Page 23 - Computeractive - January 2, 2018 UK

SMART S PEAKERS ❘ £90/£140 from A mazon www.snipca.com/26312; www.snipca.com/26313

AmazonEcho 2 & E cho P l u s

Now A lexa comes i n v arious s izes

Priced £ 150 when it launched last (£50) is still available, a nd
autumn, A mazon’s E cho w as the fi rst the E cho S pot, which b uilds
‘smart speaker’ on the m arket, bringing Alexa into an alarm clock, is
Alexa – A mazon’s A I e quivalent o f due i n t he New Y e ar. F inally,
Microsoft’s Cortana o r A pple’s S iri – the E cho S how ( £200),
to your living room or kitchen. Like which w e’ll be testing s oon,
everyone else, w e w ondered i f t here was adds a s creen s o y ou can
much point t o a u nit t hat r eplicated ‘drop i n’ for v ideo c hats
something already a vailable as an app, with other A lexa users.
and i f i t w asn’t a b it creepy to have a b ox The new E cho i s s horter
in your home that constantly listened than the o riginal a nd comes
for y our v oice a nd, w hen a ddressed, in a f abric or wood finish.
uploaded what you s aid to a s erver t o Its s ound quality i s a bout
generate a r esponse. the s ame – c lear, b ut not
especially great f or music –
The E cho i s h ere although the a ddition of a
headphone jack lets you
a dd
to stay, a nd the l atest a b etter s peaker. V olume is
controlled with buttons
models are b etter a nd rather than a t wisting ECHO 2 ECHO PLUS
mechanism at the t op,
smarter than ever which i s a s hame. S lashing £60 f rom t he put each product in pairing m ode t o g et
original p rice i s w elcome, though. this working, but after that it’s effortless.
The Echo Plus keeps t he original’s t aller, If you h ave a dditional Echos, you c an
W e ll, t he answers are i n. People a re more austere design, with much-improved also create a m ulti-room m usic setup o ver
buying these devices, h aving d ecided t hat speakers for a r icher s ound. A nother your Wi-Fi n etwork. N ext y ear, Echo Plus
the c onvenience outweighs t he creepiness addition is a b uilt-in hub f or home owners will be able to make phone calls
(Amazon i nsists your communications are accessories that use t he Zigbee standard, over a l andline, but this will require a n
secure). The Echo seems t o b e h ere t o s tay , such as lightbulbs and t hermostats. Alexa add-on, c alled E cho C onnect.
and n ow Amazon has u pdated it with a could already c ontrol many of these if you
second-generation model, E cho 2 , a t a added ‘ skills’ ( voice c ommands), but now SPECIFICATIONS
lower p rice, while a lso l aunching the m ore you c an simply tell her t o fi nd your Zigbee Echo 2: 802.11n Wi-Fi •• Bluetooth 4.0 •• 7x microphones
advanced E cho P lus. The smaller E cho D ot stuff and c ontrol it. Y ou have to manually • • 2.5in w oofer •• 0.6in t weeter •• Mains a dapter ••
148x88x88mm ( HxWxD) •• 821g •• One-year w arranty
Echo Plus: 802.11n Wi-Fi •• Bluetooth 4.0 •• 7x
AMAZON OR GOOGLE (or w ait f orApple)? microphones •• 2.5in w oofer •• 0.8in t weeter •• ZigBee
hub •• Mains a dapter •• 235x84x84mm
( HxWxD)
• • 954g •• One-year w arranty
Google’s Home and H ome M ini s mart through the d evice, which m ay be of
speakers compete d irectly w ith E cho. interest if you s ubscribe t o P rime for VERDICT: Alexa i s g etting c leverer a ll
Apple i s w orking on a s imilar box f or free delivery . Y o u c an protect t his the t ime. If home automation appeals
Siri, c alled H omePod (pictured), but it feature w ith a P IN so your kids o r y our to you, the E cho Plus is the b est choice,
has b een d elayed u ntil next year. E ach parrot can’t activate it. G oogle, on the while t he cheaper Echo 2 h as superior
of these devices can deliver other h and, is better at audio t han t he basic Dot
news, s ports r esults, understanding r andom ★★★★☆
weather f orecasts and s o questions. A lexa’s strength
on, a s w ell a s t ravel is in its extensive s upport ALTERNATIVE: Google HomeHome
directions, w hich y ou can for s mart lightbulbs and £129 With better s ound
forward t o a pps o n y our other h ome a utomation than the E cho 2, this
phone. Y ou can even order products, and t he Plus controls Chromecast TV
an Uber taxi or a p izza, a nd takes t his e ven f urther. streamers a nd supports
Alexa makes i t p articularly We’ll h ave t o s ee if Google IFTTT automation, but
easy to buy f rom A mazon and A pple c atch up. now l ooks a b it pricey

20 December 2017 – 2 J anuary 2018 23