Amazon Echo

[ecsrobin]

TroubledSoul said:

I'm keen to get in on this but as far as I can tell I need the Echo Plus if I want to control multiple smart devices without buying their own bridges etc.? That doesn't appear to be reduced currently.

Any chance of it going down on Black Friday?

Do I actually need it? I'd like to use the bulbs, either Hue, Ikea, Innr etc. and I'd like to get something like Hive or Nest. Beyond that I'm not sure yet but I don't want to be limited in the future because I tried to save a few quid now...

I was going to get the plus so I could ditch my hue hub but after reading into it the echo plus doesn’t offer full hue functionality so I went with the echo 2nd gen and kept my hue hub V2.

[Cotty]

B17NNS said:

Cotty said:

I am wondering if Phillips will trim their prices now that they have more competition. £40/£50 for a coloured bulb just seems a bit steep to me.

I think the Hue bridge is still worth having. Just use either 'innr' or IKEA bulbs, both work perfectly with Hue.

Phillips' cash cow with the bulbs is over now. They need to reduce prices or they won't sell many.

I have the Hue Bridge and four white Hue bulbs, I'll wait and see if the coloured ones come down a bit if not its off to Ikea.

Still umming and arring whether to get the motion sensor.

[tenohfive]

HantsRat said:

Just got 1 x Echo 2nd gen in fabric and 2 x echo dots.

All from Amazon. Arrives tomorrow

Links:

Echo dot £34.99 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DFKBL68/ref=fs_bis
Echo (Fabirc) £69.99 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06Y5ZW72J/ref=fs_rad ama

Heads up for anyone looking to get an Echo/Dot etc from Amazon - they're doing an offer where you get a TP-Link HS100 smart plug for £10 when you order an Echo product.

Seems like a no-brainer to me; they aren't the smartest plugs in the world but they work with Alexa, and there's an IFTTT Webhooks workaround (pending TP Link pulling their fingers out.)

[B17NNS]

For those interested in taking the sound quality to the next level the Sonos one now has Alexa built in. Should also be Siri and Google Assistant enabled early next year.

Edited by B17NNS on Wednesday 15th November 18:36

[ecsrobin]

tenohfive said:

HantsRat said:

Just got 1 x Echo 2nd gen in fabric and 2 x echo dots.

All from Amazon. Arrives tomorrow

Links:

Echo dot £34.99 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DFKBL68/ref=fs_bis
Echo (Fabirc) £69.99 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06Y5ZW72J/ref=fs_rad ama

Heads up for anyone looking to get an Echo/Dot etc from Amazon - they're doing an offer where you get a TP-Link HS100 smart plug for £10 when you order an Echo product.

Seems like a no-brainer to me; they aren't the smartest plugs in the world but they work with Alexa, and there's an IFTTT Webhooks workaround (pending TP Link pulling their fingers out.)

ecsrobin said:

Just got an Amazon Alexa for £35 from amazon and when buying that there was an offer to get a tp link smart plug for £9.99 when getting an echo.

Also used a VoucherCodes offer that ends today for a £5 voucher when getting an echo or there’s a £10 voucher for echo plus IIRC https://www.vouchercodes.co.uk/search/?q=Amazon

Yep that’s what I did and got a £5 Amazon voucher.

[theboyfold]

tenohfive said:

Heads up for anyone looking to get an Echo/Dot etc from Amazon - they're doing an offer where you get a TP-Link HS100 smart plug for £10 when you order an Echo product.

Seems like a no-brainer to me; they aren't the smartest plugs in the world but they work with Alexa, and there's an IFTTT Webhooks workaround (pending TP Link pulling their fingers out.)

Mine came up as £24.99

[ecsrobin]

theboyfold said:

tenohfive said:

Heads up for anyone looking to get an Echo/Dot etc from Amazon - they're doing an offer where you get a TP-Link HS100 smart plug for £10 when you order an Echo product.

Seems like a no-brainer to me; they aren't the smartest plugs in the world but they work with Alexa, and there's an IFTTT Webhooks workaround (pending TP Link pulling their fingers out.)

Mine came up as £24.99

Offer is applied at checkout. It does mention that in the basket I believe.

[theboyfold]

ecsrobin said:

Offer is applied at checkout. It does mention that in the basket I believe.

Oh well, too late. I've ordered already.

[dmsims]

B17NNS said:

For those interested in taking the sound quality to the next level the Sonos

Edited by B17NNS on Wednesday 15th November 18:36

[B17NNS]

dmsims said:

I'm wasn't suggesting it as an audiophile's wet dream. Just a decent step up from an echo.

[Watchman]

I ordered another Dot at 35 quid. Just waiting for an offer applied to the Fire stick now.

[TroubledSoul]

What’s the missing Hue functionality with the Plus? Beyond that I’m thinking about connectivity with smart TVs, a washer, whatever else might come along. If you’re buying a bridge for each device will you not end up wishing you’d bought the plus?

Will it still let you create the scripts for commands if using bridges?

Sorry if these are silly questions!

[ecsrobin]

TroubledSoul said:

What’s the missing Hue functionality with the Plus? Beyond that I’m thinking about connectivity with smart TVs, a washer, whatever else might come along. If you’re buying a bridge for each device will you not end up wishing you’d bought the plus?

Will it still let you create the scripts for commands if using bridges?

Sorry if these are silly questions!

From the Phillips hue website: http://www2.meethue.com/en-us/friends-of-hue/amazo...

You need a hue hub for the following:

Lights auto on/off when you come or leave home
Easy control with smart switches and sensors
Set natural wake up and go to sleep routines
Create and recall your own custom scenes
Sync your lights with music, video and gaming (This has been released to developers recently)
More than 700 apps to play with

Smart TV connections you’d need a Harmony hub (maybe Alexa enabled TV’s will be released in the future)

[liner33]

Dont know if anyone has seen but Amazon are doing an early black friday deal on the Echo and DOT

[tenohfive]

Watchman said:

I ordered another Dot at 35 quid. Just waiting for an offer applied to the Fire stick now.

I'm waiting for the day that my Fire TV Stick and Dot can talk to one another. I don't use the voice control of the Fire TV remote as it's not as good as the Echo at recognising what I'm saying (1 mic vs 4 maybe), and because it's usually quicker to use the buttons - the FireTV just isn't that clever. 'Open Netflix,' will work, but, 'Open Netflix and play Suits,' won't. Nor will opening Netflix then saying, 'Play Suits,' - it'll open up the Amazon store page for Suits (the programme at least.) It doesn't have that context based awareness.

When a) it's smarter, and b) I can use other Echo products to control the FireTV Stick then it'll be a good day.

And all that aside, the FireTV Stick was worth every penny when I picked it up (Prime Day I think.) If you've got a smart TV it may not be a huge step up, but as an alternative to using a Tivo box or an HTPC it's quick and efficient.

[ecsrobin]

liner33 said:

Dont know if anyone has seen but Amazon are doing an early black friday deal on the Echo and DOT

Only 3 days and 3 pages late

gr1340 said:

Echo dot will be £34.99 at Argos from tomorrow if anyone is interested:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/amazon-echo-dot-3...

These is also some mention that Curry's will have the same reduction soon and also a reduction on Google Home.

[HantsRat]

Mine have arrived Gotta love prime delivery!

[768]

What's the sound quality on the new echo like vs. the dot?

[ecsrobin]

768 said:

What's the sound quality on the new echo like vs. the dot?

The echo is a proper speaker.

[B17NNS]

TroubledSoul said:

If you’re buying a bridge for each device will you not end up wishing you’d bought the plus?

I wouldn't buy the plus just to end up with restricted Hue functionality.

I'd buy the Hue bridge and get full control of Hue from a £35 dot.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/142389-philips-spe...

If the other smart features that come with the plus are of use to you get the plus but still give serious consideration to a Hue bridge.

Edited by B17NNS on Thursday 16th November 13:22