Echo Dot (3rd Gen) | Charcoal with Philips Hue White Smart Bulb

Love being able to turn lights on and off by request. We even use it to turn on the christmas tree. Love having any kind of music i want in whatever room i’m in. I keep a running grocery or shopping list and can add to it from any room in our apartment, as we have them in each room! I ask the weather each day when i get up and oh yes, i love both the ‘question of the day’ feature as well as the ‘sleep sounds’ to help me sleep at night. I also like ‘song quiz’ and ‘let’s make a deal’. I can also ask it anything, like how many cups in a quart, or how many teaspoons in a tablespoon, for when i am making a recipe. It will also give me the correct spelling of a word. I am sure we don’t use it to do half the things it can do but we have purchased multiple units. Next one is going in the bathroom to play music when i am in the shower. It also works great to speak to someone in another room. (great at night to ask that the tv in the next room be turned down, without me having to get out of bed. It does sometimes misunderstand what i say but it’s a minor irritation.

This is a great value, even if they’ve updated it a few times since this generation. I can set the voice and other preferences in the app, alexa understands me much better than the google assistant, and it works seamlessly with amazon music and other music apps. It literally took about a minute to set up, too! I wish i’d purchased this ages ago, because it’s so convenient! I bought 5 more to give as gifts and for use in other rooms in my house.
*if i’m playing music in one room and want to go to a different room, i can tell alexa to transfer it to the other room, and it’s absolutely seamless!!!

I really lucked out on this deal and if anyone sees it again you should definitely grab it! I now have two echoes (one in the kitchen, and the other one in my bedroom) so i can get notifications and make requests and set reminders and timers, etc. From just about any place in my apartment. It also has a nice feature that you can have it do something and respond on both devices or you can set it to only respond (like an alarm for you in the morning) in one room. I didn’t keep the amazon music subscription because i’m not really one that listens to music in the background a lot so that really wasn’t of value to me but if you do like music playing throughout your home, it’s really a great thing to have.

I really love that i can lay in bed and simply say “hey alexa, set an alarm for 7:50am”. And it’s the most calm relaxing way to wake up. My iphone alarms wake me up all crazy. I also love that when i wake up i say “hey alexa, play taylor swift radio” getting ready for work. I really love this echo. It’s my first one. Definitely worth purchasing.

I had the 3rd gen echo dot back in 2018 i paid around $25. This time i bought the 3rd gen echo dot a few days ago for only $14. Before i made the decision, i checked the echo show and echo dot 4th gen, but turned out someone online said the 4th gen does not have any difference, sound quality wise, with the 3rd gen. The echo show is something you have to attached to a desk, since i don’t need video call, and i already have an amazon fire tablet, i don’t need to get the echo show.

I own the echo family (dot, echo, show, lightbulbs and plugs). The products make life so much easier from watching videos, making phone calls, to turning lights on and off. Even better prime offered a special for 99 cent so i got this dot. The basement was the only place i didn’t have a way to get calls as my apple watch volume was low. With this dot i never miss a call or the ability to answer my ring doorbell. Came already setup to my prime account so all i had to do was plug it in. No hassle setup.

‘there are ears everywhere’ yeah, it has me skeptical of the technology that’s always listening. But my phone does it, and, what the heck, i just went for it. It was a good deal – buy a month of amazon music unlimited and get the dot for 99 cents. I couldn’t resist. (that’s how they get ya! Haha)

i’ll tell you what, i am loving this! My shopping list is so accurate now lol i don’t have to stop cooking and wash my hands to add something to a list (which never happens because i don’t want to stop cooking to do that, so half the time i forget to add to the list!) i just say, ‘alexa, add _______ to my shopping list, please!’ and it’s done! I can ask it to turn on my lights when my hands are full, which has been helpful. I also love being able to ask alexa to adjust the thermostat. I have an app on my phone for it, but alexa is wayyy faster! I am really happy with this product and highly recommend it — as long as you don’t have conversations you don’t want anyone to hear, of course 😉 :d

‘there are ears everywhere’ yeah, it has me skeptical of the technology that’s always listening. But my phone does it, and, what the heck, i just went for it. It was a good deal – buy a month of amazon music unlimited and get the dot for 99 cents. I couldn’t resist. (that’s how they get ya! Haha)

i’ll tell you what, i am loving this! My shopping list is so accurate now lol i don’t have to stop cooking and wash my hands to add something to a list (which never happens because i don’t want to stop cooking to do that, so half the time i forget to add to the list!) i just say, ‘alexa, add _______ to my shopping list, please!’ and it’s done! I can ask it to turn on my lights when my hands are full, which has been helpful. I also love being able to ask alexa to adjust the thermostat. I have an app on my phone for it, but alexa is wayyy faster! I am really happy with this product and highly recommend it — as long as you don’t have conversations you don’t want anyone to hear, of course 😉 :d

So if you’re one of the street lamp kids are over 50 you want to call the number and have someone help you hook it up i’m digitally impaired but they helped to get this set up and no time. And my grandkids have been showing me all kinds of new things, like asking alexa to fart for you…lol good times

I got this, the echo dot (3rd gen), and the new echo dot (5th gen, with clock)…happy with both. I have the echo dot/with clock, downstairs, where i spend the most time. The other echo dot, is upstairs. I really got them to use in case of an emergency, to call someone, on my contact list. I’m enjoying listening to my music library on them. I also have them set up with my smart plugs. Alexa turns them on , or off, as needed, even though they are on a set schedule. I also use alexa to set timers…still learning new things.

Loved my 9, yes, 9, echo dots (not including those bought as gifts for friends), until amazon changed how they play music choices. I was ecstatic that i could play synchronized music throughout my house, but as of november 2022, the entire echo experience has been totally trashed. I can no longer play music of my choice. The other alexa features are nice, i.e.: setting timers, reminders, controlling lights, etc., but for me and every one of my friends, the primary benefit was playing synchronized music of choice throughout the house on pretty decent speakers at a reasonable cost. Now, rather than being able to request a specific song, artist, or album, all requests are, as alexa says, ‘shuffling’ your request plus ‘others in a similar genre’, with a limited number of skips allowed.
I’ve been a prime member almost since its inception, and have been more than positive in my reviews of amazon products and services, but i can think of nothing positive to say about this change. It was obviously done with the intention of forcing people to subscribe to amazon music; even the supposed great new benefit offered to prime customers of being able to create your own playlists is horrifically adulterated by ‘shuffling’ the songs in the customer’s playlist with songs ‘of a similar genre’. I thought, yay, i’ll try that, and set up a playlist of 18 songs to try it out. Alexa played 3 of my songs, then interjected a song by an artist i have never requested. I thought, ok, i can deal with an occasional non-requested song/artist. Alexa then played another song from my playlist, but after that played nothing that i would ever listen to by choice. After approximately 5 or 6 of these and never returning to a single song from my playlist, i said ‘sc#@w’ this and told her to stop. What a terrible loss.
Amazon: as big a fan as i have always been of your services and products, i will never be forced to join an amazon music monthly subscription, specifically because of efforts to bully me into doing so. I just lost an incredible amount of respect for amazon.

It seems people either love or hate alexa. I like mine, but i don’t love it. My wife is from another country–english is her 3rd or 4th language–she and alexa do not always get along, so i end up repeating my wife’s requests, which works most of the time. I’ve learned a few things, though. Never aske to play the same song more than once per week. When alexa’s ai figures out that you really like a song, it always goes to the $3.99 extra per month list of songs. It seems safe to ask for a specific group, i.e., the rolling stones or the beatles, just don’t ask for specific songs too often. My wife and i both love a wide variety of music, but my wife tends to get frustrated by alexa and does not use the unit very often.

I liked my generation 2 so well that i bought one each for a couple of family members and another one for myself (it is a generation 3). I was going to buy a third unit for my in-home office, but after transferring the 2nd gen from my bedroom for my office, i realized i could not concentrate on my work for listening to the music.

I’ve heard all the stories about how alexa is spying on me, but i’m not terribly concerned. I watch a fair number of youtube videos–anything that sparks my interest–and the 3rd gen unit is right next to the tv, so, if it’s recording my info, it’s getting a wide variety from sensible to weird information. Also, i like to play the tv while i’m away from home, just to confuse the would-be burglars, and i usually play it on one of the traditional news channels, because they talk a lot instead of showing movies, and that should confuse the wannabe burglars more. I tried using alexa for that, but the unit stops playing after half a dozen songs (just estimating), but the tv will drone on and on until i turn it off. When some of my more suspicious friends or relatives visit, i unplug the unit so they can talk candidly, just to make them feel more comfortable. I have been known to remind them that their cell phones and tv sets do the same thing, even when you turn them off.

I’ve learned to be very specific about the music i want to hear. I never tell alexa to play a song without specifying the artist. If she still picks the wrong song or artist, i try to ask in a different way, but usually find out that the song i want to hear is on the $3.99 per month additional list, which i do not subscribe to. The unit is usually pretty good about substituting a channel that has music i like–based on the song i asked for. I’m impressed that ai is as smart as it is in this tiny unit.

Sometimes, when i get bored, i like to ask alexa stupid or confusing questions, just to see how it answers. Yeah, i’m easily entertained, but it’s surprising what the unit can come up with. I get a lot of ‘sorry, i don’t know that.’

my brother and i were trying to fix a leaky faucet in my daughter’s home when her alexa unit in the other room spoke to us. At first we thought someone had come in without our knowing it. Since it was a female voice, we did not start looking for weapons to defend ourselves from burglars, but we quickly went to see who was there. The house was empty. I laughed when my brother suggested the house might be haunted, but it made me stop and think. Later, my daughter reminded me about the alexa unit i had bought for her–yep, same voice. The point is, you never know what will set the unit off. You do not have to mention its name or speak to it.

I’ve never had a problem with the unit waking me up in the middle of the night, but it does start blinking yellow when i have a notification. Took me a while to figure that out. I get notified about storms, kidnappings in my home state, when an amazon package has arrived, and a few other miscellaneous messages. It never wakes me up, except for when i set an alarm, but i have to set the alarms individually. I cannot tell it to wake me up every weekday morning at 7 a.m. I have to set a separate alarm for every morning of every day i want awakened. But it also allows me to set other alarms. For instance, i can tell it to set an alarm for 5 p.m., so i don’t work too long on my computer. If i’m cooking something, i can tell it to set an alarm for 15 minutes from now; otherwise, i will ruin my lunch and stink up my house, because i don’t think about food until 3 or 4 p.m. All in all, i highly recommend the units.

Es un buen producto si buscas escuchar música en cualquier lugar de su casa u oficina, la interacción con ella es de mucho aprendizaje sobretodo a la hora de darle un comando, se necesita mucha paciencia para convivir con ella.

La mayoría de los casos entiende exactamente lo que le pides, pero es frecuente que no te entienda correctamente o no lo haga de plano.

Puedes alternar entre inglés y castellano y te va a entender sin problemas.

El mayor problema es la app de alexa, es bastabte complicada y se necesita mucha configuración que se desconfigura con frecuencia, muchas veces te indica que puedes controlar un dispositivo pero en relidad no lo hace.

Hay que tener especial cuidado con el nombre que se le da a los dispositivos conectados con alexa, ella no los reconoce facilmente como debería.

Es amable y es ideal para pasar un rato con la familia o amigos en una fiesta, todos pidiendole lo que sea y riendose de sus errores, facilmente te saca un sonrisa.

Diseñada para ofrecerte los servicios de amazon constante e incistentemente, es lo peor de ella.

De vez en cuando vas a tener que reiniciarla.

En general funciona para lo que fue contruida, no me arrepiento de mi compra, solo que hay que tenerle mucha paciencia, tampoco es una aparto que te va a solucionar la vida, sólo te la facilita en algo.

So i read the reviews and still bought the alexa

now i’m still very unsure about alexa i like that it plays music when i need the alarm is wonderful and the timers work well but it randomly cuts off in the middle of songs it plays two and then cuts off half the time she unconnects from the wi-fi for whatever reason and the annoyance of reconnecting and trying to figure out why it’s not working is causing a headache i bought one show and two dots i’ve had them not even a week the show plays the news randomly idk she has trouble with the routines i’ve set half the time she doesn’t know what routine i’m talking about the other half she listens connecting them all to play together hasn’t worked very well she says she can’t find the group it’s nice to have when it works properly last night we heard a random female talking when we had drop in on to listen to my baby now idk what that was could have just been random nothing to do with alexa but i’m starting to wonder if i should keep alexa idk i’m 50/50 on alexa right now i’ll update if i change my mind on her

The one thing i’ve always found with amazon brand electronics is you have to reboot (unplug) periodically as they regularly just freeze up. At least once or twice a month. I found this to be consistently true with fire tablets, fire tv stick, and the echo. I quit using amazon music streaming because their shuffle function became terrible, even after trying the suggested troubleshooting. Played the same 50 songs over and over out of 700 songs. Switched to apple music but alexa refuses to let me play my apple playlists on all 3 of my units at once. It plays something completely bizarre and on none of my playlists, no matter how i phrase it. Works fine using one unit at a time. Has decent sound. These also tend to be less expensive. You get what you pay for. Definitely a great price point, especially for kids or anyone that is hard on stuff or wanting a value price.

This is way more fun than i expected. I dont use a lot of smarthome features, but now that i’m getting used to alexa, things are about to change. Really convenient way to listen to tunes while i’m working on the computer or playing on my phone. I use it a lot for simple questions and information too. Im going to order some smart light bulbs soon so i can make her do even more for me. Haha my major complaint is that i can’t use it to call or text someone unless they sign up with the alexa app too. That’s a loss of a whole star there, because google smart devices do that just fine with my samsung galaxy devices. Ive got other speakers that are better sounding, but as far as convenience goes, this little echo is great for me. It sits right beside my recliner on a table where i embarrassingly spend most of my time. There has never been a problem of hearing it or not hearing me. The reminders arw handy too. I’ve been dabbling with the shopping lists feature too. I expect to use this more and more but really wish i could call and text my peeps with her.

I just unboxed and hooked up this alexa and in less than 24hrs (11/20/2022) and this discoloration and cracking near the speaker hole developed. I don’t know what could cause this. Otherwise the functionality so far has been decent. Synching apple music worked but the integration and playback was a bit off. All the songs in my list seemed to repeat over and over unless i asked alexa to skip or physically touched my phone. The speaker quality is sufficient but i need to spend more time with it to give a better review.

So i ordered this as part of a prime promotion, where they packaged it with the smart bulbs. Fine enough, i already have some alexa devices and know how the process works. Where things got complicated is when i traded in an earlier alexa. I was supposed to get a 25% credit towards a new alexa device. Seems straightforward. The problem is that the 25% was never applied. I chatted with customer service. The rep was very professional and helpful, but i was told that because it was bundled with the free smart bulbs, it didn’t count as a new alexa device. I wasn’t convinced. Needless to say, it wasn’t worth a few bucks credit to spend much time on this, but it is worth my time to write this review to inform you of my experience. Overall i enjoy amazon and all their cool stuff, and don’t mind giving up some level of privacy to have this stuff. But this review speaks to something larger. Some things such as this (and occasional pricing ‘hiccups’ at the amazon fresh store) really cut to the heart of the ‘trust’ and ‘transparency’ relationship with amazon. I always check my receipts when walking out of an amazon go store. I would highly recommend that you do the same. As one u.s. President recently said, ‘trust but verify’. Big tech is here to stay, but we need to hold these companies accountable. Thanks for reading, and have a blessed day.

The echo dot itself is a nice little unit. It’s compact, and if you don’t need a screen or camera it works well for simple device control, weather reports and some uncomplicated questions. You can turn the microphone off if you don’t want it listening to what you’re up to, and it’s wonderful for times and alarms. ‘alexa, 30 minute timer’ is all you need to say to get beeped in 30 minutes. I like that better than fussing with the timer on my stove. Timers, reminders and alarms (all different things) are probably what i use the most.
Where i think it falls down is the ai aspects. I’m sure amazon is proud of how well it does, and as a software engineer who has done a bit with natural language parsing, i recognize the challenges. But i was writing natural language analyzers in the 90’s as a hobby, that did better than this. Simple example: you can ask for current weather almost anywhere in the world with a simple ‘alexa, what’s the temperature in san jose costa rica.’ and bang, you get the temperature there. Oh, you want the humidity too? You try ‘alexa, what’s the temperature and humidity in san jose costa rica’ and it is instantly confused. Yet you can ask for the humidity separately and it can figure that out. Basically, asking for ‘x and y’ instantly confuses it. That’s just bad analysis; kids in grammar school used to be able to diagram sentences and alexa should be able to as well. That’s one example of many.
Using alexa for web searching is hit or miss, and more miss than hit. She has a few favorite websites she likes to look things up on and for some simple queries that works. But more often than not she comes up with an answer that’s wildly unrelated to the question; these can be laughable moments, but it can also be annoying. She’s no watson. Don’t buy it if your main hope is getting it to do web searches for you.
If you have a few of these in the house, you can use them as intercoms, either point to point or to all devices in the house. ‘alexa, intercom, living room’ is all it takes. The microphones allow you to have conversations even if you’re across the room from the echo. You can also set them up to place calls using an iphone account, though you can’t use it to pick up calls to your iphone.
Randomly, she loses contact with the internet (and that makes her instantly useless) even when nothing else has connection problems. Power cycling fixes it. Just waiting doesn’t seem to. It’s rare but annoying.
You will absolutely want to turn off the option for buying things via an echo. It sometimes tries to make product suggestions and that’s absolutely untenable. And while they did try to make it hard to order stuff by mistake, and you can set a security code so your children can’t order candy by the metric ton, it’s surely a matter of time before your kids eavesdrop and get the code. I know amazon wants you to use alexa as a ‘shopping assistant’ but it’s a foot in the door that you don’t want open in the first place.
One awful misfeature – alexa sometimes tries to be cheery and positive. Occasionally she’ll throw in stuff like ‘have a nice day!’ or some other meaningless drivel. I don’t see an option to turn it off. I’m sorry, but alexa is not and will never be a person, and having some algorithm wish me a good day is at best an insincere try at manipulation and at worst some sort of weird attempt to make you trust robots. It’s flat out creepy. When i ask her to reporting something, i want a brief answer and then silence. If i want an actual conversation i’ll talk to my wife, thanks.
Sound quality is actually fairly good given the size, which is to say, not special. It’s no audiophile device and using it play even background music is something i just don’t do. It’s fine for news stations on the web. If you want to ruin an early pentatonix song, have alexa play it. Ari’s voice is simply out of range. And just forget most classical.
Summary: useful, yes. I might even say very. Life-changing, not quite. And it could be so much better. Eventually maybe it will be; the language processing is done remotely and i’m sure there are improvements monthly. But as ‘your plastic pal who’s fun to be with’, or even a device with the language understanding of a four year old, it has a long way to go.

All in all it’s a quality device. I also have a gen1 dot and sphere in my condo. All three have the same issue where it won’t always recognize the initial “wake up command,” so you end up yelling at it. Another annoyance is the group speaker option. Far too often one of them, if not all three, will stop playing and emit a white noise sound, or glitch the playback with a loud high pitch crackle. It’s really quite annoying and there doesn’t seem to be any way to fix the issue.
There’s other little things, but at the end of the day it is what it is. I still use them and have no intention of switching to a different system/ platform anytime soon.