Gadgetory

another day another alexa gadget this time the amazon echo plus it's a new smart speaker that looks just like the original echo smart speaker saved for the new option of a silver finish and it does all the same things as before it plays music it looks up facts it reads off the morning headlines and it controls smart home gadgets so what's the plus part all about the answer is ZigBee a wireless standard that a lot of smart home devices used to talk to each other the echo Plus has a ZigBee radio of its own so we can talk to those devices too and it can control them you won't need to plug an extra Bridge or hub into your router to control any of them because the echo plus is the hub at least that's the pitch at a hundred and fifty dollars the echo plus cost thirty dollars less than the original Amazon echo and it also offers incrementally better sound quality there's also a new ox out jack in the back the let's see connected to your existing speakers of course the same can be said of the new second gen Amazon echo which cost just a hundred bucks that means that you're essentially paying an extra $50 for that ZigBee radio and for the last echoes basic design I actually see the appeal there lots of folks prefer the original echos volume ring to the new echos volume buttons that said the appeal of that ZigBee radio falls a little short for me it's not because of the echo plus itself but rather because of the Alexa app put simply it's new built-in smart home controls are too basic and too underdeveloped from my tastes I can turn on this color-changing Philips hue bulb for instance but I can't change its color and I can't schedule gradual fades to wake me up in the morning for that I'd still need the Philips hue app but I can't use the Philips U app unless I have the Philips hue ZigBee bridge and at that point why even bother with the echo plus if there's a glimmer of hope it's a new feature called routines that lets you trigger multiple things all at once with a single custom Alexa command if you're choosing let me show you what I'm talking about if I'm getting home from work at the end of the day I can walk in the door and say Alexa I'm home and you'll see that entry lamps start to turn on that hallway light comes on that ceiling fan starts to spin overhead cool the place down a little bit that's a routine and it all happens because of a single Alexa command I just wish you could incorporate music playback into those routines and trigger specific songs or playlists with just a few magic words right now you can't still I see here an Alexa powered smart home hub seems sensible enough and with a couple of key app updates the echo Plus might very well get there but I would wait for that to happen before building your entire smart home around it