Amazon Echo

By Aedan Roach



The Amazon Echo, a hands-free device, is a product made by Amazon. The Echo uses Alexa Voice Service to do many things like answer questions, read audio books and news, report traffic and weather, give information on local businesses, provide sports scores and schedules, play music from Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and even more just by using your voice.

There is also the smart home feature in which you can have the Echo turn on lights, change the temperature on thermostats, lock doors, close blinds, turn on or off a fan and even more. These functions are sold separately by companies such as WeMo, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Wink,  Insteon, Nest, and Ecobee smart home devices. To use the Echo, you say the wake word which is “Alexa”.

The Echo is very helpful in everyday use and can keep learning your daily needs. It has seven microphones to hear your commands from just about any place in the room. The speaker can also crank out some great sound when you are listening to music with its 2.5-inch woofer and 2.0-inch tweeter. It does need Wi-Fi for all these actions, which could pose a problem for those who do not have Wi-Fi. The price, $179.99, is reasonable for all it has to offer.

If you cannot afford this device, then you could purchase the Echo Dot for $50. This product has everything that the Echo has, except it does not offer the sound quality. I have enjoyed the Amazon Echo for all that it has to offer. I will say that there are times when I must repeatedly call “Alexa” before she wakes because she is next to the TV and can catch too much of the background noise. Overall, I would recommend this product to many users.