Amazon’s new smart speakers have been announced and are also coming to the Netherlands. Amazon Echo Dot is a spherical speaker that lets you talk to Amazon’s smart assistant, Alexa.
Advantage: you can talk to the internet
We already mentioned the biggest advantage of a smart speaker: you can talk to a smart assistant. According to Amazon, Alexa has more than 50,000 skills. You probably won’t try them all, but she can tell you the latest news, help you find a recipe or play a song to your liking. In addition, it is automatically a kind of smart home hub, where you can ask Alexa to turn on the lights, turn up your thermostat or keep track of your fitness session.
Disadvantage: the audio quality is not always optimal
The new generation Echo Dot would have an improved speaker with better bass, but keep in mind that it is a relatively small speaker. It can compete with other small speakers, such as a wireless Bluetooth speaker, but the device won’t be able to fill the entire living room with audio during a party. If you don’t mind if music doesn’t reverberate through the room, you can move forward with this, but don’t expect the best of the best audio quality.