Amazon Echo (2015)

Exceptional voice-recognition capabilities ; Very fast and extremely responsive ; Extremely versatile, offering music playback, connected-home control, weather and traffic reports, and much more ; Very good app support, plus an IFTTT channel

Inferior audio features compared to the least-expensive Sonos speaker ; Flash feature would benefit from additional news sources ; Can’t control Philips Hue lighting scenes

Amazon’s Echo is versatile and powerful; an terrific value all around.

Fast and simple to interact with ; Impressive mic and hearing range ; Joke-telling game is strong

Way too finicky ; Sometimes Alexa just ignores you ; Needs a real ecosystem outside of Amazon

Alexa is a very useful personal assistant, quality mic technology for conversing and getting clear answers, sleek looking speaker design, easy setup, lots of compatible services - and more to come

App isn't that well designed, no battery for portability, not class-leading speaker quality, Echo Dot makes more sense, you'll want Prime to make the most of it

We think hands-free voice control is a godsend and that Alexa, Amazon Echo's personal assistant, truly distinguishes this Bluetooth speaker from the competition. It's blown our minds - whether for listening to music, adding to our shopping list,...

Stellar audio quality ; Impressive voice recognition ; Useful hands-free apps

No hands-free calls, texts or emails ; Somewhat creepy

The AI revolution starts here – Alexa can control your house, and pulls a great double duty as DJ

Amazon's voice-activated smart home speaker is undeniably futuristic, but it's also practical and accessible. With a rapidly growing slate of features and integrations, it's easy to get excited about the Echo's potential

The Echo's sound quality is uneven at times, with weak bass at high volumes. The growing list of "Skills" in the Alexa app could also benefit from better organization

More than a year after its debut, the Echo is smarter than ever, and one of the best connected home products money can currently buy.

Exceptional voice-recognition capabilities ; Very fast and extremely responsive ; Extremely versatile, offering music playback, connected-home control, weather and traffic reports, and much more ; Very good app support, plus an IFTTT channel

Inferior audio features compared to the least-expensive Sonos speaker ; Flash feature would benefit from additional news sources ; Can’t control Philips Hue lighting scenes

Few people an Echo in their home (although it could be a real boon for the disabled), but it is nonetheless an incredibly fun and useful gadget—especially if you have a connected lighting system. And with support for Philips Hue, Belkin WeMo, and Wink,...

Good audio ; Accurate voice input ; Endless information on tap ; Seamless Bluetooth operation by voice

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Exceptional voice-recognition capabilities ; Very fast and extremely responsive ; Extremely versatile, offering music playback, connected-home control, weather and traffic reports, and much more ; Very good app support, plus an IFTTT channel

Inferior audio features compared to the least-expensive Sonos speaker ; Flash feature would benefit from additional news sources ; Can’t control Philips Hue lighting scenes

If I buy an Echo, I won’t take full advantage of its capabilities for a couple of reasons. First, my lighting system is already tied to my home-security system (Z-Wave systems can have only one master). Second, I’ve invested heavily in a Sonos audio...