Amazon Echo Review | Digit.in

We had the Amazon second generation Echo with us for a moment now. It's time to do a performance review. Read on to find out how that happened.

Amazon Echo Rating
64 100 100

Our verdict

The second-generation Amazon Echo is smaller and offers better sound dispersion. Choose one if you like voice control applications on your phone and want a satisfying wireless speaker for your home.

Amazon Echo: Detailed Review

Last year, Amazon smart speakers dominated the market with a share of 79.6%. This year, however, they dropped to 27.7% as Google and other smart speakers came in and spread. Amazon could still be the long-term winner if she continues to educate Alexa, the brain behind Echo, at a brisk pace and keep the speaker models updated. The second-generation Amazon Echo Smartphone has been around for a long time. Today, we give him a performance evaluation.

Design and Construction

At 5.8 inches, this second-generation Echo is shorter than its predecessor by almost three and a half inches. This is good news for users who like to place their speakers in a bookshelf. The body is now using a fabric shell instead of a hard shell, which makes the enclosure look more aesthetically pleasing but not any gripper to hold and lift. The black plastic top of the speaker loses the volume ring, but gets two extra buttons for volume control. The ring of light remains the same. The pin holes for the network of seven microphones are clearly visible on the top of the speaker, unlike the previous model. On the bottom, there is a 16mm tweeter, which looks like a tiny dimple reversed. The back receives the usual round pin power port and a newly added 3.5mm audio jack, while the front side only carries a subtle Amazon logo. This smart speaker has a rating of resistance to water and dust.

The fabric shell looks nice but is not very adherent

Personally, I liked the look and feel of the Amazon Echo. The unit under study was the gray color variant. I found the textured fabric wrapped around the body of the easy enclosure on the eyes. At 821 grams, the speaker was rather heavy to carry in a laptop bag, but he promised a good, serious sound. Just to clarify, the Amazon Echo does not have a built-in battery and must constantly be plugged into a power outlet to operate

Aux-out present in the 2nd generation Echo

Configuration

The configuration of the Amazon Echo is not particularly easy. If you have a habit of connecting to non-intelligent speakers via the usual Bluetooth pairing method, you will notice that this smart speaker (ironically, if I can add) needs more than that because & ### She must be connected directly to a network Fi for Alexa to work her magic. To do this, you must first launch the Amazon Alexa app and connect to the Wi-Fi network of Echo. From there, you can make sure that the speaker is locked on a Wi-Fi network of your choice. Pairing your phone to the speaker via Bluetooth is a separate and optional process that you can do after initial setup of Wi-Fi.

Echo standing next to the Echo Spot

With Echo that I had for consideration, the installation was less than perfect. While the Echo speaker had no problem answering clicks on the buttons, the Alexa app on my iPhone gave me a hard time. He froze regularly and showed the configuration page again and again even after he had finished setting up and Alexa had greeted me. Finally, I had the speaker installed. For Alexa to complete tasks such as calling a taxi or even sending messages, I had to pass patiently in front of a number of permission screens.

Features and User Interface

Regarding features, everything is going on with Amazon Alexa. She can work with taxi apps like Uber and Ola. She supports food ordering services like Zomato, Faasos, Box8 and Foodpanda (for re-orders only), but misses on Swiggy. Alexa supports music services like Spotify, Amazon Prime Music (of course), TuneIn (requires no account), and Saavn. Spotify's support for our country is virtually useless right now because Spotify has not arrived in India yet. Alexa will still be unable to play with services like Apple Music, Wynk and Google Play Music. It can be programmed to work with IFTTT for custom actions, but it will not work with devices that use wireless standards like Zigbee and Z-Wave. For that, you will need the biggest Echo Plus.

The Amazon Echo, like the previous model, does not have display. Any user interaction is by voice, mobile phone controls and the four buttons that are found there. By pressing the Microphone Off button, the button and the light ring will turn red. The buttons in general are soft enough to press and the device responds instantly by pressing one of them.

Red Light Embodies Privacy

When I got it home, the series of seven pickups from the Amazon Echo splendidly; Call Alexa for requests made from anywhere in a room of about 14 x 20 feet. Often I played music at about 65% of the volume, and to pause, I called it from the shower through a crack in the door. Alexa heard my voice in the middle of loud music and answered eight times out of ten.

Performance and Audio

Music requests, weather information and news worked accurately seven times out of ten. Amazon Music is the default music service provider, and TuneIn Radio works without connecting. So when I shouted "Alexa, play Kenny G", the smooth jazz music started playing instantly. There was a moment when he started playing a random interview with the artist instead of his songs. In most cases, the understanding was as good as that of the Google assistant, if not better. He neglected filling words like uhms and ers while making requests. It made me feel more comfortable speaking to the device. On other occasions, either he completely extinguished the ring of light and rested silently, or he apologized for not understanding me.

Audio quality on the Amazon Echo is acceptable for a speaker of its shape and size. his price. The speaker powered by Dolby has a 0.6 inch tweeter, through which the high frequencies are delivered clearly and loudly. The voices are clear even at full volume. The speaker also has a 2.5-inch woofer, but the bass's output is limited. At full volume, the pressure on the small woofer can be heard and noises are blunted and forced. The speaker feels comfortable when the volume is set between 70 and 80%.

The tiny 0.6 "tweeter at the bottom

I found the Echo playing instruments like violins and guitars plumbed but threatening to break up while playing songs with heavy electronic rhythms. With 90% volume, Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins played elegantly, but ZHU's As Crazy As It brought out the small woofer with every beat. Overall, the configuration of the Echo driver is ideal for playing pieces that are not heavy

Bottom line

The Amazon Echo is a product of improvement from home for anyone who wants to enter the world of smart speakers. . The "intelligence" of the smart speaker depends on the skills that Alex possesses, which are worth for the moment a pat on the back. Alexa's skills should only increase with time. The audio quality of the speaker is good, but could have been better, especially at full volume. All in all, the Amazon Echo is a nifty tool to have at home if you like the feeling of voice control applications on your phone.

Echo rests comfortably in shelves

Reader Notes

The model needs the 15V 1.4A round pin charger because of the extra power consumed by the woofer. If she used microUSB to charge like the smaller Echo Dot, portability would have been better. You can not have both, I guess.

Once, I said, "Alexa;" and she said, "I'm sorry, but I can only shop in the main language associated with your Amazon account …" [19659030WhenhestayedinthecompanyofthreefriendsforaweekEchobecameaninstanthitforsongrequestsandanswerstorandomquestionsThethreetwenty-five-year-oldwomenquicklygotusedtoshout"Alexa!"Whenevertheywantedasongplayedorajokerecited

<! –

-> [19659048] <! –

– > <! –

->