Unpacking the Amazon Echo in Australia

So I was lucky enough to receive an Amazon Echo from Santa Claus this Christmas. He must have read that letter I wrote. And, of course, I have been very good all year.

Alright, in all seriousness, I had been wary of putting the Amazon Echo at the top of my Christmas wish list. I wasn't sure whether it would A) be really that good and B) work well outside of the US.

But now that I have been using it for a few days - and I do want to emphasise the word "use" here, rather than simply "play" - I'm so glad that I did. It is awesome! In a nutshell, it is really that good and it works very well here in Australia.

In fact, it is so good that not only does my wife use it, but when my mother comes over, she uses it. And she's not exactly tech-savvy. Quite the opposite actually. Apart from time, alarm and weather - everything works perfectly here in Australia. I was worried that time, alarm and weather would mean about 30% of its functionality was useless outside the US. The fact is that time, alarm and weather probably make up about 0.1% of what this thing can do.

As with most products from Amazon, the packaging is nice - protects the product well yet is very easy to open. And, like the LIFX Color 1000 Wi-Fi LED Smart Light Bulb, setup seemed amazingly simple:

1. Plug in
2. Download app and run setup

And somewhat unlike my experience with the LIFX light bulb, the actual setup was in fact amazingly simple. Around three minutes and I was done. Now all I had to do was learn about all of the things this little device could do. The questions and commands noted on the outside packaging were just the tip of the iceberg.

When the Echo is not "awake", it has no lights illuminated.

And when the Echo is "awake" and listening for a question or command, it lights up blue.

Using it is really that simple. Say the wake word, "Alexa", and ask a question or say a command. That's it. Its simplicity is ingenious. In my experience, 95% of the time it works a treat. I was genuinely surprised at A) how well it can interpret nuances in the English language and B) how well it can hear across a room, even if people are talking, music is playing or the TV is on.

By far the most use we have had from the Amazon Echo is playing music. Christmas music to be precise. Kids Christmas music to be even more precise. Given it is Christmas and given we do have kids, I have to say that it did make Christmas that little bit more festive and fun. Keep in mind, you do have to have an Amazon Prime membership for it to play music from Amazon's library (which in my experience has music from a lot of artists, but not as much as Spotify). You can also easily connect it to free options, such as Pandora or TuneIn - which I did. Again, very easy to do and very cool.

On a side note, and it is a side note as I'm not that savvy when it comes to music or sound or acoustics, the speakers on the Amazon Echo are very good. For me, the sound is comparable in quality to devices of similar cost and at full volume, I was surprised at the quality and clarity for such a small device. Browsing around the JB Hi-Fi website, you can find wireless / Bluetooth speakers ranging from $75 to $500+, but they will only produce sound. They don't answer questions nor take commands. Boring! ...Oh, my cost for the Amazon Echo was $225 AUD ($159 USD) minus postage (ummm, I know this because Santa, for some strange reason, left the receipt).

We have also used the Amazon Echo to:

• Add items to our Shopping list
• Add items to our To Do list
• Convert units of measurement (very handy for when you are cooking and have your hands dirty or full!)
• Set timers for various tasks (for boring stuff like reminding us to hang up the washing when the washing machine cycle ends)
• Ask for the time in overseas locations (given it's Christmas and we have family overseas to call, this was very handy)
• Seek answers to random questions during family discussions - yes, I was right that a tomato is actually a fruit even though it is mainly treated as a vegetable (gosh I hope that is right, otherwise the Echo is lying to me!)
• Get traffic updates for my commute to work (yes, it's only four days after Christmas and I am back at work)
• Tell us jokes (not as humorous as watching a sitcom, but fun nonetheless)

So technically, all this good stuff I'm talking about here is actually made possible by Alexa. Alexa is Amazon's cloud service that powers the Amazon Echo. Amazon Echo is just the hardware device. Alexa is what actually interprets and responds to questions and commands. Alexa is also available on Amazon Fire TV units (currently only the second generation ones), though I gather the experience is less automatic as you need to push a button to interact, whereas the Amazon Echo is always listening (cue X Files music).

The good thing about this is that because the Amazon Echo uses Alexa, it is always learning. Apparently it learns your voice and adapts, so that must be good, but the services and functionality available will continue to expand. And this is definitely something I have already noticed, as on Boxing Day Amazon announced some additions, such as The Beatles being available on Amazon Prime, horoscope predictions and "The Bartender", where you can ask for the ingredients, amounts, and instructions for mixing cocktails.

So on the whole, there is nothing else that I have seen that compares to the Amazon Echo. And the service that powers it - Alexa - simply works and is superior to its competitors. I have used Google Now, Microsoft Cortana and Apple Siri. None compare. Besides, none have a device similar to the Amazon Echo so in my mind it's a moot point.

I feel I have yet to truly experience the power of the Amazon Echo and Alexa. It has IFTTT connectivity and I get all excited like a kid in a candy store thinking about all the possibilities!

If you are in Australia (or anywhere outside of the US for that matter) and are debating whether to get the Amazon Echo or not, stop debating. Get it!

If you are considering getting a wireless / Bluetooth speaker, stop! Get the Amazon Echo. You'll have your cake and can eat it too!