What Is Amazon Echo Dot And How Does It Work?

What Is Amazon Echo Dot And How Does It Work? – When you make a purchase through a link on our site, we may receive an affiliate commission. This is how it works.

For a few bucks you get a whole load of smart audio functions and decent sound

What Is Amazon Echo Dot And How Does It Work?

Why do you believe in Hi-Fi? Our team of experts reviews products in a dedicated lab to help you choose the best one for your budget. Find out more about how we strive.

Amazon Echo Dot Does Music!!

If Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took over the world, he might only have the Amazon Echo Dot to thank.

As Amazon strives to enter every possible product market, every possible home and every possible area, the new generation Echo Dot 3 is the most compelling way to bring Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant into your home. But if you like the idea of ​​a smart assistant with a simple music speaker, it’s hard to argue with the Echo Dot.

There’s still something futuristic about firing commands and hearing feedback from the tiny electronics in the box, but on the surface everything about this product is pretty simple. The small, compact design remains but has been jazzed up and improved on the 3rd-gen Dot. .

Fabric replaces the hard exterior of the previous model and the controls on the top of the device have been improved. As a result it looks smarter – we see it as a nice addition to the room rather than something we want visually.

Should You Get An Echo Or Echo Dot? We Compare The Two.

You need to connect the Echo Dot to power, and you can wire it to other devices via the 3.5mm aux output for better sound, but otherwise it can go anywhere it can hear your voice. Once powered up, it’s easy to use the Amazon Alexa app and connect it to your Wi-Fi network.

3.5mm audio output and Bluetooth connectivity are about as good as you’ll get. This means that if you want bigger, better sound than the Echo Dot can provide, you can connect it to another device either wired or wirelessly. Otherwise, it’s all about Alexa in various ways. And it’s worth noting that all connections, and everything Alexa can do, are compatible with the 2nd-gen Echo Dot.

Alexa can play music, answer questions, read the news, check the weather, set alarms and control compatible smart devices in the home, from TVs to amplifiers and theater speakers. And you can check out Spotify and TuneIn as well as Amazon Music. While voice calls are a relatively new addition, the number of skills — devices that work with Alexa — continues to grow and includes a whole range of products, from Sonos to Domino’s Pizza and Uber.

What’s new is a new driver and a change in microphone format. There are 4cm drivers here, as opposed to 3cm in the previous model, and Amazon claims it’s 70 percent louder. Notably, there are four fewer microphones instead of seven, but design improvements aim to make every action more efficient.

How To Turn Off An Echo Dot

The three main factors in Dot’s performance are how well Alexa hears you, how well the speaker sounds (for answers and music), and what it can do. The previous Echo Dot was pretty impressive at listening to your commands, and we’re happy with the performance here. Clear commands will wake up Alexa, even when music is playing. Understanding your question and allowing for pronunciation, it’s not perfect, but, for the most part, it’s pretty effective.

“Alexa, what’s the headline?” and “Alexa, how’s the weather?” Easy to prove; “Alexa, play some French rap” creates a related Spotify playlist, while “Alexa, say something in French” returns the actual French word for ‘something’ – something the AI ​​hopes to improve upon in the future. . year

We’re adding Sonos skills and will soon be able to control music in a multi-room system of Sonos devices. Naturally, the Echo Dot wants to hear you, but you can talk to the Alexa app on your phone even without a headset. Compatible AV brands include Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, Pioneer and Yamaha.

The most impressive upgrade here is the sound quality. Despite the same size, the change in driver clearly has a positive effect. He’s loud, sure, but he’s better than that. The soft, thin sound of the previous version, which was improved by Google Home Mini, has been replaced with real bass, fuller sound and smoother sound.

Amazon Echo Dot Review

This means we don’t consider the Echo Dot a basic music device. Of course, your main hi-fi system should be better if possible, but for the kitchen or kids’ room, or just for occasional convenience, we didn’t stop playing music on these little budget speakers. And that’s something. Perhaps related, this means that Alexa has always been very agreeable: clear, loud and easy to understand.

The latest Echo Dot is the easiest, cheapest and best way to bring Alexa into your home. It works well on its own or can be integrated with many other smart home and AV products, making voice control and smart features just a quick command away.

In line with the latest Amazon Echo products, the sound quality has been significantly improved and for a ‘proper’ smart speaker it would be well worth the money to upgrade to the larger 2018 version of the Amazon Echo Plus, though it’s easy. And powerful smart speakers that are easy to recognize.

What’s Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world’s leading independent guide to buying and owning Hi-Fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you get the best bang for your buck, with our advice section providing step-by-step information on how to get the most from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our team of dedicated testers in our custom test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our prestigious five-star ratings and awards are recognized globally as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with complete confidence. It says ‘Click here to return to top of page.’

Amazon Echo Dot In Charcoal (gen 3) B07fz8s74r

Two crossed lines form an ‘X’. It indicates how to close the dialog or leave a message.

A home chevron icon indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes a previous/next navigation option. A chevron icon overview indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes a previous/next navigation option. A chevron icon indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes a previous/next navigation option. Technology

Twitter icon stylized bird with open mouth, tweeting. Twitter LinkedIn Symbol “In” word. LinkedIn Icon Flipboard Stylized Letter F. Flipboard Facebook Icon Letter F. Facebook Icon Email Envelope. This shows the ability to send emails. Image of an email link icon chain link. This is the URL link symbol of the website. Copy the link

The Amazon Echo Dot is a smaller version of the original Amazon Echo smart speaker. Looking more like a hockey puck than the Echo’s original cylindrical shape, the Spot is about 3 inches in diameter and about 1.5 inches tall.

Amazon Echo Dot Smart Speaker & Alexa 5th Gen (charcoal)

It has a few buttons on top that control volume, mute the speaker, and wake the device to listen for questions or commands (though you don’t need to touch the dot to use it; it’s primarily designed to respond to voice commands).

Like the original Amazon Echo, the Echo Dot is a voice-controlled smart speaker that uses an artificial intelligence personal assistant called Alexa to perform various activities. Alexa can play music, set alarms, control other “smart” devices in the home, play games, and answer questions by finding information on the Internet, just to name a few of its skills.

Check out the products mentioned in this article: Amazon Echo Dot (from $22 on Amazon) Amazon Echo (from $49.99 on Amazon) Amazon Echo Spot (from $129.99 on Amazon) Amazon Echo Plus (from $109.99 on Amazon) Amazon Echo Show (from $109.99) Amazon Echo Show ($129.99) from $159.99). on Amazon)

The Echo only differs from the main Echo in that it lacks the large speakers that took up almost all of the Echo’s original speakers. It has low quality, small speakers. But it can be easily connected to external speakers, either via a standard audio cable or via Bluetooth. The original Echo can’t connect to external speakers.

Buy The Amazon Echo Dot 5th Gen

The Amazon Echo Dot can play through a nearby large speaker with a standard audio jack or Bluetooth. Amazon

Otherwise, the item is identical to the Echo – it can perform all the functions of other members of the Amazon Echo family. Personal assistant Alexa performs similar tasks and can draw on the same library of skills and activities.

If you already have an Echo product and want additional speakers for other rooms in your home, you can mix and match. Amazon Echo items can work in a