Is There an Echo in This Room? An Amazon Echo and Echo Dot that is.

Here we are, it is early 2017 and I am writing this post while listening to music coming from Amazon’s Echo. Myself, being a devout Apple enthusiast, would not have seen this coming or even happening.  But here I am and I must admit I’m enjoying it. This little device can do so much!!! Granted that the Echo is not that little but when you start to uncover all it does , its proportions pale in comparison.

A little background on the device and the family, there is the Amazon Echo, which is Amazons foray into the smart speaker world which includes Alexa, its version of a virtual assistant . Think Siri but for Amazon. She is always on , always listening and brought to life by your voice.

The Amazon Tap, which is also a connected smart speaker, a bit smaller and will not wake to the command of Alexa, like the Echo and Echo Dot will. There is a button  that must be pressed to wake her.  

Lastly there is the Echo Dot, as you may imagine, this is the smallest of the three. The main difference between the Dot and the Echo is the size of the actual speaker. Essentially it is the top part of the Echo . You can connect the Dot to another speaker or receiver via Bluetooth or an AUX cable. That definitely comes in handy , imagine hooking it up to your receiver and talking to it to play music.

A drawback is that you cannot connect the speakers to play music at the same time in different rooms, they work independently.

Ok, so let me get into how it all happened.

I bought an Amazon Echo dot while I was at a Bed Bath and Beyond back in Mid November, I had no idea they sold these there and was instantly intrigued. I didn’t buy it the same day but went home and thought about it , did some research and thought about it a some more. If you know anything about me, you know a ton of research goes into most of my purchases. I typically don’t just buy things to buy them. 

I thought to myself “for $49.99, this piece of technology is actually quite cheap. I do need a speaker in the kitchen, I’m sick of having to bring my iPod in from the car to listen through the sound dock and I keep listening to the same playlists and songs“

Yes, I still have a Bose Sound Dock with the original pin connectors but that’s neither here nor there.

I went back a few days later and asked an associate to help me since they were locked behind a display case. He asked how many I wanted, I told him just one and he chuckled. He said something to the effect of“You are going to want more than one in your house, I promise you. “ I snickered a bit and said “we shall see, I’m on the fence about even getting one”.

I went home and started the set up. In the box you will find a little booklet with instructions on to get started. Plug it into an outlet, download the app on your cell phone and follow the on screen instructions. It was a fairly easy process. I was excited to start asking it questions so once it was ready, that I did. I really had no idea what to ask so I looked up some phrases and started asking away.

“What’s the weather outside?”

“When do the New England Patriots play?”

“Tell me a joke”

“On what date was the Declaration of Independence signed?”

“Play Music” and then Alexa replied I don’t see any music , I had hit a road block. Even though my phone was connected via Bluetooth, I needed to manually go into my music on my phone to play them.  No big deal, I can work with that.

The speaker sound was good and loud enough. I wouldn’t say it’s a speaker you can jam out to but gets the job done while you are cooking or washing the dishes. I didn’t expect anything else given its size.

My son was amazed and kept asking “Daddy, who is that, can I talk to her too”?  He would ask “tell me a joke” or my favorite “ Hi I’m Niko, nice to meet you. I had to remind him the first couple of times that he needed to start with Alexa and then ask to tell him a joke. He quickly grasped the concept and was asking away.

I rapidly began relying on asking what the weather was and was going to be, what my traffic looked like on my way to work. It was convenient and easy, just what you would expect from a good tech device.

I then started thinking of adding more Echo’s , the associate at Bb&Y was right ,  I wanted more.  I thought, one in my bedroom and one in the kitchen. I can get the Echo for the kitchen and move the Dot to the bedroom.

And that I did, for Christmas I received an Echo and set it up in the kitchen.

I did have some trouble connecting my phone to the speaker at times. I would have to manually go into my Bluetooth settings to pair it. I did not have the same troubles with the Dot. I would ask Alexa to pair or connect my phone and BAM, just like that, it would connect.

I did expect a better and louder sound from the Echo but it just wasn’t there, not enough on the low end. So if you like a more “bassier” sound you might be disappointed.  It is by no means “not loud enough” though, it definitely gets the job done.  I am quite happy with it. 

Do keep in mind that when the volume is turned up or you are further away from the Echo for that matter, you do have to raise your voice a bit more for it to hear you. The opposite of my son, who could be right next to me and still “doesn’t hear me”

You can also control the Echo devices using the Amazon Alexa app, it comes in handy when you are looking for different playlists, initial connection to your smart home devices and setting up skills among other things

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with both the Echo and Dot, I have since added other functionalities to it. I connected my Nest Thermostat, which now I can control with my voice, I have subscribed to Amazon Prime which has enabled me to listen to endless amounts of music (one of the many perks, more on that in a coming post) that the membership comes with. I have also connected the Lutron Caseta Wireless Dimmer light switches.

The Nest thermostat and Lutron Caseta switches are connected devices that the Echo can control. As I keep moving my home towards a more connected one  I keep seeing the tremendous value that  the Echo has. It is the Nucleus, or dare I say, the Crux of an automated home.  So many devices work seamlessly with it,  it is a no brainer on where to start your connected journey.

I am absolutely going to be adding a few more Dots and perhaps another Echo for around the house. They do go on sale periodically but if you can’t wait, I can’t blame you. The Dot retails for $49.99 but on sale they can be purchased for $39.99.  The Echo retails for $179.99 but I have seen them for $139.99 on sale.

Do you have an Echo or in the market for one ? Let me know in the comment section below , I would love to hear from you.