An Amazon Echo Dot is the smaller sibling to the larger Amazon Echo and Tap but packs most of the same functionality. With support for Spotify and a variety of other apps this is a great low cost home personal assistant.
Design
The Echo Dot has a simplistic design that is discreet and small enough to blend into your living room. It comes in both black and white, there is also the option to buy fabric or leather covers from Amazon if you really want to make it look great in your setup. The Dot has a LED ring around in circumference that lets you know that the Alexa has heard your voice or if it is in either setup or disconnected mode. There a four buttons on top, volume up & down, mute mic and an action button for activating Alexa. It is powered via micro USB (provided in the box with a power adapter).
Design = 4/5
Usability
The Echo Dot is a simple voice activated speaker that you can ask many questions such as "What is the weather going to be like today?" and you will get a detailed yet brief lowdown on the weather in your area. The microphones can struggle to pick you up when the speakers are playing music at high volumes. There is an 3.5 mm aux out port if you wish to connect it to an external speaker or you could connect to a Bluetooth speaker.
Usability = 3/5
Features
The Echo Dot is feature rich with support for a variety of apps including Spotify, Prime Music, Lyft, Just Eat, Sky News, Network Rail and many more. I believe you can also set a default music app if you are subscribed to multiple however I have yet to test this out for myself. Although because Amazon want to push their own Music Unlimited service they are unlikely to add support for Google's Play Music or Apple's iTunes anytime soon.
Features = 4/5
Value
At the price I got it for of £39.99 it is an absolute steal but even at it's full price of £49.99 it is well worth the money it if you want to delve into the world of personal assistants.
Value = 5/5
Total Score: 16/20
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