Amazon Alexa Review

It took me a minute to actually warm up to the idea of adding Artificial Intelligence to our home, but I’m so glad we did. Alexa won’t solve world hunger, but she solves a lot of first world problems. We have both the Amazon Echo and the Echo Dot in our home and use them every day.

*This post isn’t an Ad, I just really love our Echo this much. This is an HONEST review.

Kitchen Duty

The Amazon Echo is great for the kitchen. One of it’s best uses is the timer. We have all had those awkward times where we need to set a timer but our hands are covered in gunk, right? Well, Alexa solves this problem with a simple, “Alexa, set timer for ten minutes.”

When you are cooking, it’s always nice to have a little music in the background. The Echo is the perfect speaker for the kitchen. Playing music is so easy even a three year old can take advantage. Play music simply by saying, “Alexa, play Disney Pandora.”

Bedroom Routine

We have an Echo Dot in our bedroom. When we purchased our dot, it was bundled with a smart lightbulb. This lightbulb is connected to Alexa, so when it’s time for bed, “Alexa, turn off bedroom light.”

As I am getting ready for bed, I am able to listen to my scriptures, news and podcasts as I please, all hands free. Being able to listen to my scriptures hands-free while I get ready for bed has been so awesome. It eliminates a lot of excuses.

Game On!

Since it’s just the two of us at home, we are often looking for fun things to do at home. When we got our Echo, we went to the App store and got a few fun apps. Our favorite one is “Song Quiz.” This fun game will play roughly ten seconds of a song and you have to give Alexa the song name and who it’s by to score the point(s). You can either play someone in the same room as you, or you can challenge a random opponent. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I’ve never lost at this one. ;)

Another game we love to play is Deal or No Deal. It’s just like the TV show. You don’t win any real money, but it’s so exhilarating.

Alexa has a lot of Trivia games that are awesome as well. You can find the one that fits your family’s taste, just scroll the App store and try a few out.

Pairing with other Smart Home Devices

We have a Roomba (which changed my life, but that’s a whole other blog post), a Nest thermostat and a couple smart plugs. With the help of Alexa, we can run all of these devices just by asking. There are times where I am working from home and the A/C is blasting me. With Alexa I don’t have to stop working. I am able to just ask Alexa, and the thermostat will turn off within seconds. I know, it’s a first world problem but it’s a little piece of heaven when you are in the middle of a creative thought.

There are a few bundles available if you’re into that!

Do you have an Echo? Let me know what some of your favorite uses are for it in the comments!

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