If buying two use code DOT2PACK and get an extra £5 off
Amazon Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device that uses Alexa to play music, control smart home devices, provide information, read the news, set alarms and more
Connects to speakers or headphones through Bluetooth or 3.5 mm stereo cable to play music from Amazon Music, Spotify and TuneIn
Controls lights, switches, thermostats and more with compatible connected devices from WeMo, Philips Hue, Hive, Netatmo, Nest, tado° and others
Hears you from across the room with 7 microphones for far-field hands-free voice control, even in noisy environments or while playing music
Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled device
Always getting smarter - Alexa updates through the cloud automatically and is continually learning, adding new features and skills
Top comments
Lahn to aurora
14 Dec 164#5
Had the full sized echo since launch, we have it in our kitchen, it's still used daily to get weather reports, set alarms when cooking and to stream music - and with IFTTT being supported as of yesterday, I will connect it to my Wemos for controlling lights too.
paulj48
14 Dec 163#9
My lad cant walk past our Echo without asking it for a joke!
accomplish
14 Dec 163#11
I've had mine since October and use it each day. A cheap price for access to the web and basic automation. I think it is interesting because it is both brilliant and yet still has much more it could do. I bought the Dot as a cheap way to try out the technology and I am glad that I did.
I would like another, to use one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen. I use mine for alarms, timers, news, weather, the time at night, general knowledge (any Wiki knowledge, capital cities, films, etc.), fun facts, word definitions, conversions (currencies, weights, etc.), calculations, lame jokes, turning on/off and dimming Hue lights, listening to radio stations (so easy to swap between stations), listening to music, and to read books (Audible).
Naturally you can use a smart phone for any of this, but Alexa seems a lot easier, especially if you are getting other things done at the same time. It was especially great when I recently had an operation and even turning in bed to get my phone was uncomfortable. The small speaker in the Dot is fine, although you can always connect to an external one if you so wish.
casino_boss to aurora
14 Dec 163#7
we have one, use it for music mainly, so will comment based on that. I think its excellent, but you need to have Prime (or Spotify) so you can make use of the music side of things. You can upload your own music to playlists via the music app, but its limited to 250 songs unless you pay more.
also, for the echo dot, you'll need a speaker that takes bluetooth, or an aux in, because as a standalone speaker its not up to much.
You'll also need internet.
Overall though its really good. You can switch radio stations (it uses tuneln), and ask for specific artists/albums (even latest album by so and so). you can louder music. Thats just the tip really. Its one of those things, if you use the features, and you've got the infrastructure around it (ie music streaming/Hive etc) its an absolute bargain for what it does. I've had for a few weeks and love it.
Saying all that, in the interest if balance, If you have little kids, once they cotton on to how it works, it becomes a living nightmare....
All comments (60)
Lahn
14 Dec 163#1
It's almost been on sale more often than at full price, hah.
PAULTRD
14 Dec 162#2
Why didn't you order one a few weeks ago when they were £39.99?
jtomo to PAULTRD
15 Dec 16#47
Cause I ordered and collected two from curry's at £42.50 :smiley::smiley::smiley:
aurora
14 Dec 16#3
Anybody got one of these? Do you use it all the time or does the novelty wear off pretty quickly?
doodalon to aurora
14 Dec 163#4
I pair it with a Harmony hub and the Nest. I use it to turn on/off my AV system which is pretty cool/handy. Unless you have a lot of "smart devices" I can see it being a novelty that does wear off.
Lahn to aurora
14 Dec 164#5
Had the full sized echo since launch, we have it in our kitchen, it's still used daily to get weather reports, set alarms when cooking and to stream music - and with IFTTT being supported as of yesterday, I will connect it to my Wemos for controlling lights too.
Bovrilontoast to aurora
14 Dec 163#6
We use it daily. We have it set up to activate a few Hue lights and also Tp-Link plugs (which we have plugged the Xmas tree lights in to). So now get home and tell Alexa to switch on Xmas lights (which in effect is simply turning on the Tp-Link plug). Also we have a Samsung R1 speaker which I can tell it to connect to and once it does (takes around 2 seconds) I can then get it to play some heavy metal from Spotify!! \m/
I personally really like it. It's not an expensive gadget for once and it integrates with so many other items. We're getting Nest or Hive next so Alexa will be turning that on cos I am too fat and lazy to switch the boiler on!
casino_boss to aurora
14 Dec 163#7
we have one, use it for music mainly, so will comment based on that. I think its excellent, but you need to have Prime (or Spotify) so you can make use of the music side of things. You can upload your own music to playlists via the music app, but its limited to 250 songs unless you pay more.
also, for the echo dot, you'll need a speaker that takes bluetooth, or an aux in, because as a standalone speaker its not up to much.
You'll also need internet.
Overall though its really good. You can switch radio stations (it uses tuneln), and ask for specific artists/albums (even latest album by so and so). you can louder music. Thats just the tip really. Its one of those things, if you use the features, and you've got the infrastructure around it (ie music streaming/Hive etc) its an absolute bargain for what it does. I've had for a few weeks and love it.
Saying all that, in the interest if balance, If you have little kids, once they cotton on to how it works, it becomes a living nightmare....
DizzzyDe to aurora
14 Dec 161#13
We have an Echo in the kitchen. It's fantastic for playing music and adding things to shopping list while cooking. However, I stayed at a friend's house where he uses Dots for controlling lights. It's actually more annoying to have to speak to Alexa than to just get up and flick the switch, especially when others are asleep.
ian18
14 Dec 16#8
I see it is $39.99 in the USA. Does anyone know if it varies in features? Obviously the voice will be American.
paulj48
14 Dec 163#9
My lad cant walk past our Echo without asking it for a joke!
casino_boss
14 Dec 16#10
Yeah, a whole year of Christmas cracker jokes....just perfect !
accomplish
14 Dec 163#11
I've had mine since October and use it each day. A cheap price for access to the web and basic automation. I think it is interesting because it is both brilliant and yet still has much more it could do. I bought the Dot as a cheap way to try out the technology and I am glad that I did.
I would like another, to use one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen. I use mine for alarms, timers, news, weather, the time at night, general knowledge (any Wiki knowledge, capital cities, films, etc.), fun facts, word definitions, conversions (currencies, weights, etc.), calculations, lame jokes, turning on/off and dimming Hue lights, listening to radio stations (so easy to swap between stations), listening to music, and to read books (Audible).
Naturally you can use a smart phone for any of this, but Alexa seems a lot easier, especially if you are getting other things done at the same time. It was especially great when I recently had an operation and even turning in bed to get my phone was uncomfortable. The small speaker in the Dot is fine, although you can always connect to an external one if you so wish.
Muir
14 Dec 161#12
Just got a Dot and it's great. I find the speaker just fine for streaming from Prime music. It's not super loud but too much louder in our flat and the neighbours would hear it anyway.
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Opening post
Amazon Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device that uses Alexa to play music, control smart home devices, provide information, read the news, set alarms and more
Connects to speakers or headphones through Bluetooth or 3.5 mm stereo cable to play music from Amazon Music, Spotify and TuneIn
Controls lights, switches, thermostats and more with compatible connected devices from WeMo, Philips Hue, Hive, Netatmo, Nest, tado° and others
Hears you from across the room with 7 microphones for far-field hands-free voice control, even in noisy environments or while playing music
Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled device
Always getting smarter - Alexa updates through the cloud automatically and is continually learning, adding new features and skills
Top comments
I would like another, to use one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen. I use mine for alarms, timers, news, weather, the time at night, general knowledge (any Wiki knowledge, capital cities, films, etc.), fun facts, word definitions, conversions (currencies, weights, etc.), calculations, lame jokes, turning on/off and dimming Hue lights, listening to radio stations (so easy to swap between stations), listening to music, and to read books (Audible).
Naturally you can use a smart phone for any of this, but Alexa seems a lot easier, especially if you are getting other things done at the same time. It was especially great when I recently had an operation and even turning in bed to get my phone was uncomfortable. The small speaker in the Dot is fine, although you can always connect to an external one if you so wish.
also, for the echo dot, you'll need a speaker that takes bluetooth, or an aux in, because as a standalone speaker its not up to much.
You'll also need internet.
Overall though its really good. You can switch radio stations (it uses tuneln), and ask for specific artists/albums (even latest album by so and so). you can louder music. Thats just the tip really. Its one of those things, if you use the features, and you've got the infrastructure around it (ie music streaming/Hive etc) its an absolute bargain for what it does. I've had for a few weeks and love it.
Saying all that, in the interest if balance, If you have little kids, once they cotton on to how it works, it becomes a living nightmare....
All comments (60)
I personally really like it. It's not an expensive gadget for once and it integrates with so many other items. We're getting Nest or Hive next so Alexa will be turning that on cos I am too fat and lazy to switch the boiler on!
also, for the echo dot, you'll need a speaker that takes bluetooth, or an aux in, because as a standalone speaker its not up to much.
You'll also need internet.
Overall though its really good. You can switch radio stations (it uses tuneln), and ask for specific artists/albums (even latest album by so and so). you can louder music. Thats just the tip really. Its one of those things, if you use the features, and you've got the infrastructure around it (ie music streaming/Hive etc) its an absolute bargain for what it does. I've had for a few weeks and love it.
Saying all that, in the interest if balance, If you have little kids, once they cotton on to how it works, it becomes a living nightmare....
I would like another, to use one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen. I use mine for alarms, timers, news, weather, the time at night, general knowledge (any Wiki knowledge, capital cities, films, etc.), fun facts, word definitions, conversions (currencies, weights, etc.), calculations, lame jokes, turning on/off and dimming Hue lights, listening to radio stations (so easy to swap between stations), listening to music, and to read books (Audible).
Naturally you can use a smart phone for any of this, but Alexa seems a lot easier, especially if you are getting other things done at the same time. It was especially great when I recently had an operation and even turning in bed to get my phone was uncomfortable. The small speaker in the Dot is fine, although you can always connect to an external one if you so wish.