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Amazon Echo Dot 2nd Generation Smart Speaker with Alexa

Name: Amazon Echo Dot 2nd Generation Smart Speaker with Alexa
SKU: 220
Price: 899.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock

~~R1,099.00~~ R899.00

Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device with a small built-in speaker—it can also connect to your speakers or headphones over Bluetooth or through a 3.5 mm audio cable to deliver stereo sound to the speakers you choose. Dot connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, make calls, send and receive messages, provide information, news, sports scores, weather, and more—instantly. Free shipping nationwide.

In stock

Category: Amazon

Introduction

AI assistants are the future, and every home ought to have one right now. They are capable of making your life so much easier, and all you need is to speak out commands and ask for basic information. No longer do you need to take out your smartphone just to perform basic tasks.

Right now, the Amazon Echo is the closest we get to this without stepping into Terminator territory. The only problem with the Echo is that it will prove a little too big and expensive for some. Enter the Amazon Echo Dot – a smaller and more affordable alternative that offers almost everything the larger Echo does, but for half the price.

The Echo would make a fantastic addition to any home, but now that its key features are available in a smaller and more affordable format, Amazon has crossed the line into must-buy territory. Every home could be improved by the addition of an Echo Dot.

Its closest rival is the similarly priced Google Home Mini, but the Amazon’s audio output makes it the better device. It’s also worth checking out the Amazon Echo Spot, another diminutive device but one with a useful screen.

Design & Features

Echo Dot can hear you from across the room, even while music is playing. When you want to use Echo Dot, just say the wake word “Alexa” and Dot responds instantly. If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, Alexa responds intelligently from the Echo you’re closest to with ESP (Echo Spatial Perception). Learn more about ESP

Sleek and compact design makes Echo Dot a convenient addition to any room in the house. With its built-in speaker, you can place Dot in the bedroom and use it as a smart alarm clock that can also turn off your lights. Or use Dot in the kitchen to easily set timers and shop tens of millions of Amazon products using just your voice.

Echo Dot can also directly connect to speakers using a 3.5 mm stereo cable or using Bluetooth to add voice control to your home stereo system in the living room or den.

Echo Dot provides hands-free voice control for Amazon Music—just ask for your favorite artist or song, or request a specific genre or mood. You can also search for music by lyrics, when a song or album was released, or let Alexa pick the music for you. Listen to any song with Amazon Music Unlimited.

Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn.

Setup and Ease of Use

With the Alexa App, conversations and contacts go where you go. When you’re away from home, use the app to make a quick call or send a message to your family’s Echo. Alexa calling and messaging is free—to get started download the Alexa App.

Use Echo Dot to switch on the lamp before getting out of bed, turn up the thermostat while reading in your favorite chair, or dim the lights from the couch to watch a movie—all without lifting a finger…or even raising your voice.

Echo Dot works with smart home devices such as lights, switches, fans, thermostats, and more from Philips Hue, TP-Link, ecobee, WeMo, SmartThings, Insteon, Lutron, Nest, Wink, Honeywell, and more.including starter kits for easy setup.

Tucked under the light ring is an array of seven microphones that use beam-forming technology and enhanced noise cancellation. With a more powerful processor, the Echo Dot has improved wake-word performance to hear you ask a question from any direction—even in noisy environments or while playing music.When you want to use Echo Dot, simply say the wake word, “Alexa,” and Dot lights up and streams audio to the cloud, where the Alexa Voice Service is leveraged to recognize and respond to your request instantly.

Alexa—the brain behind Echo Dot—is built in the cloud, so it is always getting smarter. The more you use Dot, the more it adapts to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences. And because Echo Dot is always connected, updates are delivered automatically.

Sound Quality

As you’d expect as a result of the Echo Dot’s compact dimensions, the built-in speaker isn’t particularly good. It’s loud enough that you can have a quick chat with Alexa. It’s also clear and smooth enough that you can hear her without her giving you a headache.

I wouldn’t use it to play music, though: the sound is too thin and weedy; in fact, you might as well use that tinny speaker on your phone. For music, you’d want to plug in with 3.5mm or connect to Bluetooth. I would recommend the latter.

My 3.5mm cable is connected to a stereo amplifier, which is then connected to some hi-fi speakers. Every portable device I’ve used with this system has sounded fine, but with the Echo Dot, there’s an audible whine in the background.

I’d put this down to the high sensitivity of my hi-fi setup, which doesn’t take too kindly to being plugged into a Wi-Fi device. The Dot didn’t have this problem when I plugged it into a simple portable speaker or my Denon micro-system. My solution: turn up the volume on the Echo, which allows you to keep the hi-fi on low and in turn minimise the noise.

Alternatively, connect by Bluetooth. I paired my Echo Dot with a Yamaha AV receiver and didn’t hear any hiss. The audio performance is what I’d typically expect when I play Spotify through this system: clear and hard-hitting, more than good enough for parties.

Whether you use the 3.5mm connection or Bluetooth, what you get is much better than the speaker built into the big Echo.

Conclusion

The Echo Dot is everything that’s great about the larger Echo speaker condensed into a small puck that costs one-third of the price.

Being able to voice control things without having to pull out a phone or push a button marks a massive step forward for the Internet of Things. Activating, changing, switching things off and firing up automation routines via voice feels natural and satisfying: there’s nothing quite like marching into a room and commanding the lights to turn on.

Alexa isn’t quite the all-conquering voice assistant it promises to be just yet, but the Dot gets the job done in a way nothing else can.Cons

really needs to be connected to a speaker for music
can’t always answer the question
always-listening object in your house
doesn’t support multiple user calendars or personal information
only one Spotify or Amazon music account can be linked at any one time

Pros

excellent mic array means it can almost always hear you
small but loud enough to be heard clearly
great device support
clear mute
turns your old Hi-Fi into a smart one
voice-controlled speaker
voice control IoT devices

Overview

Voice control	Far-field (hands-free) voice recognition. Just ask.
Alexa calling and messaging	Call or message anyone with an Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, or the Alexa App.
Audio	Built-in speaker and support for connectivity to external speakers or headphones.
Wi-Fi music	Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and more.
Bluetooth & Wi-Fi	Bluetooth-enabled to stream music to or from connected devices; Dual-band Wi-Fi supports 2.4 and 5 GHz networks
Weight	5.7 oz (163 grams)
Size	1.3″ x 3.3″ x 3.3″ (32 mm x 84 mm x 84 mm)
Power source	AC power. Plugs in and always on. Comes with power adapter and USB charging cable.