What does the Amazon Echo Dot do? A Complete Guide
The Amazon Echo Dot is one of the most popular smart speakers on the market. This compact, affordable device packs a punch when it comes to features and capabilities. But what exactly can the Echo Dot do? In this complete guide, we‘ll explore everything this nifty little speaker is capable of.
An Introduction to the Echo Dot
The Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled smart speaker developed by Amazon. It connects to Alexa, Amazon‘s virtual assistant, to help you manage various tasks and access information simply using your voice.
Some key things to know about the Echo Dot:
- Compact, hockey puck-sized design perfect for tight spaces
- Far-field microphones allow you to interact with Alexa from across the room
- Built-in speaker for playing music, podcasts, audiobooks and more
- Aux out and Bluetooth allow you to connect external speakers
- Affordable price point makes it accessible for most budgets
Now let‘s dive into everything you can do with this power-packed little smart speaker.
Play Music
One of the most popular uses for the Echo Dot is streaming music. The speaker itself produces decent sound quality, but you can always connect an external speaker via aux or Bluetooth for better audio.
The Echo Dot lets you request songs, albums, playlists, or radio stations from services like:
- Amazon Music
- Spotify
- Pandora
- iHeartRadio
- TuneIn
You can ask Alexa to play music based on your mood, genre, tempo, decade, and more. For example, "Alexa, play upbeat pop music" or "Alexa, play jazz from the 1960s."
Set Alarms and Timers
The Echo Dot makes an excellent kitchen timer. Just say "Alexa, set a timer for 15 minutes" and Alexa will start a 15-minute countdown. She‘ll alert you when time is up.
You can also set recurring alarms with Alexa. Say something like "Alexa, set an alarm for 6 AM Monday through Friday." Want to snooze for 9 more minutes? No problem – just ask Alexa when the alarm goes off.
Get Information
With Alexa and the Echo Dot, tons of information is right at your fingertips:
- Weather: Get weather reports and forecasts for your area or anywhere else on the planet.
- Traffic and transit: Find out commute times or get updates on delays for public transportation.
- Sports scores: Ask for the latest scores from last night‘s big game.
- Random facts: Get a daily dose of trivia on a wide array of topics.
- Unit conversions: Quickly convert between units like teaspoons to cups or Celsius to Fahrenheit.
- Definitions: Use Alexa as your own personal dictionary to define words you don‘t know.
Check Your Calendar
The Echo Dot integrates nicely with Google and Apple calendars as well as Microsoft Outlook. Link your calendar in the Alexa app and then ask things like:
"Alexa, what‘s on my calendar today?"
"Alexa, when is my next appointment?"
"Alexa, add a board meeting to my schedule for next Thursday at 2 PM."
It‘s an easy hands-free way to review your calendar and have Alexa handle the scheduling grunt work.
Make Calls and Send Messages
Believe it or not, you can make calls using only your voice with the Echo Dot. Currently, it works for calls to phone numbers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Just say "Alexa, call [person‘s name]" and it will call their number from your contacts list or phone app. You can also specify a specific phone number.
Additionally, you can send voice messages to anyone with an Echo device or the Alexa app. Say "Alexa, send a message to Janet" and Alexa will record a short voice memo you can send over.
Voice Control Your Smart Home
One of the Echo Dot‘s most powerful features is the ability to voice control other smart devices. Using Alexa and smart home skills, you can adjust:
- Smart lights
- Smart thermostats
- Smart locks
- Smart switches
- Smart plugs
- Security systems
- And more!
For example, you can say:
"Alexa, turn on the living room lights."
"Alexa, set the thermostat to 72 degrees."
"Alexa, lock the front door."
You‘ll need to have compatible smart home devices, but voice controlling them with the Dot is a total game-changer.
Shop Amazon
The Echo Dot makes it easier than ever to shop Amazon. You can use Alexa to:
- Reorder frequent purchases, like printer ink or garbage bags
- Track orders and shipments
- Add items to your Amazon shopping or wish list
- Purchase items outright: "I‘d like to buy some more paper towels."
Alexa saves all your voice shopping preferences to make repeat purchases a cinch.
Listen to Audiobooks
Audiobook lovers rejoice! Alexa makes it easy to listen to your favorite books or discover new hits.
Link your Audible library to start listening on your Echo Dot. Or, enable the Kindle reading skill to have Alexa read your Kindle books out loud.
You can even choose celebrity voices like Samuel L. Jackson to narrate your books for something a little different.
Watch security cameras with Echo Show integration
While the Echo Dot itself does not have a screen, you can pair it with the Echo Show smart display for video features. This allows you to say things like "Alexa, show me the front door camera" to pull up a live feed on the Echo Show.
You can check security cameras this way or even video chat with friends and family using the screen-enabled Echo Show device.
Learn Useful Skills
In addition to its out-of-the-box capabilities, the Echo Dot supports skills that dramatically expand what it can do. Skills are like apps for Alexa, enabling new functions.
There are now over 100,000 Alexa skills available. Some interesting ones include:
- Fitbit integration to track health stats
- Uber and Lyft for calling rides
- Capital One for checking bank balances
- Sleep sounds to help you wind down
- Spelling tests and math quizzes for kids
- Guided breathing exercises and mindfulness
Enable skills in the Alexa app to get even more utility from your Echo Dot.
Use Multiple Echo Dots for Multi-Room Audio
Have multiple Echo Dots around your house? Great! You can use them to create a multi-room speaker system.
Simply say "Alexa, play jazz music everywhere" and the same audio will sync across all your Echo speakers. You can group them by room too – have party music blasting in the living room while relaxing classical plays in the bedroom.
It‘s seamless multi-room audio controlled completely by your voice.
Pair Your Phone for Bluetooth Streaming
While the Echo Dot has WiFi streaming capabilities, you can also connect to it directly from your phone via Bluetooth. This allows you to play audio from mobile apps that Alexa may not support natively.
To pair your phone, open the Alexa app and:
- Select Devices > Echo & Alexa > [Your Echo Dot]
- Choose Bluetooth Devices
- Select Pair New Device
- On your phone, choose your Echo speaker from the Bluetooth menu
Once connected via Bluetooth, you can play mobile podcast apps, soundtrack playlists, and more through your Echo Dot.
Plug It In or Go Portable
At home, just plug your Echo Dot into power using the included cable and adapter. But did you know you can also take it on the go?
For portable use, you can power the Dot with a compatible USB charger, USB battery, or 12V battery. It‘ll automatically switch over to using WiFi hotspots for connectivity.
Now Alexa can travel with you – whether hotel hopping or chilling in a vacation rental fully equipped with Echo Dots.
Conclusion
As you can see, the small but mighty Echo Dot packs tremendous capabilities. From playing music to commanding your smart home, this affordable smart speaker helps simplify life.
With new Alexa skills being added all the time, your Echo Dot is sure to get even more versatile over time. So if you‘re looking for a little voice assistant to liven up your space, the Echo Dot is an excellent choice.
I hope this guide gave you a helpful overview of all the things an Amazon Echo Dot can do. Let me know if you have any other questions!
