Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This thing can be just a tiny bit quirky at times, but in a way that's cute. It changes your life, though. I bought a bunch of these so I'd have one in every room of the house. The ability to pay these over time is what really pushed me over the edge to get them (and get multiple). Amazon, please keep those payment plans happening; brilliant! The original motivation to get these was because I take care of my mom who is handicapped and has trouble getting around. This thing for that purpose alone has changed her life (and mine). She can say from any room (even if she falls) "Alexa, announce..." and then it will send an announcement throughout the house so she can get my attention and help, even if it's just to get a glass of water, a protein shake, a meal or just wants me to spend some time with her. But this is way more than that. You can ask it to play your favorite music on Spotify. It can pull up your playlists instantly. You can link the devices together into various groups. So for example, I have a group I named "Central Stereo Group" that includes all my Echo Shows and Echo Dots throughout the house, with the exception of my mom's bathroom and bedroom. So then I can say, "Alexa, play XYZ playlist on the Central Stereo Group" and it will instantly play my music in every room except hers. And it's perfectly sync'd so there's no "echo" issues. It's like having a bunch of wireless speakers connected to the same stereo. Recipes. Man, I tell ya. If I'm in the kitchen making something and am not sure what spices to use, or what techniques to try, I can just ask Alexa and instantly it walks me through recipes and shows them on the screen. YouTube. If I wanna watch a recipe or literally anything on YouTube, I can just say, "Alexa, show a recipe for lasagna on YouTube" and it instantly pulls up YouTube so I can select which video I wanna watch, from the touchscreen. Sometimes, I just like YouTube videos on in various rooms for ambiance. So like I'll say, "Alexa, show a fireplace on YouTube" and instantly I can select a video with the touch screen, make it full screen, and suddenly my Echo Show is like a little fireplace. There are no words for how comforting this is for me, and especially for my mom who gets lonely and this makes her feel more at-home and takes the edge off her anxiety and pain. Speaking of my mom, she can call for emergencies (this is an option you can set up for like $5 bucks a month and well worth it). If she falls or something, she can call out from any room since I have these in every room, and Amazon will respond and see if she needs 911 called or otherwise. She hasn't had to use this feature yet, because she can just ask Alexa to call me or make an announcement. But this replaces LIFE CALL!!! REMINDERS!! OMG. I use this every single day to remind me to do various things. For example, if I'm cooking I just use my voice to set a timer and it understands no matter how I phrase it. Example: "Alexa, remind me in 10 minutes to put the spaghetti in the pot." And then it goes, "OK, I'll remind you in 10 minutes." Then in 10 minutes, it goes, "(ding dong) Here is your reminder: Put the spaghetti in the pot." SMART LIGHTS! If you have smart lights, you can just throw out commands to change your lights. This is seriously so life-changing. I now change the lights in every room of the house (I have Alexa-compatible smart bulbs throughout the house) with my voice. Examples: "Alexa, lights on." "Alexa, lights off." "Alexa, change the lights to red/cyan/fuchsia/purple/blue/orange, etc." INSTANTLY does it. "Alexa, change the lights to 10%" and suddenly you get nice dim lighting. Ugh, so cool, so useful and so life-changing. ROUTINES. I set routines with this thing to do various things. Example: I set it up to turn off the front and back porch lights at sunrise, and now it does!! I used to always forget to turn the porch lights off and now I save electricity and don't have that problem anymore. WEATHER, TIME, SEARCHES, etc. You can ask this thing ANYTHING. Ask it the current temperature outside, hourly forecast, 7 day forecast, you name it. If you have a question about something you would normally Google, just do it with your voice. Caveat: Amazon is getting better with search but Google still works better. I purchased these because I got them on payments and the sound quality is fantastic. Plus, more devices are compatible with Alexa than with Google Assistant. The one downside, in spite of all these benefits, is that Google is WAY better at accurate search results. But Alexa is definitely getting better with time, so stay tuned!! Excellent quality construction, the screen is bright, clear and beautiful. Sound quality is fantastic, even has some decent bass for a unit that's not huge. Would buy these again and again. These are definitely the electronic device that's changed my life more than anything I've ever owned. And it's changed my mom's life and improved her quality of life. MUST BUY FOR LITERALLY EVERYONE, IN MY OPINION!!! I could go on and on!!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS PRODUCT. The only reason I couldn't give it 5 stars is because there are times when it gets quirky, and the search functionality could be improved to compete with that of Google. Among other features that would make this a total 5 star product (e.g. better functionality with YouTube, Spotify and Web Browsing options).