Please talk to me about one of those Alexa or Echo things

[MrsGaryLightbody]

Obviously I've been aware of them and seen countless advertising over last few years but not really taken any notice.

But am looking for a radio/cd player and s new alarm clock and happened to see an ad on tv where an alert/alarm was set and it played music of choice.

Daft question of the day alert can I say something like " little box please play me half an hour of Snow Patrol ... " without having previously loaded the thingy with music of my choice?

Also what else would I use it for?

I've got a goggle home and yes, you can say 'Hey Google, play Snow Patrol'. To do this though, you need to have a subscription to one of the music streaming services like Spotify, Deezer, Amazon etc.

I use mine as an alarm clock, to set timers when I'm cooking, to ask it questions when I'm not sure of something, to check the weather, loads of things.

Hi @HilaryBriss so I would need a sub to another app of sorts .
Now for a real dumb & dumber question... how does the box know I have the app .. do I have to have the boxes control on my phone via an app or would it pick it up automatically.

I live on my own so I like the thought of asking it something and getting to hear a voice.. easily pleased

As I said, I have the Google Home although I imagine that the Amazon Echo will work in a pretty similar way. I had to download the Google Home app on my phone and set up the device when I first got it. Then I later linked my Deezer account to it via my phone.

You can play the radio without a subscription to anything and I think you can use the free versions of spoitfy/deezer but then you get adverts and can't set your own playlists etc.

It is quite amusing at times, I can say 'I'm going to bed Googe' and it will reply with something like 'Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite'. Last night I asked Google whether it liked Alexa (the amazon one), and it said 'Yes, she's my bestie. Alexa, Siri and Cortana, they're my crew'.

You can make playlists on free spotify, but only on the desktop app, it won't work on mobile (I think).

That's all great info, which one do I get ? Any recommendations?

I love my Amazon Echo Dot. It was super easy to set up and it integrates seamlessly with my Spotify. Don't pay full price though (which I did!) because they are often on sale - check Money Saving Expert for guidance on that.

Ahh I think it popped up on my amazon account as on sale for about 40 so will have a look. Thank you

Alexa show is good as it has a screen which gives you the lyrics to songs which is fab! Plus you can have photos on it etc.

Depends on what you want to use it for. The speakers aren't particularly good on the Echo dot or the Google home mini so if you want it primarily to listen to music, I would get the full sized version of whichever you opt for.

I bought DS an Amazon Echo and lasted 2 days before I found it (well, DS talking to it) so annoying that it's gone back in the box!

@HilaryBriss ahh good point, yes mainly music and company. I'll check out other options