Still, this speaker gets loud enough to fill an average living room with sound, and its additional smart features allow you to amplify your audio if needed. Like the Echo Studio, you can pair this speaker with other compatible devices to bring audio to different rooms in your home or amplify it in one larger space like a basement. It even boasts the same Zigbee hub capabilities, so you can ask Alexa to control other smart devices in your home. This speaker offers a really impressive performance for the price, so it's worth a look if you want an Alexa speaker. Step 2: Open the Alexa app on your iOS or Android device. Open the Settings menu and head to Skills. Search for the SmartThings skill, and make sure it’s enabled. Control GE appliances with the Geneva skill: "Alexa, tell Geneva to preheat my oven to 400 degrees" or, "Alexa, ask Geneva if my laundry is dry." Step 2: Sony menus can differ a little here, but you will want to look for an option that says Apps or Your Apps. Select it. Alexa can integrate with loads of smart home platforms, such as SmartThings, Philips Hue, Wink, Insteon, Lutron, Belkin WeMo and many more. Some require you to enable skills, and some don't.

Drop In on another user (requires the other user to allow you to Drop In anytime): "Alexa, drop in on [name]." Ask about Santa's reindeer: "Alexa, who's your favorite reindeer?" "Alexa, what can you tell me about Santa's reindeer?" or, "Alexa, what do you know about Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer?" Alexa, wake me up every day at 8 a.m. to music" allows users to set their mornings off right with music from Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio and Vevo. Alexa, switch inputs” or “Alexa, switch to HDMI one.” (The latter command might not work with all televisions.)If you have traditional TV service from Comcast, AT&T U-Verse, DirecTV, Dish, Spectrum, Cox, Verizon Fios, Centurylink Prism, Frontier Fios, or Mediacom, the Fire TV Cube can tune into live channels as well. To set this up, head to Settings > Equipment Control > Manage Equipment > Add Equipment, and then select Cable or Satellite. Once it’s set up, try these commands: Add an event to a calendar: "Alexa, add [event] to my calendar for [day] at [time]" or, "Alexa, add an event to my calendar." Create a shopping list: "Alexa, add eggs to my shopping list" or, "Alexa, I need to buy laundry detergent." This means one of two things. If you've just plugged in a new Alexa device, or reset one to factory defaults, an orange light indicates that the device is in setup mode. If not, Alexa's orange ring tells you you're connecting to the network. Microsoft's Cortana is available as a skill-- but rather than just being a skill, it opens the door to a completely separate digital assistant through your Alexa speakers.

Open the Alexa app on your phone, hit the menu button in the top-left corner, and select Music, Video, and Books. To connect your TV box, open the Alexa app, hit the menu button in the top-left corner, select Music, Video, & Books, and then choose your provider from the list. Select “Enable skill,” and follow the on-screen instructions. Play music on other (or multiple) Alexa devices: "Alexa, play [artist/album/song/genre] in the living room" or, "Alexa, play [music] everywhere." Plus, this speaker's designed to communicate with other smart devices in your Sonos home ecosystem, which is cool. Spread audio throughout your house or a larger room for an improved sound. You can pair it with a compatible Sonos soundbar for enhanced surround sound. Since the speaker supports Dolby Atmos, it can bring a more immersive feel to Dolby Atmos Music found on different streaming platforms like Apple Music. If you don't need all these extra bells and whistles, you may prefer one of the more affordable models on our list, but if you want the best of the best, this speaker's the way to go. If you're into shopping, you can say something like "Alexa, show me the green pleated skirt" to find specific clothing items using the Shop the Look feature, which you can also use for home and beauty products.

The Fire TV also supports searching for content, but the results here are mixed. Unless you have a Fire TV Cube (more on that shortly), you can’t scroll through the results without a proper remote, and some apps don’t support searching at all. Here are some examples of voice search commands that work well: To turn on notifications, open the Alexa app and select to Settings, then Notifications, then Shopping Notifications and toggle it on. Your Echo speakers will light up yellow when you have new notifications. Step 4: In the search bar, search for your cable provider (e.g., DirecTV, Fios, Frontier, Dish Network).