Amazon Alexa Devices – Echo, Echo Dot, and Tap

Joining the Amazon Echo device is the new Amazon Tap and Echo Dot. All of these are powered by Alexa and have me interested.

The original Echo does it all from a fixed location. The Tap is like a mobile Echo since it’s battery powered but you do need to touch/tap it before it pays attention to you. The Dot on the other hand is mute but is always listening. You need to pair it with your own speakers for a combined Echo-like experience. The Dot goes for $89.99, the Tap is $129.99, and the fully equipped Echo is $179.99. Unfortunately, you can’t simply buy the Dot. For now, you need to be the owner of an Echo or Fire TV and a Prime member. That’s unfortunate since I already have wireless and wired speakers that could benefit from the Dot.

Hmmm, there was a loophole in the iOS version of the Amazon app that allowed you to search for the Echo Dot then from the search results screen, add it to your shopping cart. This no longer works with the right swipe option replaced by See Details. Even your Amazon Shopping History hides the Echo Dot as a recently viewed item, guessing that’s another way to get to the Dot ordering page.

But… a wish list. That’s a different method. Visiting amazon.com on a computer and adding an Echo Dot as a pre-order or adding to a wishlist may just give you different results wink, wink.