She’s benign AI. At least so far. She does everything you need, that you should be able to do yourself. And, as long as she doesn’t wake up one morning, decide to take over the world, and murder us in our beds, she’ll be a friend to us all.
See what I mean? They’re a bit weird. But if you’re into Alexa, you might want to take that interest a bit further with one of the above products.
And, of course, the Echo Studio is Alexa-enabled, so you get all the functionalities of a smart home assistant along with that impressive sound.
The Echo Studio is also available for a limited time in a Billie Eilish Limited Edition, which includes a skin with the likeness of the Grammy and Academy Award winning performer.
Pros:
Cons:
ExpensiveVery big
Prior to the Echo, we thought it was okay to turn on our lights by touching the dirty switches on the wall. We thought it was okay to set our own alarm clocks. We thought it wasn’t the height of crudeness to punch numbers into a calculator using our actual fingers. We were willing to do these simple, basic tasks ourselves. But then we learned that we could set timers for every little thing, with impunity. We learned that having our choice of music at our fingertips no longer required actual fingers. The Echo became the least necessary, most appreciated simple helper in our home. We got to know Alexa, and she became family. The Original Echo most closely resembled a black Pringles can. This device defined the Alexa concept. It had a ring of powerful microphones, capable of picking up commands from a distance. It had decent quality speakers for room-filling music. It was meant to be both an intelligent assistant, and a spare Bluetooth speaker. In late 2017, the original Echo was taken off the market, replaced by a new Echo and Echo Plus, which have since been updated again. Now both the Echo and Echo Dot are spheres instead of cylinders. The previous generation Echo also added the ability to change skins. That’s gone away with the spherical Echo. You can choose from Charcoal, Glacier White, and Twilight Blue (which doesn’t look at all like twilight and is really kind of a bluish-gray two-tone thing). Personally, I like the black look for pretty much everything, but if you’re trying to make the Echo blend in with your surroundings, the alternate colors might prove appealing. That said, the spherical shape makes it harder to fit in your space than the previous cylindrical versions. The 4th Generation Echo also adds the smart hub capabilities previously only offered in the now-discontinued Echo Plus. A smart hub. If you’re not familiar with smart home devices, this will take a second to explain. Basically, in almost all cases, when you add a smart home device (like the Alexa-controlled Philips Hue bulbs), you need to add a hub to your network to control them. While hubs aren’t that difficult to set up, one disadvantage is the extra device, wire to your router (or Wi-Fi link), and power dongle. The Echo Plus eliminated the need for this extra device for most common smart home devices, and that benefit is inherited by the fourth generation Echo. One thing to keep in mind is that the fourth generation Echo (like the previous Echo Plus) supports the Zigbee smart home standard, but not Z-Wave. My blinds are Z-Wave, so I had to pick up a Samsung Smarthings hub to manage those. The new fourth generation Echo has a low power mode that will work in most configurations and uses 50% post-consumer recycled plastics. It also uses 100% post-consumer recycled fabric and 100% recycled die-cast aluminum, proving that even Big Brother can care for the environment. Finally, this model also has a 3.5mm audio jack input and output. Pros: Cons:
The ball-shaped designThe status light on the bottom of the unit isn’t as easy to seeWe miss the iconic Pringles can form factor of the original
Sure, yes, it’s an Alexa. So it responds to voice commands and plays back responses and music. In the fifth generation, sound quality has once again improved. But now it also includes a temperature sensor, so you can turn your HVAC system on and off through an Alexa routine without relying on an external sensor – which often cost as much as the entire Echo Dot. The fifth generation Echo Dot is also an Eero mesh repeater, providing the ability to extend your Eero router’s coverage merely by placing a Dot on a desk. And now, you can tap it on top. Why is that good? We’re still working on that one, but we’re sure there must be some interesting options for routine integration. The fifth generation Dot makes use of its display to showcase little bites of information. When not in use, it displays the time. That clock is more handy than you might expect. Pros: Cons:
Sound quality is not as great
Pros: Cons: The 10-inch Echo Show looks like it was separated at birth from a 2002 iMac G4. Except the Echo Show has a gimmick: it follows you around. Like a creep. Review: Echo Show 10 with motion: How it feels to be followed around No, it doesn’t rove around the room under its own power (that’s the Ring Always Home Cam, which flies and hasn’t been released). This Echo Show spins on its base, so it’s always facing you. If you’ve ever had a small dog stare at you with 10,000 watts of attention, all attempting to will you drop that piece of chicken, you probably know how it will feel to have the new Echo Show stalk you. Pros:
Use display as a digital photo frame Auto-framing always keeps you centered on video callsBuilt-in Zigbee smart home hub
Cons:
Expensive
This is really the sweet-spot Echo Show. At $69, it’s quite inexpensive for what it does. It has a big enough screen that you can see what’s on the other end. Pros:
Same great features as the 10-inch Echo Show, but cheaper Made with sustainable materials Down to $69
Cons:
No built-in Zigbee smart home hub
Pros:
Great for organization like family calendars and to-do lists Family members can create personal profiles and use visual ID and voice ID to see their specific appointments, reminders, and more
Cons:
No auto-framing video feature
Look, it’s hard to recommend the 5-inch Echo Show over the 8-inch model, even if you’re saving money. The screen is smaller (and the drop from 8-inch to 5-inch is more than you’d expect when watching a video), the camera is of a substantially lower quality, and it doesn’t sound as good. Really, the only reason you should get this over the 8-inch model is to save those bucks or if you don’t have a space that can fit the slightly larger model. There is a kid version of the Echo Show 5 that comes with a reptile green shell. Because kids like reptiles? I don’t know. But it’s green. As with the Echo Dot Kid’s edition, you can pay extra to have the Echo Show provide some level of parental control services, keeping your little ones safe. Pros:
Useful as a smart alarm clock Kids version
Cons:
Lacks the quality and robust features of other Echo Show devices
The big question: why isn’t this a robot vacuum with an Echo Show screen? Ah well, stay tuned. It’s got an introductory price of a thousand bucks (and you have to be invited to buy it). After the intro period, it’s going up to $1,449. Let us know in the comments below if you’re dying to get your hands on this one. Pros:
Advanced navigation technologyCan follow you around the house
Cons:
Only available by invitationSuper expensive
We still think you’re better off with CarPlay than this hack of wires and aux ports, although the roadside assistance is a compelling additional feature. That said if you’re dedicated and you only want to spend under $60, go for it. Pros:
Brings useful Alexa controls into your vehicle Hands-free controls safe for drivingRoadside assistance
Cons:
Not compatible with all cars
These $70 earbuds are basically AirPods for the rest of us, with Alexa built-in. According to our own Matthew Miller, they’re not spectacular, but they also don’t suck. Plus, they look like AirPods, if AirPods had been drawn to the dark side. Pros:
Sweat resistant Compatible with iOS and Android
Cons:
Touch panels can be too sensitive
No, these aren’t the AR Erikas I foretold back in Reality shock: The #FakeWorld future of ubiquitous AR. Not yet, anyway. These are just eyeglass frames with a mic/speaker built into the frame. Still, it’s a step in that direction. Pros:
Prescription, blue light, and sunglass options Supports Google Assistant and Siri
Cons:
Quality of the frame build could be betterSuper expensive
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So here’s where we stand with the Echo Show. We have four models of this thing. Three are two recently updated 5-inch models (one is a kid’s edition), an updated 8-inch model with a vastly improved camera, and a 10-inch model. So, what is the Echo Show? It’s an Echo that is aimed at video chat and monitoring. At least that’s its starting application. Let’s deconstruct that for a moment. We’ve all used FaceTime or some similar video chat capability on our phones. The Echo Show does the same thing, except it has to be plugged in and must sit in one spot. Does this remind you of anything? If you’re a Millennial or older, you remember telephones. These were devices tethered to the wall that were rock-solid reliable. They allowed us to talk (with our voices) to other people who also had telephones. While there were eventually wireless phones, for years, most of us had to walk to the location where the phone was, dial the party we wanted to talk to and stay within reach of the cord. We could only talk, not text. There was no panic over where we put down our smartphones. There was no concern over whether the battery was charged. We rarely uttered, “What? I can’t understand you.” It was a simpler time. OK, I know I’m being a bit facetious in my description, but there’s a point here. My mom, who spent the last 30 years of her life using computers actively, kept getting confused trying to use her smartphone. She kept hitting the red button and then wondering why her calls dropped. My dad didn’t trust his smartphone at all and insisted I install a landline for him when he moved to a new house. Neither my mom nor my dad liked the idea of the contact list on the phone. They had a few numbers memorized. For everything else, there was a sheet of paper with phone numbers next to, you guessed it, the telephone. There are two immediate and powerful applications for the Echo Show: Checking on elderly family members and being able to look in on the kids easily. The Echo Show easily allows you to use voice activation to contact, talk to, and see a family member. If on the approved list, you can establish a connection immediately. This gives concerned middle-agers the ability to ascertain the health of an elderly parent quickly. It gives parents and grandparents the ability to easily connect with, talk to, and see the kids and grandkids. It bypasses the whole smartphone thing completely. While many of us might find the idea of a fixed, plugged-in phone to be an inconvenience, it also provides a hands-free calling experience from a set place, a known location, and a predictable setting. Let’s go farther, though. What might someday be on that screen? Right now, you can ask Alexa to time things and calculate things, but you can’t tell her to show you the next item in the recipe. But with the addition of video and image skills, I’m betting that’s not far off. And yet Alexa still doesn’t do anything that I couldn’t do if I wasn’t self-enabling myself to new levels of laziness. I mean, really? I should be willing to flip on a light switch with my actual hands.
