Echo Dot (3rd Gen) - Smart speaker with Clock (Scratch & Dent)

I finally decided to give Alexa a try. I was concerned about privacy and we are a little older so I did not want to have too much technology that would end up frustrating me. It was mainly the low price that talked me into it and the fact that we now have several devices and light bulbs each needing their own app. Having Alexa could simplify using them. I started out just using the app to see how I liked it. It was nice to just use one app rather than 6 different once for different branded light bulbs or outlets. Our first one we got was the darker color without the clock. I placed it in our family room. It has been a lot of fun to use and really does make things easier. I did turn off the ability for her to actually buy things but she can put them in my cart. I like that I can control that feature because I do not want to accidentally order something and not figure it out till it's too late. Usually I will want to go look at a photo anyway so it's nice to have her add items to my cart and then I can go look at them. I connected Alexa with several light bulb and outlet brands and our Roomba vacuum. I think it went pretty smoothly but I wish I had bought Alexa first because I am going to have to go through and rename some things to make it easier to identify them to turn them on. If I had to do it over again I would have definitely bought Alexa first. Alexa is sooo much smarter than Siri! When I ask her questions she has an answer for almost everything. She can play music, play games, read books, give you the news and weather and so much more. Alexa can also make calls and text for you, but I have not felt comfortable doing this. I would have to give Amazon access to my contacts and I just feel as though it's not something I need terribly. I do wish that there was a way to just connect an emergency contact and not my entire list....or just connect my favorites so I could maybe just add family members that I text often or would want her to call or text in an emergency. Anyway that will have to wait until I feel I have more control but it's a nice feature. After we fell in love with our Echo that we bought for our main floor, I ordered two more for our bedrooms that have clocks on them. They are the lighter color which is the only one with a clock. I do wish that the clock came in other colors but it's working out ok for us. Before I move to the clock units I do want to mention that Alexa has quite a range. We have a pretty big downstairs level with a wall between our kitchen and family room. It does have a wide opening but I have my Echo on the other side of the wall. I can be in the kitchen and set a timer or ask her a question and the volume settings work well enough that I can hear her responses. I keep the volume a little higher downstairs so we can use it from any room. Each echo also has a setting for bass, treble and midrange. I thought that the default is way too much bass. I mostly use it for answering questions, so you might feel differently if you are using it for music but I turned the bass all the way down and the treble and midrange all the way up to get the clearest voice. I did the same with the bedroom units too. The ones with the clocks are awesome for the nightstand. They are nice and bright during the daylight and automatically dim in the evening. You can turn the auto-dimming off if you want it bright at night and just set a manual light level. I like it just as it is. The light is bright enough to read it at night but so dim that it's not lighting up my room. I actually use Alexa during the night to ask her the time because then I do not have to put my glasses on. This would be such a great unit for those who are visually impaired. I have low vision but it's corrected with glasses but there are times when I really like not having to search for my reading glasses. I have used it to read me a book or play music or any number of things. Alexa can also play a number of games with you. I enjoy 20 questions. They also have Jeopardy and a bunch of other games suited for a variety of ages. Bottom line is that the Echo Dot with or without the clock is not only a fun toy but a useful tool. I think in years to come this sort of thing will be in everyone's home. Thanks for reading my review Becky Brooks