Amazon Echo Dot is released and Echo Speakers is finally out of the USA starting in UK

Amazon Echo is finally coming to the UK this autumn, two years after the device was launched in the US – and it will also be available in white.

The unveiling came after weeks of rumours and reports, with the device officially launching on September 28.

UK launch partners include Just Eat, Uber, and Spotify – users will be able to order a taxi or get a meal delivered with just a few sentences of voice commands.

The price for the UK version of Amazon Echo is £149.99 and it’s available for pre-ordering now, in black and white. Amazon Prime subscribers can get their hands on the voice-activated bot for a £50 discount but only if they order before the end of the day on Friday, September 16. The Echoes will start shipping on Monday September 28 – even non-Prime members that pre-order now and select ‘standard shipping’ should get their device on the day of its release.

A smaller version of the Echo with the same Alexa abilities, the Echo Dot, is available to pre-order now at £49.99 and will ship on October 20. The Dot can also be paired with smart thermostats and plugs.

What is Amazon Echo?

Amazon Echo is a voice-activated home audio speaker system with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. It’s a cylindrical speaker that uses a personal voice assistant named Alexa.

How does it work?

The Echo is always connected to Wi-Fi, allowing you to connect it to your home network and access cloud services. Alexa is the ‘wake word’ for the device and acts very much in the same way Siri does on iOS. Alexa will fulfil your spoken commands, such as setting an alarm or finding the answer to a question you may have.

The Echo is always learning, to adapt to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences.

The reason it has taken so long to get to Europe is because Alexa needed to learn enough accents.

“Alexa been in UK and Germany in over 1,000 homes learning accents – we wouldn’t ship it until the experience was enjoyable,” Limp told WIRED.

Amazon Echo’s key features

The Bluetooth aspect means Amazon Echo doubles up as a 360-degree speaker, allowing you to play music from any Bluetooth-enabled device. It offers hands-free voice control for Amazon Music, Prime Music, Spotify and other streaming services.

Even when you’re playing music, Echo can use one of its seven hidden mics and so-called ‘beam forming technology’ to always be able to hear your next request, in spite of how loudly you like your music.

Alexa can also learn new skills, such as enabling the device to connect to the seven-minute workout app for instance, on command. Owners can tap ‘Your Skills’ in the Skills section of the Alexa app to see which skills have been enabled on the device.

The Amazon Echo is always connected to Wi-Fi, allowing you to connect it to your home network and access cloud services

In the US, Amazon partnered with brands such as Domino’s and Uber to allow you to order a pizza and request a taxi using through Alexa. At the UK launch, the firm announced it has partnered with Jamie Oliver, Spotify, JustEat, Network Rail and also Uber.

In the home, Echo will work with devices such as lights and switches from companies including Philips Hue and SmartThings. Click here to find the compatible smart home connected devices that will work with Echo.

Elsewhere, Alexa can make shopping easier. You can ask her to put items on your Amazon shopping list as well as order Prime products you’ve purchased before. After a purchase has been made, check the product and order details in the Alexa App. It is possible to turn off this setting, and input elements such as the need for a speakable confirmation code, to prevent it being taken advantage of.

Hands on with the Echo

WIRED had a brief, albeit crowded, hands-on with the Echo running Alexa at the UK launch event.

Admittedly we were asking the device questions from a list of approved queries on the demo station surrounded by other journalists all chatting away – but this, in fact showed Alexa’s beam forming and echo cancelling capabilities using that seven-microphone array really works when attempting to lock in on someone calling on the digital assistant in a party environment.

The effect is impressive and inspires confidence in using Echo even in conditions where one would normally not bother trying.

The new Amazon Echo is also available in white

How much does it cost?

The price for the UK version of Amazon Echo is £149.99. Amazon Prime customers can get it for a limited time at a discount of £50, dropping it to £99.99.

The Amazon Echo family

Alexa comes complete with its own set of enabled-devices that will also be available:

Amazon Tap

Amazon Tap is a smaller version of the Echo and allows users to be connected to Alexa on-the-go, available in the US. The focus with the Tap is more on music quality. It has dual speakers with Dolby processing and 360-degree omnidirectional audio. Unlike the Echo, which is always ready with Alexa, you have to ‘tap’ the microphone button on the Tap device to access Alexa’s help.

The Tap has a range of ‘sling’ cases in different colours to protect your device on the move, and a nine-hour battery life.

No release date has been set for the Tap in the UK.

The Amazon Tap has different sling cases available for when using the device on the go

Echo Dot

The Echo dot is even smaller than the Tap. It is a disc-shaped device that has all the elements of the Echo; connects to Alexa voice service and can connect to speakers over Bluetooth, but in a smaller space.

The new and updated Dot features a more powerful speech processor than the previous generation, to deliver improved far-field speech recognition accuracy.

The small device will be available to buy from Amazon’s website as a single device or in multipacks: buy five and get one free, or buy 10 and get two free.

The Amazon Echo Dot can only be purchased through the Alexa app, not through Amazon’s website

If you have more than one Echo-type device, or two of the same, you can set different ‘wake words’ in order to not confuse all your smart devices.

The new Echo Spatial Perception (ESP) in the devices means that if you have multiple Echo devices within hearing distance, the technology will detemine which Echo is closest to your voice and respond to the request. This feature will be avaiable as a free update to all Echo devices, in the coming weeks.

The new Echo Dot is now available in white

Extra family members

Now that the Echo and its companion Alexa are becoming more widespread, we may see the integration of Alexa into more products.

Orion Labs has created the Onyx, for example – a wearable communication accessory you can clip onto your shirt or wear it as a pendant necklace. It allows you to transmit real-time voice messages to other Onyx users.

Orion has announced that, from October, the Onyx will have Amazon’s Alexa built in. This means you will be able to access any Alexa skill, such as ordering pizza and Uber cars, through the Onyx. You just won’t be able to play music through it.

The Onyx will have Amazon Alexa-capabilities from October

The UK is beginning to catch up to Amazon’s US launches after Amazon Dash buttons and AmazonFresh were both launched earlier this year.

You can check Samma3a Portable Speakers Shop for full list of speakers you can control by Amazon Echo Dot.