Amazon Echo Dot: the Future is (almost) here

Since the original Amazon Echo was announced, I have been so curious to see what all the hype with Alexa is about, but I was very hesitant to invest $180 dollars on what seemed like a pretty limited device. Amazon answered my prayers when they released the Echo Dot at a $50 price point, and although it was sold out for a bit, I was finally able to order mine and start to see what everyone has been talking about. Below I outline what I thought were the main pros and cons of the Echo Dot, but overall I was really impressed with how well Amazon has been able to execute on this vision and create a product that makes you feel like you are in the future. 

Pros

• Voice recognition: Absolutely phenomenal! I wish so much Siri worked half as good as Alexa! No matter where I was in my apartment the Echo was able to hear me call out to Alexa and my command was executed correctly 99% of the time
• Price: at $50 the Echo is a fantastic deal and a super affordable way to start building your smart home
• Speaker connectivity: the Echo can turn any speaker into a smart speaker either via bluetooth or auxiliary cable. Now any bluetooth speaker or sound system in your home can become voice activated and allow you to control Spotify, Amazon Music, or Pandora using only your voice. 
• Design: The Echo Dot has a nice, minimal design that looks very much like a high tech hockey puck and with only four buttons, it couldn't be any easier to use.
• Setup: This is one of the easiest devices I have ever had to set up! Just connect the power cable, download the app to your mobile device, connect to wifi and you should be good!

Cons

• Using voice commands is still to inconvenient/uncomfortable in many situations. For example, in the morning when I woke up, but my wife was still sleeping, i can't really ask Alexa for the weather or for a news report. 
• Doesn't automatically turn on your speakers if you want to use it with a bluetooth speaker. So even though it is awesome to be able to just request a song or a genre of music from my music apps, its kind of a bummer to have to walk over and physically turn on the speaker in order for it to work.
• The library of commands is growing, but it is still pretty limited in what it can actually do, especially if you are not yet willing to invest in things such as smart light bulbs or a Nest thermostat. The functions most people will typically use will be to ask for the weather, set timers/alarms, control music, and ask for news reports/movie times/sports scores. 

Summary

8/10: Overall my experience using the Echo Dot has been fantastic. I have been so impressed with how well it recognizes my voice and how it almost always is able to execute my requests correctly. The Echo is the first device that has really convinced me that using your voice to control your home can become a reality and at $50 there really is no reason for people who are curious not to give it a shot. As I mentioned in the cons, it can still be a little difficult to control everything via voice when you are not alone in your home, and the amount of things you can do with the Echo is still a little limited. But, I really admire how much Amazon has managed to do with this little device and I look forward to seeing what sort of skills they bring to Alexa in the future.