Amazon Echo

[Cotty]

I purchased my Dot as a bundle with a WEMO Switch. Really easy to connect and name and having fun turning a light on and off

"Alexa turn bedside lamp on"
"Alexa turn bedside lamp off"

Anyway though I would post the switch that worked for me but its jumped from £27.74 to £67.99

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Switch-Control-Lights-App...

[Ste1987]

Cotty said:

Podie said:

Does the Dot have to be connected to a speaker?

No it has a speaker but it supposed to be just so she/it can respond. You can listen to music just using the dot but they suggest connecting it to an external speaker via blutooth or a cable

I've no idea why they insist on this, I find the built-in speaker very decent. I'm curious about how the speaker is on the Echo. Anyone got both Echo and the Dot to compare?

By the way, I was very amused when an Echo advert came on the telly and activated my own Dot

[Podie]

Ste1987 said:

Cotty said:

Podie said:

Does the Dot have to be connected to a speaker?

No it has a speaker but it supposed to be just so she/it can respond. You can listen to music just using the dot but they suggest connecting it to an external speaker via blutooth or a cable

I've no idea why they insist on this, I find the built-in speaker very decent. I'm curious about how the speaker is on the Echo. Anyone got both Echo and the Dot to compare?

By the way, I was very amused when an Echo advert came on the telly and activated my own Dot

Cool, thanks.

Not interested in the speaker (or echo) - our house looks like a Sonos demonstration area

[MrOrange]

Ste1987 said:

Anyone got both Echo and the Dot to compare?

By the way, I was very amused when an Echo advert came on the telly and activated my own Dot

Echo has a much bigger and bassier sound, worth the extra £50 it cost as it replaced my little Bose Soundlink Mini. The echo is OK but not really a "proper speaker".

[kingston12]

Ste1987 said:

I've no idea why they insist on this, I find the built-in speaker very decent. I'm curious about how the speaker is on the Echo. Anyone got both Echo and the Dot to compare?

I have not got both, but had a demo in John Lewis. The Echo has the sound quality of a mid-range Bluetooth speaker (UE Boom etc). The Dot is not really suitable for listening to music at all as the speaker is too tinny, but the voice responses sound good and clear through it. It goes very loud for it's size, but just sounds strained for music.

They are actually quite different products, because the larger Echo has no Bluetooth or 3.5mm output so can ONLY be listened to through it's own speaker, whilst the Dot is really designed to be hooked up to another speaker all the time for music use and has a choice of both outputs to do so.

The Dot was the only realistic choice for me as I have reasonably decent, Bluetooth equipped speaker systems in every room I want to listen to music. Paying three times the price for the Echo that has much worse sound quality than any of those speakers wouldn't make sense, but it is an excellent solution for those who want a small, standalone solution.

[Type R Tom]

kingston12 said:

I have not got both, but had a demo in John Lewis. The Echo has the sound quality of a mid-range Bluetooth speaker (UE Boom etc). The Dot is not really suitable for listening to music at all as the speaker is too tinny, but the voice responses sound good and clear through it. It goes very loud for it's size, but just sounds strained for music.

They are actually quite different products, because the larger Echo has no Bluetooth or 3.5mm output so can ONLY be listened to through it's own speaker, whilst the Dot is really designed to be hooked up to another speaker all the time for music use and has a choice of both outputs to do so.

The Dot was the only realistic choice for me as I have reasonably decent, Bluetooth equipped speaker systems in every room I want to listen to music. Paying three times the price for the Echo that has much worse sound quality than any of those speakers wouldn't make sense, but it is an excellent solution for those who want a small, standalone solution.

I went for the Dot as have decent hifi's and don't need the speaker, I did wonder however if the sound quality of the speaker is as good as £100 speaker. I.e. £150 for the Echo vs £50 for the dot + £100 speaker.

[kingston12]

Cotty said:

I purchased my Dot as a bundle with a WEMO Switch. Really easy to connect and name and having fun turning a light on and off

"Alexa turn bedside lamp on"
"Alexa turn bedside lamp off"

Anyway though I would post the switch that worked for me but its jumped from £27.74 to £67.99

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Switch-Control-Lights-App...

That is just the Marketplace sellers profiteering as Amazon themselves have run out of stock. Maplin still have some in stock for £29.99 but a lot of their stores are out as well probably because of the demand caused by Echo.

[kingston12]

Type R Tom said:

I went for the Dot as have decent hifi's and don't need the speaker, I did wonder however if the sound quality of the speaker is as good as £100 speaker. I.e. £150 for the Echo vs £50 for the dot + £100 speaker.

In a crowded John Lewis audio department, it didn't sound far away from the UE Boom next to it which was £125, but it was difficult to gauge properly. I think the extra £100 is probably reasonable for the speaker, but I can't understand why they haven't included the Bluetooth and 3.5mm outputs on the larger model as I'd have thought most people would like to connect it to their hifi occasionally.

The answer, of course, is that they want you to but an Echo for the kitchen AND a dot for the living room, but I am not sure everyone will do that.

I think the Dot is an excellent value product and I have got four already. If and when they enable multiroom audio they might even replace my Chromecast Audios which themselves replaced Sonos.

[ajprice]

Has anyone got a soundbar with bluetooth plugged into their TV and bluetoothed to a Dot? If I get one, I think this is how I'd want to set it up if I get a soundbar for the TV at the same time.

How would that work if the TV was off, do these speakers stay on via bluetooth? Is this a silly idea?

[Type R Tom]

kingston12 said:

Type R Tom said:

I went for the Dot as have decent hifi's and don't need the speaker, I did wonder however if the sound quality of the speaker is as good as £100 speaker. I.e. £150 for the Echo vs £50 for the dot + £100 speaker.

In a crowded John Lewis audio department, it didn't sound far away from the UE Boom next to it which was £125, but it was difficult to gauge properly. I think the extra £100 is probably reasonable for the speaker, but I can't understand why they haven't included the Bluetooth and 3.5mm outputs on the larger model as I'd have thought most people would like to connect it to their hifi occasionally.

The answer, of course, is that they want you to but an Echo for the kitchen AND a dot for the living room, but I am not sure everyone will do that.

I think the Dot is an excellent value product and I have got four already. If and when they enable multiroom audio they might even replace my Chromecast Audios which themselves replaced Sonos.

I heard it at a friends in the States last month, I thought it was fine for background music but not for "listening" too, then again that's the same for most speakers in that price range.

I've got a chromecast and firestick, don't know which way to go if the google version is good! Had Sonos but it's falling behind a bit now.

[Cotty]

kingston12 said:

That is just the Marketplace sellers profiteering as Amazon themselves have run out of stock. Maplin still have some in stock for £29.99 but a lot of their stores are out as well probably because of the demand caused by Echo.

Everywhere locally is out and I don't fancy trekking half way across London just for a plug. Ill give it a couple of weeks or so until they re-stock.

[kingston12]

ajprice said:

Has anyone got a soundbar with bluetooth plugged into their TV and bluetoothed to a Dot? If I get one, I think this is how I'd want to set it up if I get a soundbar for the TV at the same time.

How would that work if the TV was off, do these speakers stay on via bluetooth? Is this a silly idea?

Not a silly idea, but not a lot of speaker/soundbar manufacturers seem to have gone this route.

All of the Bluetooth speakers I have tried won't 'wake-up' to a Bluetooth signal even if they will to a wired one. It is a shame as that would be great for the Dot.

[kingston12]

Type R Tom said:

I've got a chromecast and firestick, don't know which way to go if the google version is good! Had Sonos but it's falling behind a bit now.

I had Sonos for years, but it never worked very well for me and even their helpful support was unable to sort it out.

Sonos is a good solution, but just too expensive for people who want to use their own speakers. A single Sonos Connect is £260 compared to £30 for a Chromecast Audio and £50 for the Dot. I have got both connected in most of my zones now for under a third of the cost between them, and of course Dot does a lot more than music.

[kingston12]

Cotty said:

Everywhere locally is out and I don't fancy trekking half way across London just for a plug. Ill give it a couple of weeks or so until they re-stock.

I think Belkin must be even happier with the success of Echo/Dot than Amazon themselves. Wemo has been out quite a few years and is selling like a brand new product again.

[Type R Tom]

Has anyone come across a light switch compatible with Echo? I’ve seen the Philips stuff but that seems to be bulb based and the WeMo light switch but can’t see them in this country. I don’t really want to replace the lights (they are expensive) so a switch seems best.

[Podie]

Type R Tom said:

Has anyone come across a light switch compatible with Echo? I’ve seen the Philips stuff but that seems to be bulb based and the WeMo light switch but can’t see them in this country. I don’t really want to replace the lights (they are expensive) so a switch seems best.

I've been looking into this, and not managed to find anything yet.

From the looks of it, you'll need to use IFTTT, or go via another hub type unit.

[Cotty]

kingston12 said:

All of the Bluetooth speakers I have tried won't 'wake-up' to a Bluetooth signal even if they will to a wired one. It is a shame as that would be great for the Dot.

I only have one Bluetooth speaker and likewise it will not 'wake-up'. I thought perhaps because mine is just a cheapy speaker
https://www.amazon.co.uk/divoom-Voombox-travel-Div...

[sgrimshaw]

Cotty said:

kingston12 said:

All of the Bluetooth speakers I have tried won't 'wake-up' to a Bluetooth signal even if they will to a wired one. It is a shame as that would be great for the Dot.

I only have one Bluetooth speaker and likewise it will not 'wake-up'. I thought perhaps because mine is just a cheapy speaker
https://www.amazon.co.uk/divoom-Voombox-travel-Div...

Some bluetooth speakers allow you to disable the "Auto Off", the later Bose Soundlinks for example have this feature.

[Downward]

nigelpugh7 said:

Downward said:

Sounds like it will work with hive

It does, works easily out of the box.

Took minuites to set up too.

Now we all say " alexa, tell hive to turn the heating to 19 degrees"

Job jobbed.

I have an old boiler so need hot water on for central heating to work.

Has it got a hot water boost program via echo

[Cotty]

kingston12 said:

Cotty said:

Everywhere locally is out and I don't fancy trekking half way across London just for a plug. Ill give it a couple of weeks or so until they re-stock.

I think Belkin must be even happier with the success of Echo/Dot than Amazon themselves. Wemo has been out quite a few years and is selling like a brand new product again.

I can see their product sales spiking again after Google release their version.