Gadgetory

hey everyone Jimmy with Jim's review room I just did the Amazon tap review a few days ago and I didn't get into detail about Alexa as I'll be reviewing her here in this video now I really want to see if echo is useful if it is something that the average consumer would use and how this thing performs I purchased this for a hundred and twenty nine dollars on Prime Day which was almost two weeks ago but this does retail for a hundred and seventy nine dollars and of this video I'll place my links in the video description below click on my links and you can check for the most updated prices in real time so without further ado my channels here to help you make a purchase decision welcome everyone to jim's review going over the physical features first looks are subjective you can beat a judge on that but the quality so far has been absolutely great with echo it's physically connected to the wall and uses your home Wi-Fi making this online 24/7 on the top there's a glowing light that indicates when Alexa has been activated and rotated as smooth Ringwood adjust your volume now less there's a mute button to turn off the microphone and to the right has your action button if you physically need to bring up Alexa without using your voice commands on the very top there's a total of seven microphones allowing the echo to pick up your voice from nearly any direction and from my testing this thing works exceptionally well from speaking far away to admitting that speaking clearly first thing in the morning and testing this when I'm outside of the room Alexa is able to catch my boys majority of the time here's a quick sample as proof Alexa how long is it gonna take me to get to the airport the fastest route takes about 24 minutes via I 485 in 977 Alexa please and Drake shuffling Drake from prime music the UPS Store on selwyn Avenue is currently closed but will be open tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. the echo can get pretty loud here and at maximum volume this can be enough for larger open rooms but when volume is at 8 or above out of 10 which is max saying Alexa can be quite daunting as she can't pick up your voice but for most situations in everyday average consumer use I normally have volume at 5 to 6 out of 10 in which the echo does pick up my voice nearly every time now regarding audio performance you do truly experience a 360 degree sound in places anywhere in the room and you still get the same experience now I have tested a bunch of Bluetooth speakers portable speakers on my channel so far here but I do admit spatial sound is a bit lacking here since it's just a single firin tweeter and one single woofer pointing up and down instead of outwards so it doesn't perform as well as again dead speakers but the audio experience is still very good for the average consumer it's clear enough you can tell there is some bass though the speaker doesn't distort or crackle and there's minimal hearing fatigue after long listening sessions as for speech as the echo can read audiobooks for you voices comes off clear well enunciated and with clarity for any listener to recognize overall it sounds good for not being a dedicated Bluetooth speaker but here's a few audio samples for your consideration now getting into Alexa and showing you guys what she does great and calming down the hype here what she doesn't do so great just to have a fair review now you use this thing every day and I personally keep this in my bedroom as I'm getting ready in the morning from checking the current weather conditions through simply getting a reminder what half of my calendar for the day tremendously helps here are the next three events announced give away a winner for one plus three is in progress and lasts all day tomorrow there's a jury duty which lasts all day and on Monday Alexa what's the weather for tomorrow tomorrow in Charlotte you'll see partly sunny weather and can expect a high of 95 and a low of 75 Alexa how many minutes it was gonna take for me to get downtown the fastest route takes about 25 minutes via I 485 in 977 a lots of Sun up and low for tomorrow 6 a.m. alarm set for 6:00 a.m. tomorrow hopefully you're a Prime member and if you're not a prime member already through Amazon I would highly recommend to get it and if you are you do have access to prime music now I can be very broad in asking what I would like in regards to my taste of music here to being very specific prime means it usually has what I'm looking for 99% of the time ad free and unlimited skipping of songs you can also use Pandora which works as an alternative I Heart Radio is available but I noticed asking for specific stations I normally listen to or somewhat hard to find for Alexa and I know many of you guys use Spotify it is supported but you do have to have a premium account to use Spotify in general and keep in mind although you might not be able to use Apple music or Google music you can always pair the echo to your phone like any other Bluetooth speaker and have audio play that way directly from your device now moving the device downstairs into a more mainstream area and this part might be very handy for you when a thought pops up in your head and you don't want to forget it Alexa can create either a shopping list or a to-do list right on the fly and then the list is saved right onto your phone to use later now this is also very cooked friendly when in times you need conversion of measurements setting up a timer or ordering items right off your echo when you do run out the only issue though and this is with the latter with making purchases Alexa does have some trouble in finding the exact item you're looking for and it does become a little bit cumbersome at times I eventually stopped using that feature here's more demonstrations and seeing how this performs in real life I added milk to your shopping list I've added eggs to your shopping list with homes slowly transforming into smart homes Alexa has had a decent amount of updates recently not only nest thermostats are able to be controlled through Alexa but the other popular brand here in America is honey wealth they have a smart thermostat that works too the other brands includes eco be Scentsy and ven star as other alternatives smart lightbulbs are slowly making its way into the market as well and Philips hue lightbulbs are the most popular but if you don't want to invest into Philips and instead smart outlets Wemo is the perfect option with a Wemo outlets you can control your normal everyday lamps and lights via Alexa and being honest I personally didn't test this myself as they're quite expensive but there's tons of other videos out there that demonstrates Alexa working with the smarter applications and devices out now regarding those who are out and about Alexa is now able to get movie times for you based on your zip code which comes in very handy you can ask for some suggestions on restaurants in your local area based on your zip code again and last is the settings in the app here or online you can put your work address on here and simply ask for traffic updates here's a quick demo Alexa what movies are playing this weekend here are five movies playing near you this weekend Jason Bourne bad mom's nerve Barbie Starlight advertiser stop Alexa what time is Jason Bourne playing this weekend which day on the weekend Friday Saturday or Sunday Saturday Jason Bourne is playing at a few theaters nearby on Saturday ask me to skip ahead at any time at Studio movie grille epicenter 5 show times are 1 o'clock 4 o'clock 7 o'clock and 10 p.m. Alexa stop Alexa what's the traffic conditions into the city the fastest route takes about 26 minutes via I 77 and West 5th Street thank you now looking at the app here one of the biggest perks but yet very limited are these things called skills that amazon offers there are third-party companies that once you sync your account with you can pull up additional information for example if you do have a Capital One banking account here you can check your account balance with your voice now this is where it does get limited though as this is possibly the only national bank that is available I didn't see Bank of America Wells Fargo Chase etc those are some of the biggest banks in the nation there might be one or two other ones but that's a little bit smaller but again that's just an example but with the few that does seem to be beneficial if you have an account it's great there are many skills though that didn't seem worthwhile to explore and try though now the last thing here and I'm sure this will be the bulk of all of your questions for Alexa besides the time date alarm and weather are really general questions in your life that works great for more general questions but deeper questions are just real time questions of up to date information Alex may have a little bit of trouble but here's my last set of examples I've shown you what works and what doesn't for me and that way you can be to judge if this is something that you could see maybe fit into your life here's a quick example Alexa what time does the Sun set today sunset is at 8:30 p.m. Alexa what is aspartate the word aspartame means an artificial Sweden are made from aspartic acid exercise Alexa what is the average of rent in New York City New York City's average rent is three thousand six hundred forty nine dollars Alexa what's the average rent in San Diego California sorry I don't have the answer to that question Alexa what's the average rent in San Diego sorry I don't have the answer to that question Alexa who's the most paid athlete in the world I wasn't able to understand the question I heard Alexa who's the most paid athlete in the world sorry I didn't understand the question I heard Alexa who is currently leading in Formula one hmm I can't find the answer to the question I heard Alexa what is a healthy heart rate sorry I can't find the answer to the question I heard Alexa he's set up an alarm for weekdays at 7 a.m. alarm set for every weekday at 7 a.m. Alexa can you set up an alarm from Monday and Thursday at 8 a.m. I can only set a one time alarm within the next 24 hours Alexa what's the first rule Fight Club don't talk about Fight Club and there you go folks my review on echo and Alexa used and tested with the average consumer in mind I honestly do use this everyday of course checking the weather jamming out in the morning or getting my morning news it does come in very handy and a speech recognition is simply amazing from my test it's not perfect as I've demonstrated I got to say the echo at its current state helps a lot and it's only getting better as Alexa is ever evolving with software updates so subscribe guys if you haven't and follow me social media keep an eye out for when Google home is released as I'll be doing a head-to-head comparison in the near future you guys take care and I'll see you in the next one bye