In 2014, Amazon released the beta version of its Echo device that lets users speak and get answers to questions. The Echo seems to be Amazon’s version of Siri, but with a few features Siri does not have.
I just purchased an Echo, and have loved my experience with this device. The Echo will always listen to what’s going on, and it will listen to the code word that is set. I kept mine set to Alexa. I can say things like, “Alexa, what is the weather today?” or, “Alexa, continue reading my book.” which would then have Alexa continue reading my Kindle book. This is one of my favorite features, because I like getting books for my Kindle Voyage, but I sometimes would just like to listen to the book, and Alexa makes this possible. It does get a bit annoying as they promote Audible each time you start reading a Kindle book, but it doesn’t take long before Alexa starts reading again.
The one thing that Amazon could do better with this device is to create a better Echo app. You have to do all setup in the Echo app, but the app layout could be made better especially in the skills section.
Conclusion
While there are many personal assistants out there, the Amazon Echo stands above the rest with its features and personality. They also have a great speech synthesizer built in that provides more inflection to words that make the device have some of the best human sounding speech that is out on the market right now.