Since it was first announced in 2014, Amazon’s Alexa personal assistant has become a resident in thousands of homes, is consulted by exercising adults and studying children, plays music, turns on the air conditioning, guards the house, and tells you whether it’s going to rain. As of January 2019, according to Amazon, 100 million Alexa devices have been sold.
The Verge Guide to Amazon Alexa
Let your personal assistant help out
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The types of devices that use Alexa are multiplying as well. What started with the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers has now expanded into a wide range of helpful speakers, clocks, displays, and other tech. Many are being sold as part of Amazon’s own Echo line, which most recently includes the Echo Buds, Echo Flex, and even a pair of smart glasses called the Echo Frames. Amazon also has incorporated Alexa into its Fire Stick (that lets you control your TV) and Fire line of tablets.
Other companies have jumped on the bandwagon as well, including Acer, Sonos, Lenovo, Sony, and Bose, among many others.
But which Alexa-based device should you buy? And once you have Alexa, what do you do with it? The Verge Guide to Amazon Alexa can help. We offer reviews and coverage of the latest Alexa-containing devices, along with tips on how best to use Alexa and its various skills (Amazon’s term for Alexa’s apps).
So fire up your smart speaker and let Alexa help.
Amazon’s latest Echo brings room tuning and impressive sound quality to the $100 price point
Dan Seifert
Still the best Alexa smart display
Dan Seifert
Amazon’s smallest smart display has gotten the tiniest of refreshes
Dan Seifert
The new Show is the first smart display that can follow you around
Dan Seifert
Amazon’s latest entry-level smart speaker has a new design, but few other improvements over the last model
Dan Seifert
Choose between the original feminine or the newer masculine option as well as certain celebrities
Dan Seifert and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Alexa can now show and tell you when your security camera spots someone
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
The new network will share a small portion of your bandwidth with your neighbors
Barbara Krasnoff
Amazon’s second-gen earbuds are improved in almost every way
Chris Welch
You can’t change its voice, but you can change its language
Barbara Krasnoff
Amazon’s latest Echo brings room tuning and impressive sound quality to the $100 price point
Dan Seifert
Still the best Alexa smart display
Dan Seifert
Amazon’s smallest smart display has gotten the tiniest of refreshes
Dan Seifert
The new Show is the first smart display that can follow you around
Dan Seifert
Amazon’s latest entry-level smart speaker has a new design, but few other improvements over the last model
Dan Seifert
Choose between the original feminine or the newer masculine option as well as certain celebrities
Dan Seifert and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Alexa can now show and tell you when your security camera spots someone
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
The new network will share a small portion of your bandwidth with your neighbors
Barbara Krasnoff
Amazon’s second-gen earbuds are improved in almost every way
Chris Welch
You can’t change its voice, but you can change its language
Barbara Krasnoff
