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Once you’ve successfully set up Alexa on your phone, you can extend the services the voice assistant provides by using a hub. In order to use Alexa, you need your phone to be able to hear you—but if you add a hub, as long as you are within earshot of the hub, it will pick up the request and Alexa will respond using the hub. A hub can do a lot more than that, though.
Do you want voice only or video?
For the most part, Echo devices are divided into two groups: speakers and displays. A smart speaker can hear you request assistance, and then answer you. It can make announcements, and generally act as a speaker for sound of any kind including podcasts, white noise, music, and the conversations you have with Alexa. It can also make phone calls.
A smart display is a video tablet, and it can do everything a speaker can, but also, obviously, show you video. Those calls can now be video calls, or you can catch your favorite streaming video service. It also provides a graphical interface for your smart home, so it acts like your phone, as a place to get into the Alexa app.
Start by laying down inexpensive speakers throughout the house
An immediate factor to consider is how much reach you want Alexa to have—and how much you’re willing to pay for it. For instance, if you want Alexa accessible throughout your home, you need an Echo device within earshot wherever you are. That adds up. To start, consider Alexa Dots, the entry point for Echo devices. These small speakers can be had for under $100, and are often available for as little as $40. Sprinkled throughout the home, they provide a unified speaker system that can even do two way audio, so you can talk to someone in another room, or they can provide whole house sound when playing music. Dots and their brother, the Echo Pop, come in a bunch of different shapes and colors; finding the one that suits you is just a matter of surfing through the options. The main difference between them is that the Dots provide more multi-directional sound, while the Pops are directional sound. Pops don’t have a temperature sensor, but that’s one of the few features you’ll find different between them.
Add video displays where they make sense, in activity hubs
It’s unlikely you’ll want an Echo display in every room, but they make a lot of sense in places people gather. Your kitchen is an obvious choice, as it would allow you to watch cooking videos, video chat with friends while cooking, and manage your smart home from the hub of the house. Perhaps a bedroom or family room makes sense as well.
For Echo displays, there are two varieties to consider: the Echo Hub and the Echo Shows. While there are many iterations of the Show, there’s (so far) only one Echo Hub. These siblings are quite similar in price and functionality. Both support Thread, Matter, Zigbee, Bluetooth, and Sidewalk. Echo Hubs don’t have their own camera, but Shows do. While both feature speakers, only Shows have microphones. Otherwise, the main difference is in the looks department. An Echo Hub is really just a tablet. You could mount it to the wall or the fridge, although a mount isn’t included. Echo Shows are more substantial devices, with their own stands. (You can’t mount it to the wall.) Once you’ve decided on an Echo Show, choosing the right one for you is largely going to be based on color and price point. Each number is an iteration on the one before, so the Echo Show 15 is the most recent iteration, and the most expensive.
Other features to consider
Once you’ve got the main spoke and hub of your smart home locked in through speakers and displays, you can consider adding some additional pops of features here and there. For instance, upgrade a speaker in your living room or game room from a Pop to the Echo Studio, Bose, Sonos, or Marshall Uxbridge Speaker, which all offer Alexa functionality in a far more refined speaker.
If you have kids, considering how they’ll interact with Echo devices is a real priority, and Alexa parental controls allow a lot of nuanced setting for those interactions. They also have specialized kids devices, including Pops, Dots, and Shows themed for kids.
There are additional hubs that Alexa offers, including a pair of glasses to wear, earbuds, a watch, and a hub for your car. This universe will continue to expand in the coming years, but it all starts inside your home.
