"Alexa" the Amazon Echo

Here's our "Alexa" unit as part of our Family

I wasn't going to share this, because I thought it was tacky, but of all the Amazon purchases we've made in the last year, I think the Amazon Echo, "Alexa" has been my favorite. When we purchased it, back in November or December (It was Mario's big Christmas present to himself) I thought it was a frivolous waste of money, and quite honestly, it was a frivolous purchase.

HOWEVER! It has made grocery shopping SO much easier. I am notorious for making a list (even whole menu plans) and leaving the list at home when shopping, and "Alexa" has made it so that I actually take the list with me, since it syncs to an app on my phone. I've tried other shopping apps--and even the Reminders app that comes standard on iOS devices--but for whatever reason, I don't input the item to the list right when I think of it. Because the Echo is voice activated, I simply say, "Alexa, add ______ to the shopping list," and she adds it right then and there. The app syncs nearly instantaneously, and wallah! Forgotten grocery items are nearly non-existent! Plus, since I know my grocery list is a lot more accurate, I'm confident that I've listed everything I actually need;  I am a lot less prone to impulse buys, which equates to $$$ that stays in our pockets. (I haven't done the math, but I would guess that the money saved from fewer impulse buys either completely or nearly paid for the Echo.)

The other big feature of "Alexa" that I use, is the voice activated bluetooth speaker. She (yes, we have personified the Echo in our home) is linked to Amazon Prime Music (here's a 30-day Free Trial,) which has a lot of free music for Amazon Prime members. (Did you know that students get 6mo Prime Student free with a .edu email account, and then half off on Amazon Prime after that? Check out Prime Student) Mario started saving a lot of his favorite music on when we were first married, plus all the free music already in the cloud, there's very little that's not available through "Alexa." I never really had music going until after we purchased "Alexa," but now I can say, "Alexa, play 'Eye of the Tiger'" anytime Big Sister asks.

There are lots of other skills and features (here's the Alexa Skills Guide) that Mario uses (especially the ability to add events to his Google Calendar,) but other than the shopping list and music, the only other skills I regularly use are the voice activated timer and weather, and occasionally I'll use the 7 Minute workout skill. For a little while, we had the Amazon Shop feature enabled, so we could just have "Alexa, order _____ from Amazon," but after Big Sister almost ordered a second Echo unit, we disabled that feature.

Overall, I would recommend the Amazon Echo to anyone who likes voice activated devices or who are a bit scatterbrained, like me. It is a little expensive, so I can't wholeheartedly say "Everyone needs one!" It's definitely a want, but now that we have it, it would be hard to go back as it really has made grocery shopping much more effective. So, if you like to listen to music regularly (or you would like to more easily) and/or you would like a little help with remembering your shopping list, then I think the Echo is definitely something that would benefit you.



Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review, and all thoughts are my unbiased, honest opinion, but this post may contain affiliate links from which I receive a small commission on purchases. For more information, see my Disclosures page

Personal Statement: This post contains affiliate links; however, I have received no compensation for my review. Everything here is my honest opinion of a product we purchased.