Comparison of Amazon Echo and Alexa products: which model suits you best?

Amazon debuted a few years ago, the original echo, which raised eyebrows in the technology sector. Echo is a smart home speaker containing Alexa's virtual assistant of Amazon, an artificial intelligence assistant that helps you perform your daily tasks using only your voice. Since its inception, users of all levels of technology have embraced Echo and Alexa, finding a handy side in a voice-activated assistant and anything else it can do.

Alexa and Echo have both evolved since then to meet the needs of a constantly growing market. After Echo and Alexa, Google Home with Google Assistant, Harman Kardon Invoke with Microsoft Cortana and the next Homepod with Apple Siri. Amazon has an advantage over all these competitors because it has had the time to develop many Echo and Alexa devices to become a multi-faceted assistant, through integrations and third-party skills. ("Skills" is the word used by Amazon for apps, in this case.)

Alexa has been integrated into their products by many smart device manufacturers, which now has more than 25,000 skills created by third-party developers. Alexa skills are features that Alexa can use to do more than its built-in features allow. For example, Alexa has native features that allow it to indicate weather and traffic forecasts, control smart devices and purchase products on Amazon. Using third-party skills, Alexa can play soothing sleep noises at night, read stories to your kids, tell you random facts about food, and lead a quiz for you and your friends.

Alexa has a plethora of ready-made features, no matter what device is used. In the relatively short time since the launch of the original Echo, Amazon has manufactured a number of other Echo devices in the hope that any user can find one that meets their needs. With so many choices in the Echo family of Amazon, it can be difficult to choose what is best for you. We have presented the main differences and use cases for all Amazon Echo devices to help you choose which one to buy.

Echo Buttons

Amazon's echo buttons are the most mysterious of his devices so far. Announced with a large number of other Echo devices during an event in September, the Echo buttons were touted as devices that "bring back the night of match". They act as buzzers in quizzes, allowing different players to press the top button to answer questions in various Alexa-based games.

Each button has a brilliant top that can shine in different colors so that each player can have their own color in the group games. When a player plays a skill via Alexa, each player can press their button to answer a question and advance the game. Alexa already has a lot of skills in play, but we know three that will support Echo Buttons: Beat the Intro from Musicplode, Dungeon escape, and It sounds funny with Mike Epps from Ground Control.

The problem with the Echo buttons is that they must be connected via Bluetooth to an existing Echo device. Amazon has not specified which Echo devices will support the buttons, but most Echo devices with full functionality (such as Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show) will likely connect to the buttons. The buttons are also the first "Alexa gadgets", or devices intended to connect to an Echo device that you already have and allow you to interact with Alexa in new ways. Amazon says the Echo buttons will be available on Dec. 19, but we are not aware of the existence of other upcoming Alexa gadgets.

• Buy this if: you have regular game nights with your friends and family.
• Do not buy this if: you do not have an Echo device yet.

Alexa Smart Plug

It's hard to believe that Amazon did not have its own smart connector until 2018, but it was. The new Alexa-compatible smart plug works like most other smart plug adapters available: paste it into the wall and plug in a "stupid" device into a "smart" device. You can use the smart plug to turn a regular lamp into a smart lamp, a boring fan into a smart fan, and so on.

Through the mobile application Alexa, you can program the smart plug (and therefore everything you plug into it) so that it turns on and off automatically or works according to a schedule. The controls built into the app also allow you to turn on and off the device plugged in at any time.

It would not be a true Alexa-compatible device if it does not support voice control, and the smart plug supports the unique voice commands you can create for it. For example, if your coffeemaker is plugged into the smart socket, you can program it to turn on when you say "Alexa, turn on the coffeemaker". To do this, all you need is another Alexa compatible device. such as the Echo speaker, a Fire TV, or just the Alexa mobile app, so you can hear your order.

Better yet, the smart plug does not require a smart home hub, like others: you can simply plug it into your socket, set it up in the Alexa app and use all its features, without any limitation.

• Buy this if: you want to dive into the world of the smart home without much effort.
• Do not buy this if: you are already deeply rooted in the Zigbee or Z-Wave ecosystem.

Auto Echo

Alexa can now be your companion with the new Echo Auto, a tiny rectangular device that connects to Alexa via Wi-Fi and LTE connections on your smartphone. It is designed to place Alexa in your passenger seat, allowing you, as a driver, to call the assistant using voice commands.

The device itself has a mute button and an action button, similar to full Echo speakers, and eight mics that listen to you above your car's stereo system. sector sound, traffic and other noises. When she is connected to the Internet via your smartphone, Alexa accompanies you. Whatever you ask Alexa to do at home, like reading the news, setting a reminder, listing calendar events, and more, you can now ask her to do what you drive.

As it is connected to your car, Echo Auto reads responses and content such as music and audiobooks through the speakers of your car. Echo Auto essentially has the power to make older cars devoid of a new, smarter infotainment system, giving drivers the ability to use Alexa even when their hands are tied.

• Buy this if: you want to update your car with Alexa voice commands.
• Do not buy this if: you already own a car with a new infotainment system that supports voice commands.

Echo Connect

Amazon recently added voice calls and messaging with Alexa to Echo devices, and Echo Connect brings this feature to landlines. The $ 35 box connects via your phone jack, your VoIP adapter and your Wi-Fi network. Once the Alexa mobile application setup is complete, you will be able to use your voice to ask Alexa to call. no matter who. Your landline number will be the one that appears on the recipient's caller ID. There is no confusion when you call another land line.

However, like Echo buttons, you need an existing Echo device to use Connect. The Connect dialog basically acts as a bridge between your phone line and Alexa, the voice assistant of Amazon residing in the Echo device that you already own. When you ask Alexa to call a contact, a local company or any other number, you are interviewing the voice assistant of an Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show or other Echo device full. The Connect guarantees that these calls go through your landline rather than your mobile phone.

• Buy this if: you want Alexa to call for your landline.
• Do not buy this if: you do not have an Echo device yet.

Echo input

Perhaps you have already set up your personal speaker system exactly as you wish. Amazon's traditional Echo speakers may not fit into this configuration, but you may like the idea of ​​having a virtual on-call assistant at home. Enter Amazon's new entry echo, an Alexa device that connects to existing speakers via the 3.5mm audio jack or via Bluetooth.

The disk-like device follows the design of other small Echo devices: with only two buttons on its flat top surface, you control it primarily through voice commands. Its internal microphone even lets you hear music, so you can ask Alexa to set timers and reminders, read news, check forecasts, and more.

Even if you can not call or send messages to people via Bluetooth with the input, it supports the thousands of Alexa skills. Like other Echo devices, you can activate all the desired skills from the Alexa mobile app and change the input settings from there.

• Buy this if: you have a speaker system that does not natively support Alexa or another virtual assistant.
• Do not buy this if: you already have an Echo speaker or a speaker that can work with Alexa.

Echo point

Echo Dot offers two big advantages over other Echo devices with all the features: size and price. For just $ 50, the device of the size of a hockey puck gives you access to most of the more than 25,000 Alexa skills and all of Amazon's built-in features for his virtual assistant. Echo Dot can read weather forecasts, inform you of your daily schedule, provide traffic updates, control smart home devices, read the latest news, and more. The only features with which it is not compatible are all Alexa skills requiring a screen. Some are now available, but they are exclusively for Echo Show and the next Echo Spot, the only two Echo devices manufactured by Amazon.

The design of the Echo Dot is a huge advantage, not just because of its size. Measuring 3.9 × 3.9 × 1.7 inches, it looks like Amazon cut the top quarter of a standard Echo device, rounded the edges and corners and turned it into its own device. The Echo Dot speaker is equipped with a 1.6-inch speaker for music playback, but its compact size does not make him the best music creator. However, the device has an audio output port for connecting to the speakers and audio system that you own. It also works with Bluetooth speakers. This means that you can connect your favorite audio device to Echo Dot, ask Alexa to play Spotify, iHeartRadio or other sources, and Echo Dot will play these tracks through your favorite speaker.

Echo Dot is the ideal device if you want to enjoy the convenience of Alexa controlled voice and you already have an audio system.

• Buy this if: you want Alexa but do not want to spend a lot of money.
• Do not buy this if: you want a high quality speaker.

Echo

The device that started it all was updated this year with the new Amazon Echo. Amazon has not only lowered the price of the Echo to 100 USD, but the new device incorporates an updated speaker system, improved far-field microphones that Alexa uses to hear you and a refined design that makes it more to look like a piece of furniture a piece of technology. The new echo sounds better than the original, but it's not our favorite smart home speaker in terms of audio quality. However, if you are upgrading from a smartphone speaker or a cheap Bluetooth device, the Echo will be a solid speaker capable of filling the sound of a few rooms.

The main argument for the Echo is that it is a suitable speaker that also houses Alexa. If you buy an Echo Dot, there is no doubt that you will want to connect it to a better sound system. It is designed to be more of a home for Alexa than a good speaker. On the other hand, Echo is supposed to provide both of these features at a relatively affordable price. If you're not a slacker of sound quality and you just want a decent speaker with Alexa, the Echo is a solid device. You can also connect the echo to a larger speaker system because it has the same audio output port as the Dot echo.

• Buy this if: you want the most Alexa features for a decent price.
• Do not buy this if: you want to access Alexa skills that use a screen.

Echo Sub

Amazon's Echo and Echo Plus speakers work well to fill your living room with sound, but they will not satisfy audiophiles or those who demand a more powerful sound. The new Echo Sub makes it easy by connecting to one of Amazon's leading smart speakers and delivering dynamic, immersive sound.

With its wider design similar to an Echo speaker, the Echo Sub includes a 6-inch descent woofer and a 100W deep bass amplifier. It can also create a 2.1 stereo system when paired with one of Amazon's standard Echo speakers (second generation and newer devices).

Many audio companies now have Alexa-compatible speakers, but many of them are sold at a high price. These may work for the more daring of us, but others may be better off with their current Echo speaker and a little more. punch starting from $ 129 Echo Sub.

• Buy this if: you want to give more power and richness to your Echo or Echo Plus speaker.
• Do not buy this if: you do not have an echo or echo yet.