A better Echo at an even sweeter price point than before. Smart home fanatics might be better off with the Echo Plus, though.

More than two years after its debut, the smarter-than-ever Amazon Echo remains one of the best connected home products money can currently buy.

...A computer-assisted nap. The future is now. The only way it could have been better is if she had made me a cup of hot milk – and I think I’ve worked out a way do that using IFTTT.

The Amazon Echo is so much more than a wireless speaker. It's part voice assistant, part home automation hub, and its abilities continue to expand steadily. And it's a blast to use.

Die Hardware und die Spracherkennung funktionieren tadellos. Defizite gibt es noch bei den Antworten auf Wissensfragen sowie bei den Diensten und Anwendungen, die sich mit Echo steuern lassen. Der Charme des smarten Lautsprechers liegt darin, dass man die Cloud-Spracherkennung Alexa ganz natürlich fragen und mit etwas beauftragen kann. ...

Ein spannender Ausblick in die Zukunft der Computerbedienung mit bisherigen Schwächen in der Softwareversorgung.

The AI revolution starts here: Alexa can take charge of your whole house

Als digitaler Assisten war uns Alexa im Alltag von großem Nutzen, wenn wir schnell Musik abspielen oder Smart-Home-Befehle ausführen lassen wollten. ...

The sound quality may be so-so, but the inclusion of the Alexa assistant makes this a seriously clever speaker.

The Echo is one of the most exciting gadgets in years and has huge potential. Being able to control smart home gadgets by asking while you´re doing something else, is not only brilliant fun but is also genuinely useful.

Amazon Echo macht nichts neu. Außer, dass es mit Alexa immer da ist. Zuhört. Hands-free Befehle ausführt und Fragen beantwortet. Wie gut, dass seht ihr in meinem Video. ...

In fact, one of the most interesting things about the Alexa is that sense of potential. This is really a first-generation product, but because it's cloud-powered I expect it to continue to mature rapidly. ...

Amazon Echo macht Spaß und erleichtert das Leben, auch wenn Alexa noch nicht fertig entwickelt ist. Ob am Ende die erste übergreifende Smart-Home-Steuerung entsteht, die wirklich im ganzen Haus funktioniert, bleibt abzuwarten. Die Fire-TV-Anbindung ist Pflicht und muss bald folgen.

So, should you buy an Amazon Echo now? That depends. You’ll want both a Prime account and a Spotify Premium account to get the best out of it, but if you fit that criteria I suspect you’ll come away quietly impressed. If you like the idea of being able to dictate your shopping list without reaching for a pen and paper, listen to audio books and music without lifting a finger, and fancy a decent Bluetooth speaker into the bargain, then £150 is something of a steal.

When it launched, the Echo felt like a look into the future. That future is now. It's a pioneering product that has come into its own – the Echo and Alexa are only going to get better.

A cool concept, the Amazon Echo has all the right features to be successful. It’s just not yet where it needs to be.

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 blew our minds. We won't ever get tired of walking into our living room and casually asking Alexa to stream some music. ...

Amazon Echo hat Potenzial: Die Steuerung mit Sprache und App klappt gut, Sprachassistentin Alexa ist intelligent und witzig – doch fehlt es ihr aktuell noch an Funktionen, Wissen und Kontext....

Amazon Echo hat Potenzial: Die Steuerung mit Sprache und App klappt gut, Sprachassistentin Alexa ist intelligent und witzig – doch fehlt es ihr aktuell noch an Funktionen, Wissen und Kontext. Der Klang der Lautsprecher ist recht blechern und bassarm, auch die Einrichtung des Geräts ist umständlich. ...

More than just a speaker, the Amazon Echo definitely isn't perfect, but it's the first device I've tested that makes voice control fun.

As a pure Bluetooth speaker, the Echo leaves a lot to be desired. Paired with a natural, engrossing AI, however, this has real potential.

...It’s a reasonably good audio system at its base level, and the interaction with Alexa adds a lot of value. It is very useful when you need information to just ask Alexa to get it. After only a few hours of using the Echo you will likely find, as I did, that you are already coming to rely on Alexa. After just a day with the Echo, it’s already become a routine for me to walk in the front door and tell Alexa to play some genre of music or artist. That’s impressive, as my front door is over thirty feet from the Echo. I already do it without thinking about it, which shows the beauty of the Amazon Echo. It becomes part of the environment. ...