Amazon Echo 3rd review -The best voice recognition for smart health home

There is no longer a year without the manufacturers presenting the latest developments in their domestic assistants. This time it’s Amazon coming back with the third generation of its Echo. The American giant has not revolutionized its formula, but simply brought a few touches here and there to improve the overall experience. What is this new generation of Amazon’s flagship health home assistant worth? The answer in these few lines with our Amazon Echo 3rd review.

• Brand : Amazon

• Model: Echo (third generation)

• Category: Domestic assistant

• Dimensions: 148 x 99 x 99 mm

• Weight: 780 g

• His : 76 mm woofer, 20 mm tweeter

• Connections: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and jack 3.5

• Compatibility: Fire OS, Android, iOS

• Price: 99.99 dollars

• Availability: available for sale in four different colors

Unboxing

The third generation box of the Echo, like many boxes of Amazon products, is colorful. She wants to warm with its turquoise blue tone and the smile so dear to the brand basically on top. Inside, the enclosure is carefully packed in a well-designed carton. We are thinking here of the small tab specially designed to remove it from its box. The cylinder sits on a small box that contains the AC adapter and the various manuals. So, as usual, Amazon provides with its assistant a packaging in its image, to start on a good foundation.

Design and ergonomics of the Amazon Echo 3rd generation

The third generation of the Echo almost fully incorporates the second generation Echo Plus formula. From a design point of view, it’s like trying to distinguish two twins you meet for the first time. Besides, it is always possible that one is mistaken even after a certain time spent in the company of the speaker. The real difference is in the colors. The Echo then retains its cylindrical shape, as well as most of its surface covered with a mesh fabric. The whole gives the impression ofgood workmanship.

The upper side of the enclosure has several elements. First of all a luminous ring which serves as a witness. It indicates the state of Alexa, and more generally of the Echo. This lets you know when the assistant is listening to us, ready to respond to our commands, or is on standby. And then, there are also four buttons with very simple functions. They allow you to lower or increase the volume, trigger Alexa or mute the microphone electronically. Until now, nothing new.

Finally, the wired connection is made at the bottom of the device with the input of the power outlet and that of the 3.5 mm jack. The latter can be used as an auxiliary input or output. To find out, you have to go through the Amazon app. So the Seattle firm took no chances with this third generation Echo, incorporating many elements from the Echo Plus. Compatibility with Zigbee devices and the room temperature sensor is lacking. For the rest, everything is there.

Using the Echo 3

The configuration of the Echo 3 is relatively simple. This goes through the Amazon app. You just have to connect the speaker to Wi-Fi and your phone, and that’s it! Alexa is ready to be contacted.

Where Amazon’s domestic assistant takes a leap forward is at the level of speech recognition. Whether you are close by speaking in a weak voice, or far away and speaking in a hubbub, Alexa will manage most of the time to hear and understand the commands addressed to her. However, this is an essential point for this kind of device.

Regarding skills, Alexa currently offers more than 100,000. This figure is constantly growing and new products are sometimes interesting. This is particularly the case for the skill associated with the board game Les Aventuriers du Rail. Thus, it is possible to launch a game with the assistant of Amazon. This can participate as a player, or guide beginners to make them discover the rules. Finally, it punctuates the play sessions with music and soundscape. About what give an even more immersive dimension to classic board games.

Sound quality

This new version of the Echo is said to have improved its sound output performance. Indeed, the speaker now incorporates two speakers: a 20mm Tweeter and a 76mm Woofer. And that goes with slightly deeper bass. However, the sound quality is not yet high enough to make it your main source of music delivery. Alexa’s voice is muffled and unclear.

The Amazon app allows you to change the sound with an equalizer. You can adjust the intensity of bass, mid and treble. However, that doesn’t really catch up with the whole. Even if the overall quality is not catastrophic and manages to fare well in certain situations, we were entitled to expect a little more.

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In terms of security

After the scandals revealed this summer over the business of listening to voice commands, Amazon had to take measures to reassure its customers. While this may not yet be what many can hope for, it is still a first step in the right direction. It is now possible to delete all voice commands placed and this manually or by voice. In addition, Amazon also gives users the choice of whether or not to participate in the digital assistant enhancement program. That is to say agreeing to contribute to the development of Alexa and its skills.

Conclusion

The third generation Echo is a well-constructed product, which adapts to most environments. Above all, his voice recognition is sometimes stunning. Amazon offers a health home assistant who understands what is required and simplifies the tasks of a smart health connected health home. On the other hand, if you were going to use it as a speaker to listen to music, choose another source. Fortunately, Alexa’s strength is in its primary mission, that of accompanying people, even in their board game games. And that, she does it very well.

Design and Ergonomics : Blends into any room in the house. Simple to use.

use : Advanced voice recognition. Fun skills.

Sound quality : Insufficient sound performance for music broadcasting. But neither is it catastrophic.

Quality / Price ratio : Available at a reasonable price, no need to break the bank to get the Echo 3.

AB SMART HEALTH REVIEW