Anyone got an echo spot?

AshleyC

AshleyC

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I was thinking of getting one for my stepdaughter for Xmas and wondering what the speaker quality was like and general overall impression.

She would use.it to stream music off her phone and Spotify with Bluetooth.
 
I picked up the google equivalent (google home mini) on Friday. For the size the sound quality is ok. It’s not fantastic but better than I thought it would be. I’ve been so impressed that I bought a second one for the bedroom. We were thinking of getting the larger speaker (not the max) but the mini meets our needs well and at the current £29 i felt it was good value compared to the larger unit. We also added chrome casts, the two work well together.

Our main uses will be music off Spotify and playing the radio but I also bought it so I could add stuff like smart thermostat and lights in the future.

The reason why we went with google over amazon echos was because we aren’t amazon prime users and don’t plan to in the future. If we were the echo dot would have been the one we would have gone with.
 
i got an echo dot given to me a few weeks ago and iv'e been having a play with it
you don't need to be a prime subscriber to use it but you do have to register an account with amazon
once youv'e connected it to your WIFI it's basically a talking encyclopedia with radio stations and quite a lot of other things i don't use mine for
they rely on things called skills which are for want of a better word configuration software to make it work with various hardware and internet based services

iv'e barely scratched the surface with mine but i can see me using it for a lot more in the future
the sound quality is ok for such a small device but they can be paired via bluetooth to a better speaker if needs must
i can't tell you about the likes of spotify because i don't use them but a quick google search should tell you what you need to know
 
As long as you're fine having a company spy on you in your own home, they're fine.

Personally, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. I don't want Amazon listening to my private conversations.

Buy an Anker Bluetooth speaker instead!
 
sphexx said:
Well, at the link it concludes that “they are only listening when a keyword is spoken” haha! How do they hear the keyword if they are not listening?
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Actually the phones do the same thing too so maybe it no longer matters any more as everyone has them. Google assistant is right there and can't be totally disabled.

I have some very curious stories to tell that shouldn't be happening at all. I thought I had ticked all these things to OFF but it clearly hasn't taken effect.
 
The google home mini had a privacy issue so google disabled the top touch mechanism permantly.

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-du...ch-function-over-privacy/#ftag=CAD-00-10aag7d

Regarding privacy smart phones have a similar functionality and even include GPS that pin points your movements too so probably potentially a worst privacy issue.

One problem I’ve come across is the unit going off due to bloody Christmas adverts that feature the voice command!!
 
To answer the OP, the latest Echo Dot is £25 and supposed to be an improvement on the 2nd gen version. Sound quality is fine - its not going to compare to a quality hifi but for playing music its fine, can be wired to a hifi etc for streaming through better quality speakers
 
rob-nikon said:
The google home mini had a privacy issue so google disabled the top touch mechanism permantly.

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-du...ch-function-over-privacy/#ftag=CAD-00-10aag7d

Regarding privacy smart phones have a similar functionality and even include GPS that pin points your movements too so probably potentially a worst privacy issue.

One problem I’ve come across is the unit going off due to bloody Christmas adverts that feature the voice command!!
Click to expand...



Meeten said:
Worth noting that the 3rd gen has a pin type power adapter.
I only know as I just got one and unboxed 15 min ago and it is different to the 2nd gen thst I have which has a mini usb. I was hoping to power it from a USB hub I have.

As for sound, mine is connected to an Anker blue tooth speaker and for my (let's be honest the kids) needs is perfectly adequate. I don't think that our lugs are as finely tuned as many others.

£25 at the moment so relatively inexpensive
Click to expand...
 
I have just received an echo dot free with my hive installation back at Yorkshire manors.
I was going to just flog it but I am going to use it for some home automation for lights and plugs etc.
 
AshleyC said:
I was thinking of getting one for my stepdaughter for Xmas and wondering what the speaker quality was like and general overall impression.

She would use.it to stream music off her phone and Spotify with Bluetooth.
Click to expand...
I have a 2nd gen, bought it last year on black fri. Personally, I think its poor as a speaker imo. I only use it to stream music, originally to a bluetooth speaker but now to my JAM wifi speaker. Saves me getting the phone out to stream spotify, just ask alexa to do it.
 
sphexx said:
Well, at the link it concludes that “they are only listening when a keyword is spoken” haha! How do they hear the keyword if they are not listening?
Click to expand...
it's not rocket science. The device is listening locally for a specific word "Alexa". Only after that does it record or process any phrases, whilst the halo light is flashing. It is NOT sending any data anywhere without that wake word.
 
I'm also interested in a response to the Ops original question, which was regarding the Spot (The clock/speaker), not the Dot.
 
landwomble said:
it's not rocket science. The device is listening locally for a specific word "Alexa". Only after that does it record or process any phrases, whilst the halo light is flashing. It is NOT sending any data anywhere without that wake word.
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Well, that’s what they say happens ... :(
 
sphexx said:
Well, that’s what they say happens ... :(
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And how many times have you heard "That word" on the TV or radio?
(or is it trained to ignore voices other than yours ;) )
 
Cobra said:
And how many times have you heard "That word" on the TV or radio?
(or is it trained to ignore voices other than yours ;) )
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And do you remember all those kid’s toys that were recording their voices (and all around them no doubt) and were sending them back to a China “to improve the service”
 
sphexx said:
And do you remember all those kid’s toys that were recording their voices (and all around them no doubt) and were sending them back to a China “to improve the service”
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Its a generation thing, I was having a similar conversation a little while back with my 20 something year old son.
They have been bought up with all this "stuff" he / they see no problem with it, and just accept it as the norm.
"1984" was a tad late arriving, but it has.
 
Cobra said:
Its a generation thing, I was having a similar conversation a little while back with my 20 something year old son.
They have been bought up with all this "stuff" he / they see no problem with it, and just accept it as the norm.
"1984" was a tad late arriving, but it has.
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I watched the BBC TV production of 1984 in 1954 (Peter Cushing as Winston Smith) and I can remember that the only really unlikely thing about it was that there might be cameras in the TV sets and so on watching everybody. I used to read a lot of science fiction and was well practised at “believing” improbable things but interconnected cameras and microphones was just a bridge to far for me but as you can see from some of the responses most people nowadays think Big Brother is wonderful, as they did in the book ;):(:mad::mad::mad:
 
keeweeman said:
yes, you can change it to echo and also computer (for the trekkies apparently, my missus was chuffed when she discovered that). Not sure if they have added more now as it was last christmas we got ours
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I'd want to choose something completely different not just out of a pre determined list.
 
srichards said:
I'd want to choose something completely different not just out of a pre determined list.
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Do you have to train them to the new word because if so it would be just like those impossible (for me anyway) security questions, where you can write any gobbledegook as answers, so you could choose “computer” but pronounce it feckoff or whatever?
 
sphexx said:
Do you have to train them to the new word because if so it would be just like those impossible (for me anyway) security questions, where you can write any gobbledegook as answers, so you could choose “computer” but pronounce it feckoff or whatever?
Click to expand...

Don't know. Never thought of that!
 
landwomble said:
It's what does happen. You can get paranoid if you like, but it's not based in reality
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So have the recent events with courts in the US requiring Amazon/Google to hand over recordings of ambient conversations that may have been recorded during murders just stupid people asking the impossible?
 
ancient_mariner said:
So have the recent events with courts in the US requiring Amazon/Google to hand over recordings of ambient conversations that may have been recorded during murders just stupid people asking the impossible?
Click to expand...

Yes. You'll note that if you read the details there's no examples of recordings existing other than post wake weir
 
I got an echo dot free with hive. its a lot of fun. Sound wise its ok but I have it paid to my bose speakers. I also got the hive home welcome kit so I can control lights and plugs and have a motion sensor to. I know can control all this through the hive app but as I said Alexa is fun to use
 
landwomble said:
Yes. You'll note that if you read the details there's no examples of recordings existing other than post wake weir
Click to expand...

Did you mean to write more? I have no details about whether recording exist or not, and if Google & Amazon are telling the truth about how the devices work (a few seconds of audio that constantly refreshes, stored locally) then it would be easy enough to tell if they were sending back speech simply by observing network traffic during an extended conversation in the presence of the device. TBH my expectation is that the devices don't send back all audio data as yet, simply because of the outcry it would cause, but that as acceptance of voice control becomes more common, so eventually all audio will be recorded and retained for use.
 
We've got three Echo Spots, lounge, kitchen and bedroom. They are ideal for listening to the news and talk radio type content, also a brilliant device for a glorified alarm clock. Music quality wise though they are a bit thin and uninspiring.

For Spotify, a Sonos Play:1 is a much better bet. They don't support bluetooth though.
 
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ancient_mariner said:
Did you mean to write more? I have no details about whether recording exist or not, and if Google & Amazon are telling the truth about how the devices work (a few seconds of audio that constantly refreshes, stored locally) then it would be easy enough to tell if they were sending back speech simply by observing network traffic during an extended conversation in the presence of the device. TBH my expectation is that the devices don't send back all audio data as yet, simply because of the outcry it would cause, but that as acceptance of voice control becomes more common, so eventually all audio will be recorded and retained for use.
Click to expand...
"Wake word" was what I meant to type. This is how the DSPs on these devices work, they do not send all audio and as you surmise this is easily proven with wireshark or similar. It just doesn't happen.
Claims to the contrary are just FUD.
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
We've got three Echo Spots, lounge, kitchen and bedroom. They are ideal for listening to the news and talk radio type content, also a brilliant device for a glorified alarm clock. Music quality wise though they are a bit thin and uninspiring.

For Spotify, a Sonos Play:1 is a much better bet. They don't support bluetooth though.
Click to expand...

For music, Sonos better but I was surprised how good the Echo 2 is, especially as it's only 56 quid. Also can play to them from Spotify and you can pair 2 for stereo and even add a sub. I'll probably get a second for the kitchen post Xmas.

In my office I have a Dot connected to my active Edifier monitors and it sounds great!
 
We're up to three Alexa devices now. The second gen Echo is a much better device for playing music than the spot (and better than the show too IMO) but the spot is great for normal stuff and certainly fine for a bit of radio etc. I really don't use them to their potential but do find them really handy and having three of them dotted around the house is nice for streaming music etc.
 
Also if you want cheap Alexa control of electrical devices, check out the sonoff switches. About a fiver each if you're ok wiring them into mains cables.
 
For all those '1984' doomsday people, you do realise that, your mobile phone can be used as a remote microphone as well (this is the reason you aren't allowed to take them into secure locations) ... https://www.quora.com/Can-someone-h...microphone-even-when-Im-not-on-an-active-call

You'll probably also find that 'smart' tv's will also be able to listen to you in the future as well.

better get rid of all technology, big brother is indeed watching :D
 
FlyPhot said:
you do realise that, your mobile phone can be used as a remote microphone as well
Click to expand...
That's why mine isn't connected to the Internet, except when I need it to be.
FlyPhot said:
You'll probably also find that 'smart' tv's will also be able to listen to you in the future as well.
Click to expand...
Rumour has it, they already do :D
FlyPhot said:
big brother is indeed watching :D
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And has been for longer than people care to admit to themselves
 
Cobra said:
That's why mine isn't connected to the Internet, except when I need it to be.
Click to expand...

It doesn't need to be in all cases ;)
 
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