Not taken the Alexa plunge yet? Here’s how you can for ₹2,999

Last year, Amazon’s little Echo Dot was their most popular smart speaker in India. But now another and smaller device has joined the Echo family.

The Echo Input looks like a little idli — except for when it’s black — and isn’t a full smart speaker by itself. Instead, it connects to existing speakers to bring them into the Alexa era. This, for a price that lowers the bar for those who want to give a smart speaker a try. You could also connect the Echo Dot or any of the other Echo speakers to another set of speakers, but now at ₹2,999, it’s that much simpler. Also, the Input is so small it hides away unnoticed.

Connecting the Input to another speaker couldn’t be simpler. In the box, you get the Input device, an audio aux cable, and a charging adapter and cable that’s just like a phone’s. Plug in the Input and your own speaker into power. Download the Alexa app and connect to your WiFi and your Amazon Prime account. Also download the Amazon Prime Music app for good measure. Grab the audio cable and push it into the Input at one end and your speaker’s 3.5 mm jack at the other. The Alexa app will take you through the steps and notify you if your speaker is disconnected or becomes so at any point. You can also connect via Bluetooth if your speaker doesn’t have the 3.5 mm jack.

Connecting your speaker to the Input could keep it turned on, so if it works on batteries, you’ll need to make sure it’s plugged . Depending on the settings of your speaker, it could also turn it off when it detects no activity for a length of time. That’s why, if you’re buying an Echo speaker for music on another speaker, the Input is a good choice, but if you want smart speaker functions more and never want to find it turned off, one of the other Echo speakers will do better. In addition, the smart home bridge to control Philips Hue lights and similar devices that need a hub is in the Echo Plus or purchased separately. If smart devices are set up to begin with, the Input will also obey commands to control them. The Input by itself will however still control smart devices that don’t need a hub such as YeeLights or some air purifiers like the Mi Purifier.

Now that you’ve given Alexa a voice by connecting your Input to a speaker, you have a full-fledged smart speaker. You can voice-command music or play it by tapping in the Prime Music app — which also obeys voice commands. Your sources of music can be Amazon Music, Saavn, Hungama, TuneIn Radio and Gaana. You can voice-command the Input to play music and it will of course respond via the connected speaker.

If you already have Echo devices, the Input is a great way to add them plus the newly connected speakers to multi-room groups. If you wanted to get music to play everywhere in your house and have more than one set of existing speakers, a couple of Echo Inputs would do the trick.

The Echo Input and connected speaker pair also give you access to all of Alexa’s skills. That’s anything from games and jokes to news and information. For Alexa newcomers, a bit of exploration in the Skills section in the Alexa app is recommended as there are thousands to choose from.

COMMENT NOW