If I had it to do all over again, I would have never bought my Echo. I would have bought a Dot instead. Once the novelty wore off, after with use I realized the speakers are not that great, after all the damn interruptions from a clueless Alexa responding to who knows what, after all the incorrect songs were played, after all the clueless Alexa responses to questions, et cetera, I have come to the conclusion that Alexa is a Dumb Home Device. The old "clap on, clap off" device from the 1980s was only slightly less useful. She is okay for turning on/off devices that are actually smart, she is okay for answering certain simple questions, she is perhaps okay for adding items to to do lists and calendars, assuming you use that Google crap, which I don't. But let's face it, she is dumb, and she is useless in more tasks than she is useful. I basically use my Dot to control a few lamps/lights. My Echo sits collecting dust in my study. I prefer listening to Pandora Music rather than Amazon Music, and I prefer listening to it on my iPad Pro 9.7 rather than my Echo. I have clocks all around, so no need to ask Alexa the time when I can easily see it. I have computers and tablets and a smartphone within easy reach, so it is easier to type in a question or search in a web browser to get answers, and doing that I also get links to other related information which I would never get via Alexa. In the end, Dot is good for a few things, none of which she really excels in, none of which I couldn't do with any of my tablets or smartphone, none of which the Echo can do better, although it has better speakers. So for my use, the Dot is the better choice between the two. I haven't tried the Tap, but no doubt it would also be over priced like the Echo and provide nothing I need over the Dot functionality. Portability? Not really. My iPhone is way more portable and way more useful than lugging around a Tap.

I think if someone likes the sound and the music from an Echo/Tap/Dot, then these are okay devices for that, albeit a bit pricey. If someone just wants a fairly simple device with always listening voice activation, then the Dot does that for a reasonable price, albeit not as well as it should. But I think all of these devices, including Google's, Samsux's, and Apple's if they ever introduce one, are far less useful than they should be. And I think the major flaw with them is no visual screen. A few tasks are okay without a screen, but only a few. Most of those few tasks would be much better with a screen. Many tasks like getting directions, adding and reviewing calendar and to do items, reviewing grocery lists, searching for a song, et cetera are best done with a screen to view and review. I think if you have a decent smartphone it will do all the Alexa tasks, do them at least as well, and be way more portable and it has a screen. Same for tablets except for the portability. And smartphones can have cellular connectivity, so another big advantage. Perhaps an Alexa type of device is better for some people, but not for me. I am underwhelmed by them. Day one equaled "wow", but by day 100 it turned to "meh".