I tried multiple times to connect my Echo 2nd Gen to my wifi by using my cell phone and it was not possible. So then I tried to make a connection by using my laptop, and still no good. A shame, because I have maybe maybe 12 hours of music on my Amazon account and I was looking forward to accessing that music. Also asking trivia questions and weather. I'm so disappointed. I looked at other reviews and saw that the inability to connect to wifi is not uncommon. :( UPDATE: Just minutes after I submitted a 1 star review for the above issue, a wonderful service rep from Amazon phoned me. He stayed with me on speaker phone for over 30 minutes as he told me how to re-set my Echo, and walked me through wifi connection and set-up quick and easy. Then came all the good stuff! He talked me through the Settings page in the Amazon Alexa app. On the Settings page, click Skills and that's where all the fun stuff is like Jeopardy, Name That Tune, and 100s more games, ambient sound, study help, the list goes on and on. And there is much more to choose from than just the Skills tab. There are 7 tabs for info and entertainment alone.
Absolutely love myAlexa! I, in fact, have 5 of them. Started off with the dot, and very quickly decided I wanted a better one. So I bought the tall one (dont know what generation, but the best at the time) the sound is AMAZING, its in my bedroom, upstairs. Then bought the Alexa Show, sound and all graphics, its on the kitchen. AMAZING!! Then I bought the generation 2 in walnut for lower level family room. So convenient and AMAZING, closely matches my cherry wood funishings in that room.
Then I opened up my sunroom (its a 3 -4 season, depending on how cold it gets in winter, sometimes use a heater). Furnishings in there are light oak, so I bought the light oak for that room. Was worried about the shade of oak while waiting for it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that iy matches perfectly! Again the sound is AMAZING!!! So much fun to have and versatile. It is everything Amazon promised and more! I love them all and when i play music I can sync them all together to play same music at same time, thru out the whole house!!
So easy to set up. It was actually ready with my name on it before I even received it. Just turn it on and follow the instructions using your smartphone. It finds your Wi-Fi, connects and then it's ready to work. The new speakers are nice too. Absolutely a great customer experience. Today, I just connected it to my Harmony Remote, and all I have to do when I want to watch TV is say, "Alexa, turn on the TV", and it turns on my amp, my cable box, my XBox and my TV automatically. I then just have to say, "Alexa, turn on MSNBC and it will go to the channel. I am seriously impressed with the Echo. I have one in every room now so I can play my Favorites music from Amazon music in all of the rooms in my house at the same time. Plus, I can make phone calls using Alexa and the Echo. It works with XM Radio as well. Just say, "Alexa, Play Classic Vinyl on SriusXM" and it will do it. I have an alarm set to wake me up every morning at 6:00 am playing an XM Radio station. Finally, I have Echo controlling all of my lights and I especially like the fact that I can control my thermostat which is downstairs. When I'm upstairs in the office, all I have to say, is "Alexa, set Hallway to 70 degrees", and it will lower my thermostat to 70 degrees. Before that, I would have to run up and down the stairs to change the thermostat. This is a phenomenal product. And no, I do not work at Amazon. :)
I will give this 5 stars, but it does have its issues. But I mean, it's amazing. It's like we are living in the future. I listen to music so much more lately since having this speaker. It's just so easy to have Alexa play something for you. We pay $4/mo for the music subscription thing and she has 95% of the songs I want to hear. Not everything, not some of the more obscure things you can find on Spotify, but still, a pretty good selection. Sound quality is great for the size of this speaker. The Dots are cool, but the speakers just can't cut it--I never listen to music on those, only use them for other things. But this 2nd gen Echo is perfect for a kitchen speaker. I use Alexa to set timers for cooking, as my alarm in the AM (we have an echo dot in the bedroom too), to hear the weather, to play podcasts from my phone, to set reminders (very helpful!) and occasionally to tell me a joke or to play jeopardy. She doesn't always understand me or do what I ask, but I mean, like I said, we are living in the future and it's pretty incredible even with its flaws. The technology is only going to get better. Ten years ago I would have guessed something like this would cost $5,000. Now you can buy it for $100. Give it a shot!
I previously had purchased the Echo Dots. They are great, but are not the best sound for music. I purchased the Echo to improve the overall sound quality in my house. It more than delivers. You can instantly tell the difference, bass, treble... all there. It's wonderful. My only complaint, other than being frustrated from time to time with Alexa, is that the Echo, once given a command/request - pauses, the blue ring goes around eight -twelve times before responding. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you are in the middle of a song and request the volume to be raised, the echo is silent for 12 seconds before immediately popping up at the new volume.
While at work I can now view what my dogs are doing and if they are not behaving I can "Drop-In" with Alexa to the Echo and yell at my dogs. It was quite comical the first time watching them spin around trying to find me.
Alexa conversations can be quite entertaining or frustrating depending on what you are trying to do. However, she is learning everyday and it improves over time.
Feature Product
- Echo connects to Alexa to play music, read the news, set alarms and timers, answer questions, control compatible smart home devices, and more.
- Just ask for a song, artist, or genre from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, and more. With multi-room music, you can play music on compatible Echo devices in different rooms. Echo can also play Audible audiobooks, radio stations, news briefs, and more.
- Powerful speakers with Dolby technology play 360° audio with clear vocals and dynamic bass response. You can also use your voice to adjust equalizer settings or pair with another Echo (2nd Gen) for stereo sound.
- Call almost anyone hands-free. Instantly drop in on other rooms in your home or make an announcement to every room with a compatible Echo device.
- With seven microphones, beamforming technology, and noise cancellation, Echo hears you from any direction-even while music is playing.
- Use your voice to turn on lights, adjust thermostats, lock doors, find TV shows, and do more with compatible connected devices.
- Alexa is always getting smarter and adding new skills like tracking fitness, playing games, and more.
Description
Smart speaker with Alexa
I haven’t used this new Echo yet as it’s a Christmas gift but I did want to give Amazon credit for the packaging (secure), shipping (as always, fast) and the accuracy of the pics. This Echo seemed bigger to me once I got it than I gleaned from the pics which is not a bad thing. It feels sturdy in your hands and has some weight to it. I liked that as I don’t feel like it’ll easily topple over. I have a counter surfing land shark for a dog and a kiddo with energy and hijinks to match. Minus the teeth, this thing feels like it’ll stand up to both of them without easily being damaged. It doesn’t feel fragile. The exterior doesn’t have that cheap fake wood look to it, it actually looks better in person than in the description pics. Lastly, I’ll try to update after it’s in use but we have several family members that love theirs, specifically one family member who is blind. This has opened up a whole new world for them and they wouldn’t part with it for anything.
Great quality sound with additional features like bluetooth connectivity, the light circle at top serves the function of providing visual clues(find it very interesting way to know the status).
Alexa skills are amazing and ever expanding ecosystem. It's bit slow to understand the potential & accept/use it fully.
"Prompt response" i.e. speed of answer is lightning fast and it was at very few occasions(around 2%) that i had to repeat myself.
The product meets the reputation. Can hear well even at loud noise. It was this product that i developed the like for the Amazon devices and went on to explore other existing ones.
It's easy to make calls and the voice communication is loud / clear without any distractions.
It's so much fun to be hands free.
Thanks Amazon / Alexa for such a beautiful & useful smart speaker.
This is money well spent on peace of mind...insisted mom get one as she is home alone and has had falls..most recently a compression fracture to the back and had just gotten back home. Now should she need to call for help she can even if her phone is out of reach. And obviously if she is conscious..but it has given her a sense of security and me as well!!!!! Pretty easy to set up..although the tablet Alexa set up doesn't have the conversations icon..at least I couldn't find it so that was the challenge in setting up...otherwise amazing!!!
I originally wrote a negative review because the sound was much worse than Echo Plus and Echo Dot that I already owe, I received a call and email from an Amazon rep, concerning the issue and explained how I can change settings in Equalizer. I adjusted it and now it works just fine. Therefore, I upgraded this review from 2 to 4 stars. Can't give full 5 stars because it's still not as great as Echo Plus in terms of sound and controls. I really like the spinning top at Plus to control the volume. This Echo has only + and - volume buttons, which is not as smooth.
The Echo works great. Because of my accent, I changed the call word from Alexis to Echo and it is great. I live up in Northern California and I miss my So Cal radio stations, so I said to Echo, ply IHeart radio kfi and she does and learns. So now I say, Echo, play KFI. And she does. Same thing with other radio channels. Also, because I have prime, and have picked out songs I like, Echo knows what to play when I say play pop music. She also can go into other libraries if I so desire her to do. I ask for news, and Weather.
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