What Can the Amazon Echo Do?

Everyone has heard of the Amazon Echo and its artificial intelligence personality, Alexa. However, many people still don’t know exactly what the Amazon Echo can do. There are multiple versions of the Amazon Echo, including the second-generation Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Spot, Echo Show, and Echo Dot.

All of them are very similar, with Alexa as the integral part. Also, all these different versions of the Echo have nearly the same functions. The Amazon Echo is first and foremost a smart speaker, which you can activate with various voice commands.

Let’s get a more detailed perspective of the Amazon Echo and its capabilities.

What’s the Difference between the Echoes?

First things first, they all have the same voice activation commands. The most distinguishable difference is the appearance, which implies the unique features and speaker quality.

The original Amazon Echo had an industrial plastic finish. The current-production second generation is covered in fabric, which feels smoother and may look more appealing, but it’s still an insignificant difference.

The other versions of the Echo are significantly more different, but let’s cover the core features of all of them first.

What Can These Devices Do?

All versions of the Amazon Echo have the same activation. You can either start a sentence with Alexa, which is the default, or change it to Echo.

After saying that, you can ask the device nearly any question and it will answer like a person would. There are also times when your Echo will send you a link with detailed information via the Echo app on your smartphone.

Here are some of the most basic commands that you can ask of the Amazon Echo:

Echo, wake me up at 3 PM today. (Such as if you’re taking a nap.)
Echo, play Bon Jovi.
Echo, tell me the news.
Echo, I want to laugh, tell me a joke.
Echo, what’s on the calendar today?
Echo, how’s the weather?
Echo, turn up the volume.
Echo, get me an Uber ride.
Echo, read the audiobook.

Besides these everyday voice commands, your Echo can do much more complex tasks. You can link it with your other smart home devices. For example, your smart lights. After that, you can say: “Echo, turn on the living room light” and it will do just that.

The possibilities are endless, and Alexa has the ability to learn as well. You can link the Amazon Echo with your home alarm system, smart locks, and even smart audio systems like Sonos.

Specific Amazon Echo Features

Some versions of the Amazon Echo have additional features on top of the core commands. For example, the Amazon Echo Show is a multi-purpose device that also has a display. It works like a tablet with Alexa and a smart speaker built-in

With the 10-inch screen, you can browse the internet, play songs, videos, view photos, and more with an Echo Show. Maybe the best feature of all is the real-time video chat app. It’s similar to FaceTime, only that it doesn’t need to be in your hands.

The Amazon Echo Plus looks slightly bigger than the Amazon Echo because it has a Zigbee smart home hub and an upgraded speaker. This can be very useful for people who want a simple smart home experience. You Amazon Echo Plus can make a separate smart home hub redundant.

Finally, the Echo Spot is like a smart clock version of the Echo with 2.5” display and the Echo Dot is like a miniaturized Echo. The core commands for all of them remain the same.

Make Your Life Easier with Amazon Echo

An Amazon Echo can do many things at once: your personal assistant, reminder, alarm clock, and much more. Another great feature is the potential integration with other smart devices.

You can use it to control TP-Link, Philips Hue, Hive, Spotify, Fitbit, the Guardian, Uber, Just Eat, and many other apps and devices. Do you own an Amazon Echo? Or perhaps you’ve become more interested in one after reading this article? Don’t forget to let us know in the comments section.