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Is Alexa Echo Spot voice assistant worth to buy? Review Complet 2020

April 26, 2020

“The only voice assistant with a camera and a touch screen for your smart health home!” -Amazon Alexa Echo Spot Review of AB SMART HEALTH

Welcome to our review  devoted to Amazon Echo Spot voice assistant. Marketed during the summer of 2018, it is sold from 129 dollars for the product alone. This device is a  revolution in the smart speakers. Composed of touchscreen, it greatly enriches the user experience. This voice assistant is available in two colors ((White and Black). We invite you to discover our Review on the Amazon Echo Spot.

 Review | Amazon Echo Spot smart speaker

It’s in a small black box that we discover Amazon Echo Spot smart speaker. The sobriety is appropriate, no room for the superfluous. The contents of the box are simple and effective, and we find:

  • The pregnant,

  • The power cable,

  • The getting started guide.

With a packaging as simple, its expected use is intuitive and we were not disappointed on this point.

A half-sphere with beautiful finishes 

TheAmazon Echo Spot has a round design, in the shape of a half sphere. With a 9.12cm width, a height 10.35cm and an 9.63cm depth, this voice assistant has a good ergonomics. The black (or white) plastic coating provides modern design and inspires confidence in the product quality. His weight of 660 grams give it a quality of real health home automation product.

The the top part of the Amazon Echo Spot is made up of 4 microphones and of 3 non-touch buttons, which allow to:

  • Increase the volume,

  • Dimmer the sound volume,

  • Mute the microphone and Alexa voice assistant.

For interact with Alexa, it will take only call him. There are no buttons to start the voice assistant, unlike the Amazon Echo Plus 2. If you want to perform a factory reset, it has been done since settings menu, from this model’s touch screen.

To theback of the hemisphere, the user will find 2 ports :

  • One for food with a cable supplied,

  • A 3.5 mm mini-jack output to connect it to an audio system like speakers.

However, we regret that the speaker Amazon Echo Spot only works with electric current. She must must be smart health connected to the mains to be able to start. Her cut and your use makes the voice assistant perfect in a living room as well as in a kitchen. We wish we could move it in the house without having to unplug and the reconnect.

At the level of wireless connectivity, there Amazon Echo Spot can connect in bluetooth  speakers. We tried with a Bose Mini II speaker. The WiFi connection is done directly from the device. The same applies to log into your Amazon account. The 2.5 inch touch screen in color is therefore very practical.

The screen is the big plus of this model from the Echo range. It completes the information stated by Alexa and offers a visual support for the setting, the information search or the watching videos. When’device is in standby, the screen displayshour with clock, the weather and other features to discover. All around circular screen, the user will discover the colored rings, specific to Amazon Echo. They bring a visual information in colour :

  • With a white beam, the user can view the percentage of completion updates for example or the advancement of music.

  • With a Red light, the user is informed that the microphone is muted.

  • The blue light means that the microphone of the voice assistant is activated and he’s ready to listen to you.

  • The Orange color appears when the Amazon Echo is deactivated.

About the lower part of the Amazon Echo Sport, the voice assistant includes a rubber support who adheres well to surfaces. All around the rubber, the pregnant from the Amazon Echo are present.

We tested the black color, but the enclosure also exists in white. These two colors will allow you to choose the one that most closely matches your interior. We appreciate this attention from the manufacturer.

The touchscreen, the must of Amazon Echo

The touch screen of the Amazon Echo Spot is the big advantage of this model. Unlike the Amazon Echo Dot 3, or the Amazon Echo Plus 2, this device is configurable directly from this screen. It also allows support voice responses of Alexa by posting photos with information, videos or some Newsflash.

The screen allows you to watch videos, and even movies thanks to the service Amazon Prime. However, this device does not no access to Youtube, which is owned by Google and the main competitor of Amazon Echo voice assistants. It is possible to access ehealth content. Netflix is ​​also not available from Alexa skills. The 2.5 inch screen lets watch a ehealth or a movie in 16: 9 format or with an image that will cover the entire diameter of the screen. Even if it’s not ideal for watching a movie, this functionality is there. It’s a positive about the Amazon Echo on these competitors Google and Apple. Finally the screen show the ingredients of a cooking recipe that we asked him to look for.

At the level of Amazon Echo Spot settings, they are done directly from the screen. The user will have to follow the different steps to configure the device:

  • Connect the Amazon Echo Spot using the power cable. It will light up and say a few words to start my configuration.

  • Select the device language, by swiping down or up with your finger to choose the correct language.

  • Select the WiFi network and enter the login password.

  • Enter your Amazon account information. If you do not have one, you will need to create one, from a smartphone, touch pad or computer. Then you will have to validate on the Amazon Echo Spot the conditions of use and your identity.

  • Configure the time zone, the name of the device, and update if necessary.

  • After installing the updates, a small  presentation and usage will appear on the screen. The Amazon Echo Spot is set up and ready to use.

To find the features menu, just drag the finger from the top of the screen down. The user will find multiple icons : a House ((return to health home), a barred moon ((do not disturb mode), a wheel (access settings), a bar to adjust the brightness, an alarm clock (set alarm clocks), 2 arrows ((access routines) and an bulb ((configure household appliances: bulb or switch).

The Amazon Echo Spot has a camera. It’s the single Amazon Echo device to own one. It is used to communicate in videoconferences with other users who have a Amazon Echo Spot or going through Alexa app. Although the camera quality is not optimal, this voice assistant differs with this feature.

As for Alexa mobile app, as soon as the account is created and associated with the Amazon Echo Spot, you have the option of configuring routines and other features from the application. The possibilities are great and are summarized in our guide to Alexa configurations.

A speech Recognition sensitive

The 4 built-in microphones and the surrounding noise reduction technology, offer a better voice recording. Although the Amazon Echo Spot recognizes more female voices that masculine, voice recording is capricious. As with the Amazon Echo Input or the Amazon Echo Dot 3, we performed several tests for voice recognition:

  • Up to 3 meters, without raising your voice in an environment with a little outside noise,

  • Up to 5 meters, without raising your voice in a calm environment.

The device recognizes easily voice of your “master”. It is not no need to shout so that Alexa can detect your request. In one noisy environment, it will take raise your voice a little more or get closer to the voice assistant. The other benefit of the Amazon Echo Spot is that Alexa does not go off without calling it.

An audio quality sufficient

The voice assistant Amazon Echo Spot is probably the device of the Amazon Echo range which least like a smart health connected speaker. For good reason, the many features offered by the device does not intend it not just listening to music. However, this voice assistant does not have no legitimate competitor combining a camera, a touchscreen and pregnant.

At the level of listening to music, for a background music, a movie in bed or for a vconference call, there Amazon Echo Spot fits perfectly. However, for a sevening with maximum volume, listening may be unpleasant. The plastic shell does not enhance the edited sound to the maximum. It’s also for this reason that the voice assistant can connect with a speaker (mini jack plug) or a bluetooth speaker with the connectors.

 Easy to use thanks to Alexa

All the features and the orders of this enclosure go through the voice. Just ask something at Alexa out loud ((always starting with “Alexa…”), so that she can answer us. here are the cool features that we tested:

  • Play music : Just ask her what you want to listen to and Alexa will start the music. Music streaming goes through Amazon Music, Spotify or Deezer.

  • Research on the internet : find an answer to a question, search for a recipe, make measurement conversions, etc. Be careful to ask your question, we have found that it regularly happens that Alexa does not understand the meaning of our question or does not find an answer. In these cases, it is enough to ask the question differently, hoping that the result will be better.

  • Schedule an alarm or timer : we found the timer function very practical for cooking, when your hands are dirty or taken, being able to ask Alexa to start a timer when we have just put a dish in the oven is a significant time saver ( and avoids forgetting to put a timer when you have to wash your hands first before you can grab your phone).

  • Give weather or traffic conditions : having the weather live when performing another task is very handy, as is having real-time traffic information having to leave health home.

  • Read a book : Alexa can read eBooks you purchased through your Amazon account (or directly on Kindle). Only downside, Alexa’s robot voice is pretty monotonous and not really suitable for this exercise. Pity.

  • Control your compatible health home automation devices : you can connect your smart health connected objects via the application and thus ask Alexa to turn on your lights in a room, control your thermostat and many others.

  • Make ehealth calls : thanks to its screen, the Echo Spot allows you to make ehealth calls between configured devices. This is the important point, calls can only be made between two smart health connected Amazon Echo speakers, via the Alexa or Skype app. Interest is therefore limited. Pity.

  • Shopping on Amazon : one of the last interesting functions that Alexa offers is to make purchases but obviously only on Amazon. This can only be done if you have an Amazon account and have previously set up your account by registering your bank details.

Alexa is also able to sing, tell stories or some jokes, give you the latest news, create lists, in short Alexa is a voice assistant efficient and a virtual companion who we can talk to.

Best price 

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In summary

The voice assistant Amazon Echo Spot is a small technological nugget. It has innovative features with a touchscreen, a camera and theAlexa app integrated which greatly enriches user experience. It’s the first device of its kind with so many features available on the market.

However, this device does not have not the same use as for the Echo range. This is felt at the level of the audio quality when the volume is turned up to the maximum. The number of features in Alexa is currently limited but is expected to increase in the coming months and years. It’s a great product technological that promises a bright future.