The Echoes, Amazon's home assistants, will also be available in Italy from 30 October, but can already be pre-ordered. There are several models: Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Spot and Echo Plus. They are devices from which the personal assistant Alexa, the equivalent of Siri for Amazon's products, responds: in fact they are mainly speakers that you can ask to do some things, such as playing music, reading the news of the day or turning on a light or heating in the house. From today, the Echos can be pre-ordered at a discounted price of 40 percent compared to what they will cost in the future. We have put them in order of price, reporting the things they can do.
Echo Dot
It is the cheapest Echo: at the moment you can buy it for 36 euros. Once connected to the internet, you can use it to talk to Alexa and ask her to play a playlist on Spotify (or Amazon Music or other music streaming services), to read the weather forecast or the latest news, to set an alarm or to answer a question you might ask Google. You can also use it to listen to the radio or podcasts thanks to TuneIn.
For those in the house who have “smart” objects connected to the internet, the Echo Dot can be used to control them: for example, if you have lights from the Philips Hue system, you can, as soon as you enter the house, ask Alexa to turn them on asking him verbally. It can also be combined with thermostats and “smart” sockets, those that turn on remotely. You can also use it to text and make phone calls to anyone with another Echo device – basically a new version of the outdated home phone.
Echo Dot has a cylindrical shape, is covered with fabric and is available in three colors: anthracite (i.e. dark gray), mélange gray (a little less dark) and light gray. Its speaker is powerful enough to be heard in more than one room, but you can also connect it to other speakers, via Bluetooth (if they don't require a PIN code) or with a 3.5mm stereo cable, for even better hearing.
Echo
The actual Echo is currently available (in the same three colors as the Echo Dot) for 60 euros. It's a 6-inch tall turret and it does all the things the Echo Dot does, we won't repeat them, but it has a better quality speaker, dual, with Dolby processor. It also recognizes your voice much better, even if you are listening to music or in another room thanks to seven microphones and some technological precautions.
In addition to the basic offer, to buy the Echo for 60 euros, there is also one that includes both the Echo and the Philips Hue White Starter Kit, that is, two “smart” E27 bulbs and the small device to control them from your smartphone or with Alexa: 108 euros.
Echo Spot
Unlike previous products, the Echo Spot has a screen and looks like a smartwatch, but for a bedside table. In practice it looks like an alarm clock, and as such it always shows what time it is, but it has many more functions. It is about 10 centimeters tall. It does everything the Echo Dot does, but having a screen (63mm in diameter) it can also play videos. It has a camera with which you can make video calls to whoever has one, or see who is in front of the house, if a camera is installed.
With the offer of these days it costs 78 euros; it is available in black and white and there are various other offers to combine it with light bulbs, a thermostat or a “smart” socket, or a camera.
Echo Plus
Finally there is Echo Plus, itself a 15 cm high turret. Compared to the Echo, it reproduces sounds better and can be connected to the home devices of the Zigbee system directly thanks to an integrated hub (in practice, no other devices are needed to create connections between the “smart” objects and the assistant) which also contains a temperature sensor. The offer of these days is 90 euros. Like Echo Dot and Echo, it is available in light gray, mélange gray and anthracite.
Echo Sub
In addition to the assistants for the home, Amazon has also made available the Echo Sub, a speaker that can be connected to assistants to increase bass sounds when listening to music. The offer for the Echo Sub alone is 130 euros, but you can also buy it together with two Echoes (for 250 euros) or two Echo Plus (for 310 euros) to have a real stereo system.
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