Skip to main content

Amazon Echo Spot

Amazon wants your home to feel like the deck on the USS Enterprise, the fictional starship from Star Trek. The company's Echo devices, along with the Google Home and Apple's Homepod are the first step Silicon Valley has taken, towards ambient computing.

It all points towards a future where computers are all around you and work without touching screens or pressing buttons. But before we get there, we need screens. And that's why Amazon made the Echo Show and Echo Spot, two Alexa-powered smart speakers with attached screens.

The Spot is Amazon's fourth Echo device in India and it's no coincidence that the company started selling it here weeks after Google announced the Home and Home Mini. The screen makes the Spot undeniably different from the Home and possibly better.

Using the Echo Spot

The Echo Spot can do everything the Echo speakers can and adds a visual element to some of the skills. You could call people using the Echo, you can make video calls using the Spot, you could listen to news briefings on the speakers, you can watch news bulletins on the Spot...you get the drift.

The screen makes the Echo Spot more intuitive. When you're shopping, it shows you what you can buy. When you ask for it for news or recipes, the text flows on the screen when available, or videos are played. It displays the name of songs being played and so on.

If you weren't quite comfortable listening to an artificial voice, the screen makes it that much more dependable and easier to use. The screen is touch-enabled of course, so you can swipe through items whenever needed.

The screen actually makes this the best smart home speaker to buy in India right now. Early adopters or otherwise, the screen is a mode of interaction you're used to. It makes it easier to trust the voice-first nature of the Echo Spot.

But...

Over the past week or so, I've realised that the screen is just a placebo. I've done nothing with the Echo Spot that I was doing with my Echo speakers. The Dot and Echo have been on my desk since the day Amazon announced them here.

Sure, I could sit next to the Spot and swipe through a shopping list of items Alexa found, but why wouldn't I just do that with my phone? Similarly, I can read the news on my phone, watch it on one of the many news apps and so on.

The screen makes everything seem easier to use, but it doesn't actually push you to use them. And by its own admission, that's intentional. Amazon wants this to remain a voice-first device, and in doing so, it's retained all the problems that the Echo speakers have. I repeat what I've said in all my smart speaker reviews, it's a device for early adopters who won't mind the fact that it doesn't bring you anything you really "need". Not yet anyway.

Voice calling through the Echo Spot

Enabling voice calls on its Echo range in India gives Amazon a huge advantage over the Google Home. The Echo Spot adds video calling, using a small camera on its front.

As long as your contact is using Alexa, the Echo Spot will make a call to them. It will automatically be set to video if the person on the other end has a video-enabled device, like another Echo Spot, or a phone. Alexa automatically recognises them, making the process quite intuitive.

That said, I noticed that the audio volume is quite low when you're taking calls made through the Echo on your phone. That is if the user on the other end is calling from an Echo Spot. An Echo-to-Echo call is quite clear though.

Can the screen convince you to buy this?

The Echo Spot is a couple thousand bucks cheaper than the Echo Plus. It doesn't have the IoT hub built in but has a screen. If you're buying the Echo Plus but don't intend to buy other Home devices, the Echo Spot is certainly better.

The Spot is also better for first timers since the screen adds a mode of interaction you're more used to. But, that still doesn't mean the Spot will change your life. The novelty might wear off here as fast as it does for the Home and Echo speakers. 

Yet, if you're buying a smart speaker, the Echo Spot is certainly the best you have today. The screen makes it easier to trust and calling is finally a feature that makes the Echo useful. The fact that it has an audio jack means I can still make my other speakers voice-enabled with the Spot too. And all that put together makes the Echo Spot the best in India right now.



from TechRadar - All latest gadgets reviews https://ift.tt/2w2Wpus
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mother's Day 2020 gift ideas: 18 gadgets and gizmos for tech-savvy Aussie mums

Raising a family is not an easy job, and the women who care for us each and every day deserve to be told how special they are each and every day. While we tend to forget to do that, Mother’s Day reminds us we need to celebrate the women in our lives, whether they’re our own mothers or our wives and partners helping us raise the young ones. Mother’s Day 2020 is fast approaching (with under two weeks to go), and there’s a pretty good chance you won’t be able to take her out to her favourite restaurant this year, or even get to a store to shop for something she might like. So we have to get creative, and TechRadar’s Australian team has put together this little list of great tech gift ideas that you can buy online and have delivered in time for May 10. But you will need to get a wriggle on as delivery supply chains are under strain with more people shopping online. Whether she’s a whiz in the kitchen, loves to cosy up with a book or entertain at home, we’ve got a gadget or gizmo that’s s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Amazon Australia has specials on Bose products all this week

December may have just begun, but the world's largest online marketplace is already feeling the Christmas spirit.  To kick off the month’s festivities, Amazon Australia is celebrating  ‘7 Days of Deals’ with Bose's superb audio hardware discounted each day. To begin with, the very popular (and rightly so) Bose QuietComfort 35 II and the more expensive Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are available for less. To sweeten the deal, Amazon will throw in an Echo speaker as a bonus as well. When you purchase the superb Bose Headphones 700, you will receive a free Amazon Echo Show 5, or if you’d prefer the Bose QuietComfort 35 II, you’ll receive a complimentary Echo Dot. The offer is valid until December 8, or while stocks last. You can buy the same bundles, for the same price if you make the purchase via the Echo Dot or the Echo Show 5 product pages on Amazon. Just make sure you select the bundled headphone in the 'add other items' section on the right. Best noi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Valentine's Day flowers: the best online flower delivery services

February 14 will be here before you know it, and if you, like many others, are searching for that perfect gift, then placing an online order for Valentine's Day flowers is always an easy and romantic option. You can order a beautiful floral arrangement in minutes from a variety of online retailers, including; 1-800-Flowers, Amazon, ProFlowers, Teleflora, and many more. To help you sort through all the Valentine's Day offers, we've rounded up the best online flower delivery services in both the USA and the UK and listed their current promotions. We've also included delivery charges and made sure to mention if you can allocate specific days for delivery. There's a fantastic range of bouquets and gifts available from our selection of florists below, and online delivery from a specialist means you don't have to worry about the usual hassle of buying from a store and getting them home safely. We'll be updating this page as we get closer to the big day so you...
Post a Comment
Read more