Maybe you received an Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas or perhaps you’ve been contemplating getting one.
As soon as I watched the video on Amazon, I knew I needed one of these in my life!
Both my husband and I work from home at least part of the time, so having this in our main living space has been amazing. We can ask Alexa the time, weather, latest news and more.
Even our 3-year-old son has learned how to utilize the Echo Dot. His favorite thing to do is have her play music from the Trolls Soundtrack.
So far, our favorite things to use the Amazon Echo Dot for are:
- Playing Music. We recently subscribed to Amazon Music Unlimited (free 30 days) and the other prices are incredibly low. We can ask for any song, create playlists and listen to stations. This could not be more perfect for our music-loving family.
- Setting timers. We set timers for our son for screen time (or timeout), timers for cooking and more.
- Weather. This has been ideal for when I’m getting ready in the morning. I simply have to ask Alexa the weather and I can plan accordingly.
- Audible. I absolutely love to listen to books while I work. Audible is one of my favorite apps for audio books. All I have to say is, “Alexa, read For the Love on Audible” and the book immediately starts. I’ll be doing another blog post on For the Love later. Love that book.
- Making lists. Especially shopping lists. Do you ever look in your fridge or panty and think, “I need to remember to get ___ the next time I go to the store?” Well, now, you can just tell Alexa to add it to your shopping list.
- Alexa’s Daily Deals. I am a big fan of shopping on Amazon (really, who isn’t?). The fact that Alexa has exclusive deals each day makes it even more appealing to me.
Now, I know that Siri and other voice-activated devices can do many of the same things. However, I love the hands free technology that the Echo Dot provides.
One thing that I could see improvement on is the speaker. I know it’s small, but I wish there was more fullness in the sound. The Amazon Echo reportedly has better sound quality (but, at a higher price, of course). I’m also hoping for Amazon to add new features and updates to sync more apps and services like ordering food.
My next step is getting some accessories to sync with the lighting in our house.
Do you have an Echo Dot? What do you love about it?
The Monogrammed Mountaineer 