A Deeper Dive into The Amazon Echo

With so many smart home devices and multimedia speakers on the market now, it can be quite tedious trying to find the right one for your needs. I mean, it’s not overwhelming, but as someone trying to figure out where to start – it can definitely be difficult. And although I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, I’ve tried my share of these devices (so that’s what I’ll be basing this review/opinion piece on).

Before the Echo and Echo dot, I was using the Google Home – which is still around my household and still just as great to be fair. The TL;DR here is that they are very similar, with a few small characteristics that differentiate the two products (Google Home is more of a music superstar, whereas the Amazon Echo stands out for it’s other vast abilities around a smart household, but also plays music).

At first glance, the sleek shape of the Echo is appealing, along with it’s fabric grille texture, it’s got a fun and fitting design that works well with various interior design tastes. It also has an interchangeable shell that lets you switch up it’s design if you feel like it. Besides its sleek appearance, it’s a compact device that has voice recognition features and is fairly accurate with that – for the most part. The other thing that’s pretty cool about the Echo is the additional audio output jack in the back, which allows you to use it as a standalone speaker (powered by Dolby) if need be. I jump ahead and say that it should replace your existing sound system at home, but it’s a good substitute for smaller areas, or if you want to take it around with you.

Which leads me to my next point: the portability aspect of the device.

In my recent travels, I’ve packed the Echo (and at times, the Echo Dot when I’ve had to pack even lighter) with me because it’s so small and convenient. It’s nice and convenient being able to pack this guy with you when you want to leave home. It’s not completely portable; as in you still need the power adapter for it’s functionality, but it’s nice to be able to have a ‘smart assistant’ that can come along with you.

It’s super easy to set up when coupled with the Amazon Alexa app (required for proper functionality) and it takes a few minutes to have it live (you will need a wifi connection though).

What it really does

In my opinion, the funnest aspect of using these smart devices is to what extent you can test their abilities. And I’m talking about the near-endless possibilities of what to ask Alexa. I found this article fun and useful as far as commands go, but it’s exciting to see how helpful a smart assistant can be (it can also get a little creepy sometimes, considering how they seem to get smarter).

I usually ask about the weather, recipes and even what my day looks like – as it syncs well with most of your commonly used applications (Google Calendar, Spotify, etc), it can be very helpful just asking it these things, as opposed to taking the few seconds/minutes to figure that out yourself (doesn’t sound like much, but it’s handy for sure).

There are also a few other things which I haven’t completely delved into yet, such as smart home features. I don’t have any smart bulbs or thermostats, but those are also things that you can control with the Echo. It’s one of those features I want to get to know better, but I haven’t had the chance to upgrade these things around my apartment, so in due time I guess!

There are some notable glitches or lags that I have to mention, as the device sometimes tends to get a little confused. I encountered a few errors when I had both the Echo and Echo dot connected to the same network. There would be a few occasions where the music would play out of the wrong device. But then again – as you work your way around the device’s controls, you get more familiarized with how ‘it really works’

It’s a fun device that really does streamline and simplify many aspects of your life (which sounds bizarre to some), but it does go a long way as a standalone device, considering it can be just a speaker as well. It doesn’t have a steep price point either ($99 for the Echo, and $39 for the Echo Dot right now), so you can’t really go wrong!