Amazon Echo (2nd Gen) - Smart speaker with Alexa - Sandstone Fabric

First of all, let me mention to really make Alexa shine, you need Amazon Music for full voice control over music vs subbing to spotify, so Amazon is going to get a sub fee out of you for full advanced music control. Barring that, most of the skills you can add (skills are apps for Alexa) are great fun and it's very easy to set alarms, reminders, ask for a flash briefing (get the news and local weather). Some skills will need you to log into a website from the provider (like the BBC) to get them working fully.Quality of the speaker rivals most Bluetooth speakers of the same size and price for listening to radio-music etc. So it's a replacement for most smaller Hifi's etc but not rival quality systems (although there is an audio out port so you can connect much bigger speakers to full size echo no issue).While many skills are gimmicks and fun for a bit, like playing the Audio version of Skyrim. Using Alexa to control home automation like lights is very easy to do and actually useful and the voice control for setting reminders, alarms etc much better than most smart phones.Set up is easy using the Alexa app on your phone-tablet, and you can turn off communications and Amazon ordering to stop accidental dialing soemone or buying Amazon stuff with your voice in the app. All you have to do is type in your Amazon Account details and Wifi details to get going the echo does the rest and then start adding skills as needed.Creating more complex home automation scripts is easy to do in the Alexa app and about as hard as learning how Facebook works for the average users (pretty idiot proof).The Phase array built-in mics are awesome (much better than some rival products) and can hear you when the TV is on and even in another room (or floor of your home!).You can also change the keyword from Alexa to 'computer' and some other choices to stop people on TV-podcasts or just chatting accidentally triggering Alexa.So it's a fun toy-gimmick to start with and as you add some of the skills and home automation products, it becomes very powerful and useful.

I was curious about this device and read numerous reviews prior to buying (and also in the meantime had changed broadband supplier), when Amazon then offered this for £20 off i saw that as my opportunity to get one.Now, from my research and personal experience so far i would like to add a further useful review, some people have complained about connectivity, sound quality and overall usefulness.I think there have been some unrealistic expectations from people, this device does not make the tea, or coffee, does not park your car or communicate with the spirit world.What it does do amongst other things is play music, give updates on news, weather etc and you can ask it various questions on knowledge or local information. It is not a mind reader but it does learn. As an example, I asked for my local weather update but it gave one from an area in the USA as phonetically they sounded the same, therefore the next time i asked I specified the location in the UK and hey presto now when i ask I get the correct area.I was actually surprised on the sound quality being as good as it is, it is a small but heavy unit which gives the feel of good build quality and a decent speaker, however it is a smaller unit a little bigger than a tin of baked beans therefore the sound will not be quite the same as a full size hi fi unit in the same way that the speakers on flat screen TVs are not as powerful hence the sound bar.For my music the sound is excellent, i do not need to vibrate the walls of the house with high volume and never did with a hi-fi, if you regularly listen to heavy metal or something else at high volume you will alsways need a bigger system but for my generously sized kitchen the volume is just right.I am an Amazon unlimited music account holder which obviously helps, some people seem to have been expecting free music which is unrealistic, i have downloaded 5 new albums this month for less than the price of buying one CD in the shops so to me that too is excellent value.You do need to download the Alexa app to your phone and i would suggest you need a decent broadband provider/system, had i been with my previous provider i would not have purchased the Echo as i dont think it would have worked well enough, that is not a criticism of Alexa or the Echo but more a reflection between good and bad broadband coverage and signal strength in the home.You do need to 'activate' various Alexa functions, some useful and some fun and gimmicky.As an avid cook, being able to hands free play music, skip a song or get news updates while having my hands full is so handy as is the ability to add reminders as i often forget certain events until its too late!Alexa will play music from its prerecorded selection of genres such as classical, pop, easy listening etc, i can only assume one needs to be an Amazon music account holder in some way in order to access this.For me the hands frees voice activated system works really well, it does struggle to understand my step daughter but then so do I, half the time. As Alexa does not lip read or read expressions, if you talk too quickly, mumble or perhaps have a thick accent then Alexa may struggle but then so would the average person in a real life situation and again, if you update interactions on the Alexa app app this will assist the system to learnI love this device and will be adding to it over time, maybe the household control is a way off but I can communicate with the echo dot in the bedroom and use it as an intercom (well the Mrs does!).So in a final conclusion i would say this is a great device to have in the home, if you are an Amazon customer already it is certainly worth it, yes there are some subscriptions which i would expect and already had prior to the echo which has opened me up to a whole load of new music.Be realistic with your expectations for it, its is mainly music and interaction and you probably would need decent internet to fully appreciate,