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Amazon Echo Dot

Amazon'southward Echo was an unlikely hit in today's increasingly mobile earth. I've got ane, and I'm ever amazed how the Echo can set up an alarm, tell you the weather, and play news podcasts, sound books, and music, including book adjustments, all under voice control. Only at 1.68 pounds, it's a bit on the heavy side and needs to exist powered from a wall socket. And yet, it works then well as the voice-controlled center of a home amusement, news, and (for some) automation that many of us who bought ane wished it was more than convenient to literally conduct effectually.

Amazon responded to the above desire with two new products this week. The first is the Amazon Repeat Dot, which looks exactly similar the original Repeat when looking down at the top of the unit. It has the same design, with two buttons and a lighted book ring as well every bit a seven-microphone array. However, if yous look at it from the side, it looks like someone chopped off about of the Echo and flattened it. It stands a mere 1.five inches tall, while the original Echo is a relatively gigantic 9.25 inches alpine.

The major difference between the Echo and the Echo Dot appears to be their respective speakers. The original Echo has both woofer and tweeter drivers, which produce, to my non-audiophile ears, fantabulous sound quality for music and voice content like audio books and podcasts. The Echo Dot has a smaller speaker of an unspecified size, which Amazon describes as a "built-in speaker for vocalization feedback when not connected to external speakers."

amazon_echodot_top

In other words, the Repeat Dot is intended to be used with external speakers, connected either using an audio cable with a 3.5mm mini-plug (similar the cable on earbuds) or wirelessly using Bluetooth. So if you already own suitable speakers, the Repeat Dot'south $89.99 cost is half of the original Echo'south cost. One note: the Echo Dot doesn't back up Bluetooth speakers that require a Pin to pair. Amazon has a list of uniform speakers on its website.

Another bizarre quirk: If yous want to order an Repeat Dot, yous can only exercise and then if you're an Amazon Prime member with an original Amazon Echo, because you need to guild itthrough the Amazon Repeat.

amazon_tapThe 2d new product is the Amazon Tap (pictured right, in optional carrying example, with dog). The Tap lacks the Repeat branding, signaling the latter is for devices that are initiated with the "Alexa" keyword. The Tap requires y'all to tap a push with a microphone icon nearly the top of the unit of measurement to enquire information technology to perform some job. It other words, it appears to operate like a walkie-talkie with its button-to-talk-to-Alexa mode. It is a hands-on versus hands-gratuitous device.

At one pound, the Tap is most 2-thirds the weight of the original Echo. And then information technology's non exactly lightweight, yet Amazon positions this device as the bombardment-powered unit to accept on the go. At vi.2 inches alpine and with a bore of two.vi inches, it'southward more transportable than the Repeat. Its battery can last upward to 9 hours of continuous playback. Information technology does away with the calorie-free ring volume command of the Repeat and Echo Dot. Instead, it has a more conventional-looking set of controls on its round top for playback and volume control.

Where the Repeat has a 2.5 inch woofer and 2.0 inch tweeter, the Tap has a pair of one.v-inch drivers with dual passive radiators for bass extension. At least in theory, it tin can function as a miniature portable speaker that really sounds adept for music. The $129.99 Tap will be available on March 31, and you can get it with optional carrying cases similar to what's available for the Bose SoundLink Mini and other portable Bluetooth speakers.

The Tap appears to exist Amazon's entry into the portable Bluetooth speaker realm. The Echo Dot, on the other hand, looks like a good fashion to get most of the features of the original Echo for half the price — assuming you have wired or Bluetooth speaker to apply with it. The entreatment of the Repeat and Echo Dot is that they can be controlled easily-gratuitous. And their astonishing microphone arrays let you do this from beyond the room (different Siri-, Google Now-, and Cortana-enabled devices that need you to be relatively shut to the microphone).