Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsAdorable But Expensive (Too expensive?) Addition To The Family (Dec. 28, 2017 update)
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2017
SHORT & SWEET: If your bedside table has a clock radio and an old-fashioned phone, this is the perfect replacement or, at $130, would have been about 5 years ago. For 2018, it's an adorable but overpriced replacement that should have some kind of battery backup. OTOH we've had it for only a few hours so ...
(I've updated the Setup section - 12/28/2017)
BACKGROUND:
It started with a Generation I Echo in the bedroom, to be used mainly as a clock radio with voice input. As a radio, it was pretty good. As an alarm clock, rather annoying. (Really, when you wake up do you honestly want to *tell* your Echo to shut up?) But we got a second Echo (also Generation I but at a reduced price) for the living room. Meanwhile, upstairs, we got tired of moving the main bedroom Echo into the guest bedroom while cleaning. (I mean, we had to unplug it, carry it half a dozen steps, plug it in, let it wake up.) So we recently got a Generation II Echo for that room. Not just for convenience, of course. We figured visiting family and friends deserved a better "radio".
We needed another Echo like the proverbial hole in the head. So, why did we buy the Spot? Well, we convinced ourselves that it would be quite a nice addition to the kitchen, even though said kitchen is but 3 steps from the "living room" Echo (albeit around a small corner). That Echo's location was selected precisely because it was between the kitchen and the living room, but it also meant putting the Echo very near the TV and, sad to say, Alexa appears to like the voices of those on the tele better than ours. So we convinced ourselves that if we had a "kitchen" Echo we could move the "living room" Echo to a more central spot, where Alexa might be more amenable to responding to us.
Also, let's face it , the Echo Spot is cute.
REVIEW
NOTE: We are not exactly Amazon's target Echo family. We own no smart devices, other than the TVs. We don't use the Echos for lists or for shopping. They remain, basically, enhanced - but overpriced - combo clock radios/timers/calculators*.
Delivery Oddities
When we ordered the White Spot, we were given a delivery date of Dec. 19, 2017 - which is when buyers of the Black Spot (based on the early reviews) seem to have received theirs. Then we got an email informing us of a Jan. 10, 2018 delivery date. A few days later, the delivery date was changed to Dec. 27, 2017. Then we woke up on Dec. 24, 2017 to find it sitting by the front door. Not complaining mind you, but others have speculated about the Spot being shipped before it was fully "cooked" and I wonder if these changing delivery dates are signs they may be right.
SET-UP
Each generation of Echo seems to come with fewer written instructions, as if Amazon assumes everybody is already familiar with Alexa on some device (other Echo or tablet) or as if the Echos had become self-explanatory.
Is set-up easy for a newbie? For the most part, yes, but I'm not sure it would have been quite so easy if I had not read some of the reviews first. The instructions in the box are minimal, the most useful being that you need to know the password for your Wi-Fi. After plugging it in, we were greeted in German(!) but the screen display let us change the default language to English. Then you must enter the password for the Wi-Fi network you want to use. Alexa then informs you it will take about 10 minutes (which seemed fairly accurate) to download and install itself. The screen shows progress via a light bar circling around and status (updating, optimizing, checking for latest software). Once it has finished, you'll see a brief intro video telling you all the wonderful things you can do.
It's at this point that I think several reviewers ran into trouble. What to do next? I'm not sure I would have known to swipe down from the top for settings without having known about it beforehand (even though I own 5 Fires and should know that by now). I suspect that the proverbial grandmother who is unfamiliar with touch devices might not have known when to touch, swipe, or press the check mark. These are, I think, relatively minor issues that could have been solved with either a few more written instructions (the booklet is so small many probably missed the 3rd "page" with the "instructions" about pulling down from the top) or a much better introductory video.
One example: changing the clock face. It had seemed to me that I could only choose analog or digital, not that I could change the clock theme (and there was no visible feedback when I selected digital). So I asked Alexa and she told me how to do it. The Spot still doesn't have a lot of theme choices but I'm guessing that will change in the future. (Oh, you can get rid of Trending Issues and cycling. Our Spot has a simple clock that dims when the lights are out and brightens up when the lights are on.)
12/28/2017 Update: There aren't a lot of options with the Echo Spot but after several problems setting up the theme background (choosing "Personal Photo" works only about 1% of the time) I want, and after reading a number of complaints, I reviewed the tiny booklet that comes with Spot and then went to Amazon's help section and looked at "all" the videos for the Spot. Note: Amazon, for the most part, doesn't even distinguish between the Show and the Spot. The videos are inadequate. To say the least. Some of the issues with setting up the Spot could be resolved by adding check boxes to the options rather than relying on touch or Alexa. But Amazon could probably solve most of its help desk issues by creating a simple text document that shows each Spot screen with the options and sub-options available so new users don't have to keep cycling through stuff trying to find what they want.
FUNCTIONALITY
The Spot is sort of a smaller Show or a bigger (and cuter) Dot with a screen. The speaker is surprisingly good for such a small device, although I doubt you would want to listen to opera on it (unless you attach a Bluetooth speaker). The screen is less than ideal for video (not so much because it is small as because it is round). But we've found the screen display of our music makes it easier to choose something than with the other Echos which rely on voice.
Our main reason for choosing the kitchen as the Spot's home was the idea that its screen would help with recipes. So, naturally, we thought "YouTube". Unfortunately, whether because of device limitations or Amazon's current (Dec. 2017) feud with Google, YouTube is not available. Nevertheless, we were able to get several recipes simply by asking and YouTube doesn't have a monopoly on videos.
WAKE WORD
Well, having established Spot in the kitchen, we moved the "living room" Echo away from the TV and kitchen. And, guess what? Yep, both Spot and the "living room" Echo responded when we addressed Spot. So we changed Spot's wake word to "Echo". Now we have 3 Echos that respond to "Alexa" and one that responds to "Echo" plus our tablets which respond to "Amazon".
I understand the logic behind having a single command word for all of one's devices, but there are circumstances where one wants to interact with only one specific device, whether it is near to one or somewhat distant. So, Amazon, if you're reading these reviews, a suggestion. First, we want to call Spot "Spot". It fits. Second, how about a command hierarchy which would, for example, let us give a unique call word to each Echo with "Alexa" or "Alexa All" being the "all devices respond" command word. I haven't completely thought through how this would work, but device proximity isn't sufficiently discriminatory.
SUMMARY
1. Full Echo functionality in a tiny, good-looking package.
2. As currently designed, its most useful spot is probably the bedside table. It's not that it won't work on your desk or in the kitchen, only that the primary functions (alarm, weather, radio, phone) seem best suited for that location.
3. It's over-priced for what it does, but I am assuming the price will drop so I consider this simply an early-adopter issue.
4. Each of our Echos gets its electricity via an extension cord of some kind. Between the power cord's length and the AC adapter brick, well, either our apartment is remarkably deficient in electrical outlets or Amazon engineers have them spaced at table height at 3-foot intervals. This hadn't been more than a trivial annoyance (common to lots of electronic devices) until we decided to put Spot in the kitchen: the most useful locations were already in use by the microwave, toaster oven and mixer. The one spot available doesn't affect its usefulness as a radio or clock or timer but does as a recipe aid.
5. Spot needs a battery. Desperately. By your bedside, you want your alarm clock/radio to work even when the electricity goes out at 4AM. (Which also means, of course, that some basic functionality shouldn't depend on Wi-Fi). In the kitchen, it would be great to be able to pick the Spot up and move it to wherever you are working. in addition, the most comfortable way to use Spot's touch functions is to pick him up and hold him in your hand. Doing this is not all that easy when the power cord is stretched to its limit ... which is yet another reason why a well-designed battery base would be welcome.
If there are engineering reasons why Spot can't have a small internal battery, battery power could be built into a small base or stand. (I think some vendors have offered them for at least the Generation I Echos.) This would be useful especially IF Spot's alarm clock & radio functions weren't dependent on WiFi. (Maybe Amazon has heard of FM receivers?)
I was torn between 3 and 4 stars but decided that giving it 4 stars because it's adorable to look at was, well, somehow not professional, and, of course, there's the price. Spot's a nice addition to the Echo line with potential, either in its current implementation or in its next incarnation.
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*Oh, we still have real radios, timers and calculators in every room. None are dependent on the wi-fi working and most either run on batteries or have battery backup so they're useful even when the lights go out. So, yes, the Echos do rank as perhaps our most frivolous fourth-world purchases ever. But we wouldn't give them up.
