Amazon - Echo Dot (2nd generation) - Smart Speaker with Alexa - Black

I have met the future and her name is Alexa. Most of us know Amazon for their great Amazon Prime shopping feature. I mean who doesn’t love free two-day shipping. However, today I’ll be talking about Amazon’s foray into the future of voice activated technology. The Amazon Echo Dot. Specifically the second generation model. Due to the success of the first model and competition from Google Home, Amazon introduced the second – gen Amazon Echo Dot back in October of 2016. What is the Echo Dot? Simply, it’s a hands-free, voice-activated small device with a built – in speaker. Dot can do all kinds of cool things, it can play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather and more – instantly. In the Box: Packaging for the Dot is as simple as the device itself. Inside you get the Dot, a power adapter (9watt), a USB charging cable and basic instructions for setting up your new Echo Dot. Setup for the Dot couldn’t be easier. Just download the free Alexa app which is available for Fire OS, Android, IOS and desktop browsers. Once that’s done, open the app and follow the instructions to connect Dot to your Wifi network. Now you’re ready to say hello to Alexa. Alexa is actually one of four “wake” words you can use to activate your Dot. You can also use Echo, Amazon, or if you’re a Trekkie you can now use your computer. A friend of mine actually had to use a different wake word because they have a daughter named Alexa, which you can imagine caused some interesting problems. Speaking of kids, they will also love Alexa. I have two young nephews and when they come over they love asking Alexa questions or have her tell them corny jokes. Like most young kids they love Sponge Bob and got a real kick when they asked Alexa “who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” And she responded “Sponge Bob Squarepants.”

At first, I was skeptical about buying the Amazon Echo Dot because of being "locked" into an echo system ran entirely through Amazon. It's great to know that the Echo has a large following of companies that support it. I personally got it to see if I can integrate into stuff to convert my stuff into smart appliances (like my lights and space heater, and certain switches throughout my home.). Once I had these features setup, the Echo became more and more useful as more and more stuff came out (you add "skills" to your Echo to add features) I was blown away to know that I can order pizza (dominos and Pizza Hut so far), play music via Amazon Prime Music (free month trial and only $3 bucks afterwards), use Bluetooth to pair your phone to it, have it tell you news/weather/traffic and even play games via skills. My only major gripe about it is the speaker on it is very quiet but it does have an auxiliary jack to connect it to a bigger sound system or via Bluetooth speaker as well (mine is actually connected to a compact JVC mini shelf system.

Got one for my bedroom and paired it with my bluetooth speaker and man I couldn't be happier with this thing. Understands everything i say to it without having to raise my voice even while playing music. I plan to expand beyond the bedroom and have it control all my lights and my ac as well. The possibilities are almost endless. For 50 bucks you really can't go wrong with this. I would have uploaded video but I guess best buy reviews don't allow it which is a shame because pictures alone don't do justice.

I got this Amazing echo dot gen 2 on sale for $30 right before gen 3 was released. I already knew about the new echo dot when I bought this but wanted to save some money. I haven’t listened to the newer dot to compare the two. The built in speaker is not very loud for music and is really only good to hear Alexa assistant or talking in general. This is great however that it allows you to pair this with any Bluetooth speaker to send the audio to much better speakers. I am also using this with the 3.5 mm line out cable to hook this to my non Bluetooth Sony alarm clock that is way too old to have built in Bluetooth. I really like being able to send audio via Bluetooth to my sony sound bar by voice command! Google cast with that same sound bar is very cool also. I also have the Insignia smart portable google Home speaker that goes on sale for very cheap prices all the time! I like the Insignia speaker better even though it doesn’t have a 3.5 mm line out jack and is not as versatile in working with any Bluetooth speakers as far as I can tell so far. The google assistant seems to answer my questions more often than Alexa. Also google assistant is much more chatty in general than Alexa. Kind of like a digital friend than a cold robotic assistant. For the price I paid though I think this is a good assistant to add to your smart home along side google.

I truly enjoy my Echo Dot! I am new to home automation and virtual assistants and I feel as though the Echo Dot is an excellent choice to get anyone’s foot in the door when it comes to home automation! I ended up going with the Dot over the other Alexa/Echo devices mainly due to the affordable cost and its standard features. I own a few high quality Bluetooth speakers which I paired with the Dot therefore helping me in my decision to buy the Dot rather than the standard Echo as I am using my Bose Soundlink Mini II with it rendering the standard Echo overkill for my purposes with its main distinguishing feature between it and the Dot being a built in speaker with the standard Echo. The second reason I bought the Dot is it’s very small form factor which I truly enjoy to this day as I don’t like clutter and the Dot is easily hidden while still being able to hear my voice at impressive distances and fulfill my commands. Overall, if you have your own external speaker and want a small, but effective device, then I strongly recommend the Echo Dot to fulfill all of your home automation needs and wants!

Actually got this to use on my outdoor speakers. Had google mini but no audio out so this was perfect. I can be at the end of my backyard or in the pool and it still hears me. When not using I simply put it in my towel box.

I am a huge fan of the Alexa Products, these little devices are affordable and coordinate to every room in my house. I love this one and got it to match my bedroom, since my bedroom is all black and brown. Once you have one, you want to fill your whole house with them, just like me. This one is my new favorite as black is a clean crisp color. it is loud, hears your clearly and reacts in a timely manner.

My mom has the full-sized echo but she has a 3BR 2-story house and I live in a 1BR apartment, so I went with the Dot. I love it so far! It was easy to set up, I did so as soon as I got home. I set it to recognize my voice and I use it to play music on spotify or pandora, and to control the lights (smart plugs) in my bedroom and living room. It is very responsive, easy to use, and takes up no space at all! Good sound quality for such a little device. Adds the perfect touch of modern elegance to my living room.