Amazon Echo Spot (newest model), Great for nightstands, offices and kitchens, Smart alarm clock with Alexa+ Early Access, Black

Dislike the new Alexa+. It isn’t helpful and wastes my time.
This is my 10th echo (and those are just the ones I’m still using, not counting the older ones I have replaced over the years) and up until now I’ve been very happy with all my echo devices. I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE NEW ALEXA+! I wish I had never bought a device with the new Alexa+ on it and had not “upgraded” my other devices. It is less useful/helpful than before and now actively wastes my time and frustrates me. Numerous times, every day. There are a couple benefits (like being able to ask a follow up question without having to say the word again) but they are greatly out weighed by the negatives. If you are thinking of getting a new Echo, I’d suggest reading the rest of this review (sorry it’s going to be long!) and thinking about how and when you are likely to use the device. But do take this review with a grain of salt: some people may like the way Alexa+ now works, and it may go a little way towards replacing companionship that is missing in their lives. Personally, I have a full life (sometimes overly full!), with lots of wonderful people in it, and I am not in need of conversation from AI. In fact, I recognize that I am *overly* busy and that is a large part of why the new Alexa+ is so annoying. So that may not apply to everyone. I need AI to just be quick, efficient, and helpful, not waste my time making useless commentary that isn’t even always applicable. I can see a scenario where an older person who lives alone might find Alexa+ charming though. Sadly, I do not. I find it annoying, frustrating, clunky, inefficient, and banal. And I can’t find a setting to keep it from wasting my time with useless additional comments after it has answered my question or done what I asked it to do.The good: I really like being able to use voice commands to control our thermostat (which is an Ecobee) as well as many of the lights in my house (we use Phillips Hue bulbs in most lamps and light fixtures), including our Christmas tree and lighted garland (for those we use a connected/smart outlet). I also like being able to ask it for quick info that I need, like the forecast, how many tablespoons are in a cup, a particular word I can’t remember in French, etc. I also find it convenient to use voice commands to set timers and reminders and to add items to our family’s grocery list app (AnyList), though the latter feature is much less useful than it used to be because of changes Amazon has made. (I will get into those when I review “the bad.“) I also use the Flash Briefing feature to listen to the news while I clean up the kitchen and pack kids’ lunches. These are all things I could do with my phone, but it’s nice to do them hands-free. All of this was possible in the earlier iteration of Alexa as well (I wish I could go back to the old Alexa!)The bad: after the upgrade to Alexa+, now when I ask any question, after answering the question it keeps talking, but not with any useful information. It makes comments like “that could be a really useful term if you are ordering dinner at an extremely fancy French restaurant“ or “sounds like you might be making something! Hope it’s a delicious recipe!” or “Sounds like it’s going to be a beautiful day, hope you enjoy it!” While all of that may sound harmless, it often takes as long or longer to make the random comments as it did to answer the question in the first place. More than doubling the time is the opposite of helpful when you are busy and already stretched thin. Also, it is wrong as often as it is right (eg: I wasn’t planning a trip to a French restaurant, I was writing something unrelated to restaurants. I just wanted to be reminded of the word I needed without having to take the time to pick up and unlock my phone, open a browser, and look it up. But the time I saved has now been wasted with the additional commentary, since I can’t get back to writing and my thought process until Alexa stops talking.) It also is often trying to sell me things by “reminding me” that I have something my Amazon cart (I’m well aware and there is usually a reason I haven’t completed the purchase, like I need my daughter‘s input since the item is for her, or I want to take a few minutes to research alternatives, but haven’t had the time yet) and offering to complete the purchase right then or by making recommendations (that I did not ask for) for products or books that it thinks I may like. It has NEVER once recommended anything that I want and it never makes recommendations at a time when I’m likely to want to stop and think about them. It is handy, however, when it tells me that the battery in a smart device is getting low. That’s helpful and probably will lead me to buy batteries on Amazon at some point. I think reminders are fine and recommendations *could* be fine (or even great) if I specifically *asked* for them, but I don’t want them offered when I’m busy doing something else. It just slows me down and wastes my time with something I didn’t ask for and don’t want. (This was a feature in the previous version of Alexa though, so this complaint isn’t new.) I understand that this makes me sound like a curmudgeon, but I was happily using Alexa many, many times a day and when you add up that inefficiency/wasted time numerous times a day, day after day, it’s a lot! I also don’t feel any more loved and supported – because it is AI, not a person! My house already has a lot of people that talk a lot – I don’t need to add extraneous comments from AI! I just want it to do what I asked and no more. I do like the feature where after answering it listens in case you have a follow-up question. That improves efficiency. That keeps me from having to say the wake word again and makes things quicker. But if I am silent after it answers, I would like it to remain silent as well! I wish there was a setting for make it less chatty! It’s so frustrating that I find myself getting out my phone more and using Alexa less. I still use it some when my hands are wet/covered in food. But the entire experience is much less useful than it used to be and I’m not sure it’s worth the money anymore. I certainly wouldn’t buy as many devices as I now have, though I’m obviously going to keep them since I already own and paid for them.Upshot: I wouldn’t recommend buying an echo device until you look into whether other brands (like Google Nest or Apple Home) might better suit your needs. I don’t know if they have become similarly chatty and inefficient or not. I do think Alexa works with more smart devices, but if I were starting over I’d probably take a hard look at other options, especially from Apple (better privacy). I’m too far down the rabbit hole to switch ecosystems, but I definitely won’t be adding any Alexa-enabled devices to my home anytime soon. And I would NEVER pay for Alexa+! I view my Echos as machines, not friends. They are tools that I can use to use more time to spend with my actual friends and family. And I want them to operate as such. I hope Amazon changed things so this aspect of the experience can be personalized, because so far I haven’t been able to.

Great as an alarm clock.
I purchased this to replace an Echo Show 5, which I had been using as an alarm clock. This performs the job much better as an alarm clock and as a clock. I don’t miss the ads I would get on the Echo Show 5. The Echo Show 5 was moved to my kitchen. It sounds good, the size is perfect. The only improvement I’d like to see is either a physical Snooze button or an improvement to the Gesture Tap to snooze the alarm.

Great for the nightstand
I’m new to Alexa and got this so I can have this on my nightstand with time display and the temperature . Also play my music when cleaning my bedroom and changing the sheets. I’ve used Alexa to turn the heater up or down. Since I’m new to Alexa I know I’m not using it fully since I don’t have smart things around the house, but it’s a start. Setting it up was easy and I went through all of the Alexa app settings to get familiar with it. The voice control is nice with no issues. The sound for my music sounds great and has a 3 band equalizer in the app. The display shows your current weather with the temperature and clouds or rain or shine.Value for the price would depend on how much Alexa functions you use. But I like it all the same even as nightstand alarm clock with Alexa.

I bought this clock for my bedside table and it’s perfect. It’s simplistic design with core Alexa features make this ideal for any room. I have been looking for a clock that would have a dim option for during those late/early hours so that the clock wouldn’t glow at night and this one is great. I set a time frame that I want to put my clock on sleep mode and the time changes to a dim red (so easy on the eyes if I wake up in the night). I also like that you can personalize the clock face (i.e. colours, weather, etc) to whatever suits your style. The speakers are also on par with other Alexa devices (clear, good treble/bass). I don’t have anything negative to say at this point. I did have a bit more trouble getting it set up, there were some pairing issues with the app but it eventually worked. Overall, I would buy this again for other bedrooms in my house.

Purchased it on SALE !!!Its a marked improvement over the older hockey puck style devices.The sound is VERY good as many others have commented including the good base response.Its nice to see the song details scrolling as the music plays as well as the album cover etc.This is a really nice device for the sale price. We will probably buy the charging stand for it.Q17 Recommended