When Amazon announced the Echo connected speaker, there was speculation about how it would work in terms of integrating with Amazon and the larger web. Reviews came out after the Echo launched, positive or mixed depending on the source. For me that confirmed it was based on personal usage, so after using the Echo I wanted to report our findings.
I was able to take advantage of the Amazon Prime member ‘invite’ to purchase the Echo at a discounted rate ($99 compared to the non-member $199), but really wanted to give my wife a new speaker for our bathroom (which is a pretty huge room) because the little mini speaker she was using wasn’t really any better than just using her phone.
My focus in this quick review is on how this works for an end-user who just wants some music in a room and maybe a little more. I will mention other things such as audio quality, but overall I wanted to highlight some of the reasons that the Echo has quickly become a member of our household and not just another dust-gathering speaker in a corner somewhere.
##Information, music, news, weather, and more—instantly
##Controlled by your voice for hands-free convenience
##Voice recognition hears you from across the room
##Connected to the cloud so it’s always getting smarter
Five Reasons the Amazon Echo Has Earned a Prized Spot in Our Home
