but I have already typed far toooooo much. Start with 1 even for listening to music over the holidays and add devices as you go. That’s what I did and 2 years later I have it set up so we’ll that I can talk to my son when he’s at his Moms house on his echo and my echo here and there’s no need for buying him a cellphone!! Yet!!There’s just so much I could say about what these things do for 50 bucks to get one of them is a steal because you’re just keep adding things and finding different things like grocery list reminders and alarms. It helps you with many things you wouldn’t even imagine.So now, when I open my door to my apartment, I have it set to where the lights automatically come on with my TV. I don’t even have to talk. It’ll do that too so kudos to the designers of these things because they are very affordable and do so much.!!!

10. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    AkarueKa – October 29, 2022

    
    A friend of mine recently gave me an echo. 2nd Gen. And I didn’t think I was going to wind up using it very much but being visually impaired I wound up using it a lot more than I expected.I came to find out that I could listen to my audible books and also my kindle books read to me which is great for my visual impairment it makes it a lot more enjoyable during the day when I become bored with trying to figure out what is actually on the television with my provision some things are just not watchable like they used to be.But the echo. 2nd Gen. Speakers are well they leave a lot to be desired and I had to add additional speakers so when I saw this item I was like I’m gonna go see what the reviews are like and everyone said they were awesome they’re awesome and so much better than the. 2nd Gen. So I decided to go ahead and get one for my birthday as a gift to myself and additionally I got the battery and the silicone carry case combination to go with it and I can take the thing all over my house in my yard and that is so cool.Since I’ve gotten this particular one though I have found there are so many other things that I can do with it other than just listen to my audio books and kindle books I can listen to podcasts I can get the daily news I can check the temperature in the room that the echo is in it is in which is really cool because I don’t have an interior thermostat in my house I run on a space here and a wood stove so I never know what the interior temperature of my house is but I do now.There are also cool games you can play play I’ve been playing prices right and Trivia and a choose your own adventure kind of game andAre you smarter than a 5th grader by the way I’m smarter than a 5th grader.I opted in for Amazon music and not only am I finding all the songs that I’ve forgotten from my past but I found some really cool new ones things things that I would have never found without this echo.I’ve created playlists that when I’m in the mood for one thing or another I just tell she who cannot be named what playlist I want to hear and all of a sudden there I am.She can also actuate my televisionI have a roku TV but I have also added a fireStick as well and she can actuate both of them and also my easy buzz camera that I have to keep an eye on my front porch and yard and be able to speak to people out there when I have guests without going to the door.Being visually impaired this thing is a real helping hand the only thing would be better is if she could clean my house maybe Amazon will get there eventually.But for now I’m very fond of this deviceOther cool additional thingsI like how much bass the speaker has I like to listen to binaural beats music and meditation music and some dance music for exercise and I can feel the music it’s pretty cool.The speaker is pretty darn decent.I chose the white version because because white is a color that I can see better with my vision the only concern I have is that the speaker cover might eventually get dirty but they get dirty I try to dust it on a daily basis just to make sure.We also are using it for well-to-do list for one, alarms, oh and I’ve set a household network up where the smaller echo. that I was gifted is now in my kitchen and I can play them as a group oop or someone in my kitchen can drop in on me and ask me if I want dinner or if I’m busy and vice versa I can drop in on them as well well additionally I’ve set it up so I can tell it to make phone calls directly from my cell phone and works as a great speaker phone I’ve tested it out a few times and everybody says that they can hear me just fine and clear.By the way for a little fun ask her to Beam me up Scottie. Just be careful of the tribbles.