See what Alexa can do
I have a few Echo Dots 2nd gen and now I have the Echo Dot 3rd gen. I use them daily and so far I feel like the 3rd gen has better sound quality and also responds quicker to my commands. I use these for music, news, announcements, timers, alarms, asking random questions, and more.
One of the features that I use daily is the multi-room speaker grouping. This allows me to play audio on a group of Echo speakers. The audio is always synced up perfectly and when I go room to room the audio is there (wherever there is a device). In the Amazon Alexa app, go to "Devices", tap the + icon on the top right corner, select "Add Group", name your group, then select the devices to add to the group. You can set up multiple groups, just make sure they have different group names. The devices have to all be on the same network for this to work. So if my group name is "All Devices", I can say, "Echo, play NPR on All Devices", or "Echo, play Spotify on All Devices", or similar. You can also control the group volume by saying, "Echo, volume (down to 3) / (up to 6) / (mute) / (max) on All Devices", or you can change the volume on individual devices even as it's playing group audio. Saying "Echo, stop" will stop the audio on the whole group.
I also use the announcement feature sometimes. "Echo, make an announcement: Dinner is ready." And Echo will announce it to all the other devices. What happens is when you are saying your announcement it gets recorded and then it’s replayed on the other devices as an announcement. If you have other people in your "Amazon Household" (other Amazon accounts linked to yours, not necessarily in the same home) who also have devices, they will be able to hear your announcements and they can also make announcements to your devices. So using this feature you could communicate short messages to another home that’s across the street or across the country, like a walkie talkie via internet with unlimited range.
One of the favorite skills that my children really enjoy is "Amazon Storytime". There are lots of fun, original stories on there that always captivate my kids. There is also a recently added skill called "Disney Stories" that they like to listen to. I use these stories as a reward and incentive. Sometimes they will tell jokes with Echo (Echo, knock knock.....), and Echo will joke back. It can get to be a back and forth between the kids and Echo! Or they'll ask Echo questions (Echo, where did dinner come from?), and Echo will actually respond. They also use the timer and alarm feature often. "Echo, set an alarm for 5:00pm." "Echo, set a timer for 2 minutes." Echo can have multiple timers and alarms going at the same time and they can each have a name or not.
Overall, I love having my Echo Dots. I feel like there is always something to discover about them, as well as new skills constantly being added. But I have only ever purchased these during super sale events, like Prime Day. If I had to pay the original price, I'm not sure I'd even have one single device. Having said that, these would make great gifts if the receiver could utilize the various features.
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Customer Review: Love my Amazon Echo Dot
Marisa Starr
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Versatile device to ask questions, as alarm clock, to call someone, for notifications, to play music
This is my first time owning an Amazon Echo device (although other members of my family and friends have them, and I've used it in that manner).Setting up the device took a bit of time, but was not difficult. I downloaded the Amazon Alexa app, and followed the instructions. Then, I plugged the USB cable into the port on the Echo device, and into the power outlet.I've now used my own Echo for the past several weeks. It is responsive, able to pick up my questions from anywhere in the room where the Echo is located, as long as I talk loud enough if I am far away.I love that I can listen to free music. For example, I say, "...Alexa, play 80s music..." and it plays until I tell it to turn off. And, if I want a particular song or a particular musician, then I can subscribe to the music service. I can tell Alexa to turn up/down the volume, or I can press the (+) or (-) button on the device itself to turn up/down the volume.I like that I can use Echo as an alarm clock.It's great to have Echo remind me to do something, such as "...Alexa, remind me to watch a TV program at 9 pm..."It's convenient to get the local weather.I love that I can call another person while using Echo.When my Amazon packages arrive (either to the house, or to my PO Box), I am notified by the light on the Echo flashing (this tells me there is a notification). Once I tell Alexa to give me notifications, she says that a package has arrive.Most of my questions can be answered. When Alexa doesn't know an answer, it says something like, "...hmmm, I am not sure...."I am still learning more about what other things that Amazon/Alexa can do.All in all, I am quite glad I got it!
