Just Ask

Amazon Echo is a hands-free speaker you control with your voice. Echo connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather, and more—instantly. All you have to do is say the wake word "Alexa" and Echo responds right away.

Furthermore, Echo makes it easy to control smart devices in your home. Use Echo to switch on the lamp before getting out of bed, turn on the fan while reading in your favorite chair, or dim the lights from the couch to watch a movie—all without lifting a finger.

Alexa—the brain behind Echo—is built in the cloud, so it is always getting smarter. The more you use Echo, the more it adapts to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences. And because Echo is always connected, updates are delivered automatically.

Echo is smarter than ever. Over the last months since launch, Alexa has added dozens of new features to expand its skillset, gotten better at answering all types of questions, and improved accuracy and speech recognition.

Audio technology

The cylindrical form factor is a result of the microphone layout on the top and the omni-directional sound output.

Echo has been fine-tuned to deliver crisp vocals with dynamic bass response. Its dual downward-firing speakers produce 360° omni-directional audio to fill the room with immersive sound.

Tucked under the light ring is an array of seven microphones that use beam-forming technology and enhanced noise cancellation. With far-field voice recognition, Echo can hear you ask a question from any direction—even while playing music.

Intuitive interaction

Say "Alexa" and Echo responds instantly by lighting up the top edge. Then ask a question, such as "what is the weather today in New York?", or tell Alexa to do something, like "add batteries to my shopping list" or "play jazz." Your question or request and related information, like music playlists, calendar entries, connected home devices, and items on your shopping list, will be processed in the cloud. The light ring illuminates and indicates states and behaviors, so the user can be assured that her request has been understood.

Echo is loved by all generations, including elderly people with possible barriers to modern technology. Echo's voice-first interface enables visually impaired users to embrace this Internet access point.