Basic Introduction

Amazon Echo is a brand new concept smart speaker launched by Amazon. Its biggest highlight is that it embeds intelligent voice interaction technology into traditional speakers, giving the speakers artificial intelligence attributes. It contains a voice assistant called "Alexa", which can communicate with you like your friends, play music, news, place online shopping orders, call Uber, order takeout, etc.

Support functions

Play music, make to-do lists, news, place online shopping orders, set alarms, call Uber, order takeout, music and audiobooks, provide weather, traffic and other real-time information.

How it works

1. In default mode, the device will continuously monitor all voices and will not start working until it hears the wake-up word. The default wake-up word is "Alexa", and the "wake-up word" can be changed by the user to "Amazon", "Echo" or "Computer".

2. Echo requires a wireless network connection to work. Echo works well over a "good" (low latency) Internet connection, which minimizes processing time due to minimal communication round trips, streaming responses, and geographically distributed service endpoints.

3. An Amazon account is required.

Amazon Echo and Amazon's Choice

1. Echo will make recommendations based on the customer's previous purchase history (Order History), collection history (Wish List), and search history (Search History).

2. If the customer has previously performed operations on the Amazon platform that meet the above conditions, Amazon will directly recommend products with Amazon's choice.

Product Updates

First-generation Echo

Amazon Echo is a 9.25-inch cylindrical speaker equipped with a 7-microphone array. It can interact with users by responding to "Alexa" voice commands. It is compatible with a variety of smart home products, and can also synchronize music playback, task lists, set alarms, streaming radio, audiobooks, read PDF documents, provide weather forecasts, traffic conditions reminders and a variety of real-time information through smart devices via Bluetooth.

Echo requires a Wi-Fi connection to respond to voice commands and must be connected to a power source to use. American and British users will also hear Alexa speak English with different accents.

Echo 2

The first generation Echo has been updated because it has been on the market for a while. Now Amazon has launched the second generation Echo 2 to replace the first generation Echo. It has a new look, a different design, and a faster response time. Alexa is still as powerful as before, but the price is also lower.

Echo 2 is equipped with a new shell, so it looks suitable for any place in the house. Echo 2 is the most direct competitor of Google Home, providing all the functions of Alexa and supporting Bluetooth connection. Compared with Echo Plus, Echo 2 is a basic product, but the price is correspondingly lower. However, like the first generation Echo, playing music is not its main task.

Echo Plus

Echo Plus is now the top product in the Echo smart speaker series. It looks very similar to the first generation Echo, but the sound quality has been substantially improved. In addition, Echo Plus also supports the Zegbee platform, so it can become the most powerful smart control center in our home and has all Alexa skills.

Zigbee is the connection standard for many smart devices, such as Philips Hue smart bulbs. With Echo Plus, there is no need to purchase an additional control center. You can directly control the bulbs by connecting them to the network. At the same time, in terms of voice control, Echo Plus is more powerful and all operations are simple.

EchoTap

The Amazon Tap is a 6.2-inch-tall cylindrical speaker with a seven-microphone array. It can be considered a smaller, cheaper version of the Echo, and it can fully use the Alexa assistant. Unlike the Echo, the Amazon Tap uses wireless connectivity and uses a dedicated dock for charging.

Amazon says that the Tap can be used continuously for 9 hours after being fully charged, and can be used continuously for 3 weeks in standby mode. By default, the Tap is not turned on, and you need to press the button on the front to wake it up. In February 2017, Amazon launched a firmware update for the Tap, which can be used through the Alexa Settings App and supports a hands-free option to wake Alexa without clicking a button.

Of course, using the speakerphone mode will drain the battery faster, since you need the microphone to be always on, but otherwise, you can achieve Echo-like functions by clicking a button and connecting to Wi-Fi.

Echo Dot

Echo Dot is a cylinder that is only 1.6 inches high and is very small and mini. Basically, Dot is the size of the top of Echo, and the price is only half of Echo, and it is just as smart. It supports Alexa's always-on, supports connecting to the cloud platform to play music, control smart devices, and can achieve the same things as Echo. The first generation of Echo Dot was released in March 2016.

Echo Spot

Amazon Echo Spot is a combination of Echo Show and Echo Dot. It is not only more compact and can be placed next to the bed, but also equipped with a 2.5-inch display screen to display some basic information. In addition to playing music and gesture control, Echo Spot can also be used for video calls.

Echo Look

Although no further details are known at the moment, we do know that the new product is called Echo Look.

Echo Connect

Echo Connect is a box that connects your landline phone to a voice-controlled system and is expected to be available in 2018. It will allow Alexa to control a traditional landline phone in our home, thus being able to make calls to landlines with voice commands.

In addition to making calls, there is no need to register for any additional services. It can also connect to other Echo devices at home to share more functions.

Echo Buttons

Echo Buttons is a small button that connects via Bluetooth and provides many colors and Alexa assistant. Imagine that when you are in danger, you can contact others at any time by just pressing a button.

At the same time, whether it is used as a wireless switch for smart lighting systems or as a gaming tool, Echo Button is a very good tool and also supports touch operation.

References

• 1. Amazon Echo Sound Quality First Experience: Sohu [cited on 2018-01-31T16:00:00.000Z]
• 2. What exactly is the Amazon Echo speaker that is so popular in Europe and America? : Sohu [cited on 2017-02-17T16:00:00.000Z]
• 3. Do you know the difference between the various Echo models on Amazon? : Tencent Digital [cited on 2017-12-08T16:00:00.000Z]