Voice Control Your Home With The 2nd Gen Amazon Echo
For the past three years, Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant, has invaded homes inside the case of the Echo speaker. Alexa has been doing things and tasks like ordering items from Amazon, answering questions, adding stuff to shopping lists, turning on smart lights and playing music for millions of people. Audiophiles who have a valuable respectable home stereo system can make it even better with the Amazon Echo 2nd Gen smart speaker. The Echo 2nd Gen is quite an impressively versatile gadget and comes with a handful of improvements which shall be discussed below. It is virtually one of the best affordable smart home devices you can find on the market.
What’s New With The Echo 2?
The new Amazon Echo 2nd comes in a smaller size than its predecessor, the Echo. With a slightly smaller diameter than its predecessor, the Echo 2nd Gen is 5.8 inches in height making it 3.5 inches shorter than its predecessor. It is controlled by your voice, can control smart home devices, play music, control other smart home gadgets and act as your personal assistant. The woofer size in both versions are the same (2.5 inches) but the 2nd generation has a 0.6 inch tweeter compared to the 2 inch twitter in its predecessor. Yet it boasts of better audio sound and quality with the additional Dolby sound which gives it a total and completely room-filling sound. Amazon’s new Echo 2nd also lets you receive and make calls from your landline for free (that is if you still have a landline).
Amazon has also added a new feature to Alexa known as “Alexa routines.” It is a simpler way of customizing various phrases to enable them to engage in several actions at once. For instance, you just need to say “Alexa, good night” and the Echo 2 will switch off the TV, lock the doors, and switch off the lights at once. Impressive!
The useful, attractive LED light is still there at the top, enjoying its time when Alexa is listening to you performing an action. The volume ring that was initially at the top has been replaced with volume buttons joining the action and mute buttons on the top.
The Echo Is Easy To Use, And Easy To Set Up
Simply plug in the 2nd Gen Echo. Connect to your internet using Echo. And then just ask Alexa for music, weather, news, videos, and more. It’s easy as 1-2-3 🙂
Features of the Second Generation Echo
Features of the Second Generation Echo
Design of the 2nd Gen Echo: Measuring 3.4 x 3.4 x 5.8 inches, the Amazon Echo 2 is a little smaller in diameter than its predecessor and also shorter by 3.5 inches. The smaller size makes is compact to easily fit snugly into any corner of your home. It also comes in a variety of colors of wood and fabric (such as charcoal fabric, Heather Gray fabric, oak finish, sandstone fabric and walnut finish) intended to fit the décor around your home.
Amazon has replaced the volume dial at the top with volume buttons. The listen and mute buttons as well as the micro USB (for power) and auxiliary (for connecting a sound system) ports still sit on the top. The bottom is coated to feel a little tacky which should keep the device from slipping off any surface. The Echo 2 does not have a built-in recharge battery and does not have wireless charging. You need a power adapter to operate the device.
Pricing of the 2nd Gen Echo: The fabric version go for about $100 while the wood finishes go for about $120. On sale, you can get the Echo 2 for about $75. This is cheaper compared to Google Home that goes for about $129 and the Google Home Hub for about $149.
Performance of the 2nd Gen Echo: Amazon has again taken this design up a few notches over its predecessor as discussed. However, since Alexa is a cloud-operated software, any changes or improvements made in Alexa applies across all Echo devices such as the Alexa routines that help you to simultaneously perform activities at once. In other words, it is the ability to control a group of activities together. Alexa also has improved skills such as requesting a ride from Uber, placing an order for a pizza, keeping fit with Fitbit, etc. There is so much more you can do with Alexa… Simply ask!
Audio quality of the 2nd Gen Echo: The Amazon Echo was designed with some home stereo systems and platforms in mind. Therefore, audio sound and quality is a top priority. Thanks to the integration with Audible, Amazon Prime Music, iHeart Radio, Spotify Premium, TuneIn and Pandora, you can now stream music through your home speakers. By simply plugging the little device in, you instantly modernize your entire set up. Echo 2 improves on the audio of its predecessor with better sound, quality and its Dolby Surround sound and this gives it better audio quality than that of Google Home Mini.
The Fine Print on the Second Generation Amazon Echo
The Amazon Echo second generation is quite an economical offering you one of the best ways to start making your home smart. It helps you perform a wide range of activities from listening to music, checking the weather, playing games, controlling the lights, asking questions, making calls, obtaining information, connecting with others and much more.
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Thumbs Up 👍• Easy to set up • Cheaper than Google Home • Works with or without additional speaker • Bluetooth in and out • Can recognize your voice and instructions even when you are playing music • Integrates easily with most compatible Echo devices |
Thumbs Down 👎• Speech recognition still work in progress compared to Google Assistant but this is constantly being improved and upgraded as it is online. • Requires an adaptor to be operated. Has no built-in rechargeable battery or wireless charging. |
Get Your Amazon Echo 2nd Gen Now!
“The echo speaker is awesome. I have 2 of them and 2 echo dots. They are all connected and working great. I also have gotten my first smart plug and Alexa communicates with it perfectly. I’m totally happy” – Rich S. December 10, 2018
“She’s like our personal assistant. Ask your Alexa to fart. She will do it. My son had a pretty long conversation with her about flatulence, it was hilarious ! She also does our smart devices and I wonder what else she will do in the future? Speaker sounds pretty good and it’s compact, doesn’t take up much space and I like that.”- Wookiee December 9, 2018
“I purchased the Echo in a bundle with Sengled smart bulbs, and everything is working better than I expected. At first, I thought it would be hard to pair Alexa with the bulbs, but the dedicated app is easy to use to connect devices. I surprisingly found the sound quality of the speakers to be good too, so I now use my Echo as a dedicated speaker. I would recommend this for anyone who wants to start using smart home tech!!” – Felicidad J. December 11, 2018
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