This list should give you a great idea of what Alexa can actually do. While there are currently around 100,000 skills available, we’re going to cover some of the most useful. A solid example is Amazon’s own Prime subscription service which you will need to access content from Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Prime Music.Įvery task Alexa does is made possible by one skill or another. Skills for Alexa are free to enable, but some of them might be associated with services that require a fee for full functionality. If you want your phone to do something new, however, you have to install a new app. Your phone comes with preloaded apps that do all kinds of things. You can think of Skills for Alexa the same way you think about apps for your smartphone. Different skills also allow third-party devices and software to interface with your Alexa voice assistant. Every time you “enable” a new skill, you’re essentially “teaching” Alexa a new ability. These are just some of the reasons that this is Amazon’s best-selling smart speaker.Īlexa skills are what allow you to further customize your experience of using Alexa by adding extra features and functionality. For the family that has Alexa in every room, this makes a perfect bathroom speaker. It also makes for an affordable gift idea. This is a compact smart speaker that’s perfect for an entry-level enthusiast. So, potentially you can use it to add an extra 1,000 square feet to your home network coverage. Lastly, I’ll mention that there is a built-in eero mesh Wi-Fi extender. The Echo Dot also features a built-in temperature sensor, along with its previously added motion sensor. For instance, the Echo Studio (which we’ll cover also). Amazon does offer other options, for better sound though.

Keep in mind that this is a speaker that fits in the palm of your hand, so you’re not going to be rocking the house with it. With an ever so slightly larger driver, the result is slightly improved audio quality. While its smaller design handicaps its ability to keep up with the standard Echo’s drivers, the 5th Gen Echo Dot, for instance, stepped up the sound quality when compared to its predecessor. The Echo Dot, being in its 5th generation, has seen some improvements over Gen 4. A miniature version of the Echo shown above, this is a basic and value-oriented smart speaker.

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