Amazon – Echo (2nd Gen) – Smart Speaker with Alexa

Voice control your music: The 2nd generation Echo has a 2.5” downward-firing woofer and 0.6” tweeter powered by Dolby to deliver crisp vocals and dynamic bass throughout the room. You can play music from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, and more. With Amazon Music, you can search by lyrics, time-period, or let Alexa pick the music for you. Set a music alarm to wake up to your favorite song or playlist. You can also listen to audiobooks from Audible, podcasts, radio stations, news briefs, and more.

Voice control your home: Switch on the lamp before getting out of bed, turn on the coffee maker on your way to the kitchen, or dim the lights from the couch to watch a movie—all without lifting a finger.Control multiple devices with a single voice command, like locking the doors and turning off the lights at night..You can also enable Alexa Guard to get Smart Alerts if your Echo device detects the sound of smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, or glass breaking.

Hands-free calling and messaging: With Echo, you can talk to almost anyone hands-free—no tapping or searching required. Use Drop In to instantly connect to another compatible Echo at home or send an announcement across Echo devices, like calling the family for dinner or reminding the kids to go to bed. Plus, now with Skype calling stay in touch with friends and family in over 150 countries.

Far-field voice recognition: 

Tucked under the light ring is an array of seven microphones that use beamforming technology and enhanced noise cancellation. The 2nd generation Echo has improved wake-word performance to hear you ask a question from any direction—even in noisy environments or while playing music at loud volumes.

When you want to use Echo, simply say the wake word, “Alexa,” and Echo lights up and connects to the cloud, where the Alexa Voice Service recognizes and responds to your request instantly.

Echo 2 has skills: Echo 2 has tens of thousands of skills and counting. Skills are like apps and help you do more such as playing Jeopardy!, meditating with Headspace, and falling asleep to rain sounds. Create your own personal skills and custom responses with Alexa Skill Blueprints. Just say “Alexa, help me get started with skills.”New skills are being added all the time.

Always getting smarter: Alexa is always getting smarter—the more you use Echo, the more Alexa adapts to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences. And because Echo is always connected, updates are delivered automatically.Just in the last few months we’ve added Alexa calling and messaging, multi-room music, voice profiles, and reminders, along with skills from third-party developers.

Echo 2 for kids: Make your Echo, Echo Dot, or Echo Plus just for kids at no extra charge by enabling Amazon FreeTime in the Alexa app. Automatically filter explicit songs, add approved contacts, set time limits, or review activity with easy-to-use parental controls in the Amazon Parent Dashboard.