Alexa, wake me up at 7 am with music.” “Alexa, play Bollywood songs.” In recent years, Amazon’s Echo devices have steadily entered our households (at least in the metros and big cities) and have played an integral part in simplifying our lives. With the convenience of voice, people simply ask Alexa voice assistant for their favourite music, control smart home appliances or just have a fun time with family. The best part, Alexa is happy to help.
Cut to present. The Jeff Bezos firm has introduced the all-new Echo family, we got our hands on the Echo Dot (4th generation), the company’s most popular smart speaker. It has the same spherical design and fabric finish as Echo, making it a stylish way to add Alexa to any space. It’s compact, but packs in a powerful 1.6-inch, front-firing speaker, producing crisp vocals and balanced bass for full sound you can enjoy in any room of your home. It retails for Rs 4,499, let us find out what’s new in the new smart speaker.
In the box, you’ll get the Echo Dot (4th Gen) and power adapter. Setup is simple—requires Wi-Fi and the Amazon Alexa app. Just ensure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone and for the Alexa app. Plug the power cord into the Echo Dot and then into a power outlet. Wait for the Orange light which means device is in setup mode. Follow the on-screen prompts and you are good to go.
The fourth-gen Echo Dot is a 3.9-inch sphere, half plastic and half fabric covered, in Black, White and Blue colours. On the top, there are four physical buttons for volume up/down, activating Alexa, and turning the mic off. The blue light ring showing when Alexa is listening has migrated from the top to the bottom, making the surface under the speaker glow softly.
I have reviewed Echo Dot in the past too, and I reckon that it is far more than music alone: It’s about answering questions, homework help, smart home control and numerous other add-on voice skills. Switch on the lamp before getting out of bed, dim the lights from the couch to watch a movie etc, the Dot will do all this for you.
Additionally, from alarms and sleep timers to setting friendly timers, the Dot will take care of all these mundane details. During these stay-at-home times, this Amazon speaker has suddenly become more useful. Highly recommended.
Estimated street price: Rs 4,499
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