Powered by Alexa

Most of us have experienced smart assistants on our smartphones. Apple has Siri, while Google of course has Google Assistant. While both companies are slowly trying to integrate their voice assistants in smart speakers, Amazon’s smart assistant, Alexa was designed specifically to be the brain of the Echo speakers. It’s programmed for a home environment and for that reason the voice assistant is capable of doing so much more, no matter what Echo speaker you get. As the brain of the Echo speaker, Alexa is always learning. It can adhere to your preferences over time and even present search results that are more relevant to you. The best part is these upgrades happen automatically over the cloud.

Going handsfree

Echo speakers provide plenty of features in wide range of categories. You can use the Echo to help you with simple tasks like getting you news, weather updates, setting alarms, scheduling your calendar, getting you sports updates and many more. You can ask Alexa to look up for information for you on the internet as well.

 

Being a speaker, you can even sync Echo with popular music streaming services like Amazon Prime Music and Saavan to play your favourite tracks. Not just that, you can even be more specific of the song or the genre you want to listen to. Amazon has a huge library of books, and it also allows you to use Echo to recite audiobooks in your free time. This is a great feature for anybody who is just getting into audiobooks.

 

With a new feature added, you can even use Alexa to make calls and send voice messages to any friend or relative owning an Echo speaker. Yes, the feature is only limited to Amazon’s own eco-system at the moment, but that might soon change. More countries are getting support for Echo to call through your mobile number. Ultimately though, what makes Echo a useful device is the growing number of features it’s getting, thanks to the integration with third-party applications and companies. Amazon likes to call these features, ‘Skills’. At present, there are about a thousand Skills for Alexa and more are added almost every day. Skills allow you to be specific with your commands and get benefits across service providers without having to open an app, website or even call them.

 

There’s plenty of other things you can do here. To give you an idea, you can use Alexa to order food from Zomato or Foodpanda. Not just that, you can even ask for suggestions of restaurants around you and get reviews for them before ordering. Alexa takes information from your profile to understand your preferences. Similarly, you can even ask Alexa to book a cab, be it an Ola or Uber. Besides this, there are plenty of other skills available from multiple categories. You can play music, get details on a specific news article, get health and fitness tips and many more. If bored, you can even ask Alexa to crack a joke or start a multiplayer game to play with your family and friends. What’s great about Skills is that they are becoming increasingly specific in each of those categories. A good example is saying, ‘Alexa, help me sleep’ and the speaker will play soothing music to help you relax. Just like these are plenty other skills to explore both complex and simple tasks.

Smart home controls

Getting an Amazon Echo speakers the first step towards a connected smart home. Echo speakers support a number of smart home devices that you can control using simple voice commands. The most prominent of smart devices are Philips Smart Hue lights. Once configured, you can simply ask Alexa to switch on or off the lights in your home or a specific room. Based on the smart lights you have, you can even dim them or ask Alexa to change the colour.

 

There are even smart switches and plugs you can buy that make your existing devices at home, smart, allowing you control them with an Echo speaker. For example, you can use a remote IR blaster to control your air conditioner, with the help of simple voice commands. You can even use Alexa to change the temperature as well, without ever having to use the remote. These smart switches can even be applied to Kitchen appliances, like microwaves and ovens.

 

The idea is to make the devices and tasks hands-free. Amazon Echo speakers also allow you to create automated tasks around the house. They are called Routines, and you can trigger them with a customized phrase. For example, you can set the Echo to give you weather and traffic updates in the morning, by simple saying ‘Good morning Alexa’. You can create and customize your own Routines to work along with other smart devices in your home. Not just that, Amazon Echo also supports IFTTT, a popular automation app that consecutively adds support for more apps and smart devices, adding to the overall  functionality of the speakers. It’s not just productivity or entertainment, Alexa will add on to your security as well. With supported wireless cameras, you’ll be able to ask Alexa to the check-up on the camera outside your door. It’d even be possible to ask Alexa to open the door, thanks to smart door locks. The present number of devices available are limited, but they are growing fast, given the number of smart devices being introduced today.

Types of Echo speakers

There are three types of Echo speakers available at the moment. Although the functionality is more or less the same, they do differ in certain areas. It’s important to choose one based on your requirements.

Echo Dot Priced just under Rs. 5,000*, the Echo dot is the cheapest smart speaker Amazon has to offer. It looks like an ice hockey puck with a diameter of 3 inches. It’s essentially for people who want to setup Alexa in a small room or want a secondary Echo speaker. Since the built-in speaker isn’t that powerful, most people might only need it to interact with Alexa. There is a catch though. The Echo dot might not be great for music, but it does carry Bluetooth and a 3.5mm Auxiliary jack to connect external speakers. This makes the Echo Dot perfect for someone who already has a great sound system and would like to use it as the primary speaker for Alexa.

Echo The Echo comes in a cylindrical body and features an audio output similar to the likes of most Bluetooth speakers. For that reason, it’s seen more as a standalone speaker meant to be placed in a larger room. That said, it also features both Bluetooth and Auxiliary input as the Echo dot, if needed. What’s unique about the Echo is that the outer case is interchangeable between three colours. So you get to choose one that goes well with your home decor. Besides the audio performance boost though, the Echo offers the same features as the Echo Dot for the price of Rs. 9,999*.

Echo Plus The Echo Plus is no doubt the flagship model. It’s slightly bigger than the Echo and features better sound output. But perhaps the biggest advantage it has to offer over the other speakers, is the fact that it also acts as a smart hub. This allows the speaker to discover some smart devices in the home and connect to them automatically. This helps avoid the hassle of the setup and the extra cost of getting an external smart hub, which is needed for the other speakers. If you’re keen towards building a smart home setup, then the Echo Plus is perfect for you. It will set you back Rs. 14,999*.

It’s no doubt that a connected home with multiple smart devices are the future we’ve headed towards; and smart speakers like Amazon Echo are definitely going to be at the centre of it. The only question remaining is, how soon will you be adapting to the technology? To get a better idea of Amazon Echo speakers, walk into the closest Reliance Digital store. Our well informed staff will be happy to explain the features and help you select the right Echo speaker for you home.