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

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 learn I 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,

I don`t have any need for a Smart Phone so I don`t own one - however I was able to set up my Amazon Echo /`Alexa` using a Laptop & Wi-Fi after receiving some very helpful details including links to YouTube videos and the Amazon Alexa Set Up website from the Amazon Echo Forum. I will never want to operate any Smart Home devices or make telephone calls using Alexa I just wanted the facility to `Ask Alexa` questions and to be able to ask for Music tracks by the artists name. I thought that there was free `Amazon Music` [`2 Million tracks`] and that Amazon Unlimited Music [`50 Million tracks`] was a subscription service but I have now found out that I will have to pay for `Amazon Unlimited Music for a single device`= £3.99 per Month IF I can find out exactly how to subscribe to ONLY that ? I am quite happy to pay approximately £48.00 per Year for the Music that I want - only about the cost of 4 or 5 Music CD`s. I probably misread details about the `Amazon Music` [2 Million tracks] because when I bought my Amazon Echo / Alexa I could not decline a `Free 30 day trial of Amazon Prime` so I was probably reading details from webpages that I had gone to using links from the MANY Amazon Emails about `Prime Membership` that I have received since purchasing and setting up my Echo - all of that information would be about the facilities offered by Prime Membership which does include the basic `Amazon Music` [`2 Million tracks`]. I am very happy with the Speakers and the Microphone on the Amazon Echo - the Microphone picks up my voice from 5 metres away without me raising it above normal speech level [You must pronounce `Alexa` correctly - not `Lexa`] and the Speakers give a good sound - comparable to my Sony Hi-Fi system which has 2 x Speakers. While I was researching whether I could set up an Amazon Echo without a Smart Phone [using a Laptop & Wi-Fi] I found out a VERY IMPORTANT point for purchasers of the Amazon Echo / Echo Dot and related products: You MUST purchase the device using ONLY YOUR AMAZON ACCOUNT DETAILS because Amazon `register` the device to work ONLY with those details - people who have received the devices as presents without the purchaser identifying them as `Gifts` have had problems meaning that they could NOT Set Up their Echo`s. When I was searching to find out whether I could set up an Amazon Echo without owning a Smart Phone [ I had read `NO` many times on Google searches] I found many problem threads on the Amazon Echo Forum where people had received an Echo or an Echo Dot as a Gift and when they tried to Log In to carry out the `Set Up` process using a different Email address and Password to the purchaser their new Echo / Echo Dot would not Set Up and they received an Error Code which was subsequently stated to be for a `Lost or Stolen` device. I can imagine that there will be a lot of disappointed people who try to set up their Amazon Echo / Echo Dot presents or related devices on Christmas Day because of the above ! If the Error Code is generated I believe that ONLY Amazon Echo Customer Services can rectify the situation - possibly requiring the original purchaser to have to contact them ? I hope that this review has helped future purchasers - especially the details about purchasing with your existing Amazon Account details - or of course if you don`t have an existing Amazon Account you can set up one so that you can buy an Echo / Echo Dot using those details. Chris

Had this up and running in a few minutes. Wifi setup was perhaps a tad clunky on an iPhone but got there after a couple of tries. Importantly I had my Hue lights connected as easily as clicking a couple of buttons. Spotify and BBC radio just work, again with almost no fuss at all. Brilliant! And if you’re wondering about sound quality, well really I think you’d have to be very picky to criticise the new Echo... Do you want the equivalent of playing a reasonably good radio/DAB set in the background while you’re cooking, chatting, eating, reading, etc? Well the new Echo is just perfect for you. I have mine on a wooden kitchen counter in a large kitchen/dining room. It’s absolutely fine, with plenty of bass and reasonable overall balance. When you think the Echo is barely bigger than a chunky can of beer and costs £90, it’s a pretty good achievement. If you want high-end audio all to yourself, just get a CD player, high-end amp, and some expensive headphones. You’ll never be satisfied with something this small and inexpensive that streams audio over the internet. As for the microphone, I had no problems at all getting Alexa’s attention over music and spoken radio in an otherwise quiet room at a distance of about 8-10 metres. I really didn’t have to raise my voice any higher than I would when speaking across a room to a person. All in all I think the new Echo is a great little device at a very reasonable price. I’m normally an Apple fan so Alexa is a new direction for me. I’m sure the upcoming Apple HomePod will be amazing, but at 4 times the price? No, I’m very happy with my Echo thank you!

Fabulous piece of kit. It has a lot of potential, but is not "quite" there. My opinion is that this device is enhanced massively with the addition of Amazon Prime (in itself a great value package) I currently use my Echo as a stereo, and it really has great sound for such a small device. Access to Amazon Music means I can almost always listen to songs I crave. (2 million songs available with Prime) Alexa is always learning (regular emails demonstrating new skills) and I can see this device just getting better. There are a few cons (listed below) but for the most part this demonstrates great value for money, and can do much more than most of us give credit for. (I'm currently researching a full Phillips Hue lighting upgrade - controllable via the Echo) Pros - Great, rich sound quality if playing music, or Audible titles. - Compact and can be discreetly placed in your home. - Can link to other Alexas in your home (Upstairs/downstairs etc) Can link music, call other Echo units etc. - Eliminates the need to "go and google it" - Just ask, she has a good knowledge base. - Can get customised News briefings from BBC etc in your area. - Weather reports - Can shop using your Amazon account and order via Alexa (though I've not yet tried this) - Can control smart lighting (lights on/off/dim brightness etc) with just your voice. - Only requires power. Rest is wireless. No ethernet needed. - Microphone picks up sound from all over. Very good at understanding voice commands - Results are impressively fast (I use fibre internet) Cons - The Alexa app is poor. I find myself constantly frustrated by technology giants who create some great hardware and follow it up with such weak software. Linking Alexa *should* be a quick and easy stage via the app - you may get lucky. In my case, the two times I have linked the Echo, the app has frozen, crashed and just generally been slow to do anything I've tried. - Google currently has a better knowledge base (my opinion) Alexa knows most things I've asked, but there are exceptions. With a web browser via google you will get related search results if nothing exact matches. With Alexa, if she doesn't know, that's it. (For now) - Sometimes requesting specific songs of artist becomes quite cumbersome, the Echo sometimes just wants song titles - she will know the artist. (Worth trying if searching for a song you like!) In summary, the Echo is well worth the £90 rrp. People would pay that for a soundbar of similar sound quality. The extras you get with this are quite amazing. If you get one, look into all the other things you can do with it. Link your Prime account, look at Audible, Smart home compatibility etc, there is a lot more than a speaker, and question database here. I'm looking to get a second one (Perhaps the Plus, with Smarthub built in) for downstairs. Excited to see what more is to come.

I was a sceptic before I bought this until I read an article that calmed some of my fears. The alexa mic is always on, but its not always recording. In fact, the device only records when you say the buzz word (Alexa, echo, amazon or computer). I decided to take the plunge to get some organisation in my life and use it for calenders, news, timers and shopping lists. I'm actually very surprised by the quality of it. I have the charcoal black colour and it looks great against my bookcases. We have an open plan kitchen/living room and even when the music is up loud, it can still hear us from 15ft away. We didn't follow the 'place 20cm away from a wall' rule either so kudos to Amazon for a very receptive mic. The music quality is actually pretty good as well. Granted, it does not work as well as my 2.1 speaker set up but it certainly performs better then the speakers in my TV and my similarly sized portable bluetooth speaker. Around volume level 6 (out of 10) it is loud enough to fill the room. The music is not tinny at this range and has decent bass. It also has Aux out and bluetooth which I'm sure I will take advantage of in the future for some speakers. The commands work very well. I don't use voice assistants much as my past experience of them on phones is that by the time I've voiced my command, I may as well have navigated to the feature I wanted anyway. This means that Alexa actually has some great time saving features -- Using her for basic functionality is legitimately useful in the home as you won't need to find your TV remote, get up to turn the lights off or find a pen and paper to write reminders or notes. The more smart gadgets you have, the more you will love Alexa. What problems have I had so far? Some words are hard to pick up. The command 'Alexa, add mint to my shopping list' ended up with her adding 'milk mints' , 'milk', 'ester', 'ever' and a few other weird things. Saying, 'Alexa, add mint leaves to my shopping list' worked first time! Obviously the speech recognition is trying to pair similar words together and guess what you are saying, in this case people are more likely to say leaves with mint, or milk instead of mint. Annoying, but I Alexa can only get better with time. She also doesn't like to link commands, Saying 'Turn off the kitchen lights' is fine, but 'Turn off the kitchen and living room lights' does not work at all. Similarly, logical speech patterns and phrases are not recognized like 'turn off all lights'. This is partly because Phillips hue have not optimized their own settings and partly because Alexa likes one buzz word and one command at a time. Again, this will likely get better over time or you can make your own 'hack' with IFTTT to do multiple chains of commands. I hope this is fixed soon as saying 'Turn off the TV and dim the lights and turn up the volume' would be great. At the moment we have to say 'Alexa, turn on the TV', 'Alexa, turn down the lights in the living room', 'alexa, turn up the volume on the TV'. Quite a mouthful, and probably not a time saver -- Better just get up off your arse and do it the old fashioned way. What else can I say? Alexa has the potential to be pretty big. If you have smart devices already, or you want a cheap multi room music device then Alexa is for you. If you don't I'd probably wait a bit longer unless you have a legitimate use. Either way, I doubt you'd be disappointed. Alexa is a great gadget and really makes for a talking point at parties.

These Amazon Echo speakers are great. Alexa has come on leaps and bounds since the beginning - it’s now an extremely accurate service. It’s one of those little things, you don’t really realise how game-changing it will be until you get an Alexa speaker, being able to ask for a certain song and so on whilst washing up, or even being in the next room, is fantastic. Prior to this official Amazon speaker, I had an compatible Alexa speaker, non-Amazon branded, and trust me, they’re not even worth bothering with. The on,y good thing about the non-Amazon speaker was that it had a rechargeable battery built in. Since it only lasted a couple of hours off charge, to be honest I spent most of the time with it plugged in anyway, so it’s really made no difference to my usage at all. The thing I’ve noticed most since this ‘upgrade’ to the Amazon branded one, is how much better the sound quality is. It’s smaller in stature than the generic one, but my goodness, the bass packs a punch for such a neat little speaker! It’s got really nice rich, deep sound. I listen to quite a lot of metal, which has a lot of bass heavy, down-tuned guitar in it, and the bass and deep tones really ‘pop’. It’s a brilliant speaker for bass-heavy rock or metal music :) the sound is very ‘clean’, not distorted, so even the old greats like Pink Floyd and so on, sound so much better on this speaker than the did on the previous, quite frankly poor quality, alternative. I should add that it looks fab in my kitchen! It’s a really smart looking speaker, and the ‘ring of light’ on this one is much better quality than the other speaker I had. It just shows you that it pays to stick with the brand! I couldn’t be happier with the room-filling sound (even with the volume only half-way...if I put this on full volume, I think the neighbours might have some complaining to do!), and the style of Amazon Echo. I got this on a fabulous Black Friday deal, and it’s the best spent money I’ve ever parted with for a speaker. Very happy!

Having already got two Echo Dots (2nd version) I was looking to expand Echo to the whole house. The problem with the Dots is that their sound is none-too-great, so I was after something a bit more meaty. So, I purchased a Sonos One as they have a reputation for best-sound-in-class and also advertise it as "doing everything Echo can do". No, it can't. Sound wise it is pretty good - a bit muffled in the mid range, but as I own a Linn hifi - if I want to listen to music, I'll use that. Also, it cannot play Audible (a primary issue for me) and seems to have trouble in hearing the wake word, especially if playing something bassy. So, it will be going back. What I like about the new Echo is that it does what I want in a competent and unobtrusive way. The sound is better that the Echo Dot (no real surprise) but not as good as the Sonos One (again, no surprise). From listening to various tracks and radio stations, the Echo is more at home with spoken word: a voice sounds pretty natural whilst the Sonos' default sound profile makes voice a little boomy. Music on the Echo is passable but I really would not want it as my main source. The new Echo seems quite adept at picking up the wake word and so far has not missed one whist playing music or radio. Multiroom (although not specifically a Echo second generation feature) works well with only a small delay is activation each speaker in a group. One annoyance is the inability to have a device in multiple groups, so you can't have 'upstairs', 'downstairs' and 'everywhere'. Also, a little annoying for me, is that multiroom does not work with Audible, so pottering around the house whilst listening to books is not possible. One other thing that is not possible is that you can't set an alarm or reminder to play on a group, only a single device. So, no setting a timer in the kitchen and having it remind you in the study. These are all software limitations so not inherent issues in the technology. They may also not be a concern for you. So, I like the new Echo as it fits my primary use-case (Philips Hue control, Netatmo, Hive, Audible and radio). Depending upon your expectations for music, it may not live up to yours.

I found something new today, I got a Dot in the sale, not sure what I would do with it, but playing around used with an AUX lead to control Amazon music through soundbar and sub woofer. Had already put the Dot on an "Everywhere group with 4 Echos, surprised today when playing music on the everywhere group that the Dot was in it, working and putting sound through the Sound bar and Woofer , that combined with the 4 echos woke me up. Nice that you can include other sound equipment with the Echos. My Alexa app had this as registered to me before it left Amazon, with Prime it arrived the next day and Alexa was aware it had been shipped. Smaller than it looks, heavier than it looks, after initial difficulties to get it on line, once there, brilliant. Its what your Prime Account is all about. Alexa finds and plays my Amazon Prime music playlists, my audible books. My kindle books Alexa reads to me. Alexa brings your Amazon Prime Account to life. The sound quality for the details in some of the Audible Books is great on the Echo, whilst the sound level doesn't blow your ear drums out the quality of the sound is very good. Beats my other Bluetooth speakers that's for sure. When I want local radio or news, Alexa is there for that to. It found my sound bar on Bluetooth and Alexa pairs and unpairs it as requested. Already set to wake me weekdays at 8.30am with my favourite playlist. Wish I had bought one a long time ago, but have one now and very happy about it. Since bought two more, they were easier to set up having done the first one. Got the different colours just to have the colour in the name so no confusion when dealing with app, groups etc. Then did group them to enable the same music over all devices to be played, then further groups between upstairs and downstairs. Nice to have wall to wall music throughout the house. Still very pleased I have these devices.