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Amazon Echo's 100+ Amazing Features

Updated on June 4, 2018
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Krzysztof is a tech junkie investigating the latest stories from companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, and Amazon.

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Top 100 Amazon Echo Features

These are the top 100 Amazon Echo features since its release in late 2014.

Discover amazing Alexa skills, smart home applications, and incredible third party support from Spotify, Nest, and more.

The Echo has come a long way since its launch and the Alexa voice assistant has practically become a household name, but which features truly stand out?

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Echo's New Hardware

1. Echo Dot

2. Amazon Tap

3. Echo Show & Echo Look

4. Echo Spatial Perception

5. Local news flash briefings

6. Amazon Echo launch in UK, Japan, India and Germany

7. Echo Spot

8. New colors, skins, and fabrics

9. Alexa smart routines

10. ESPN radio

11. BBC and NBC news

12. TechCrunch and CNET

13. Echo launch in Canada

14. Alarms from Finding Dory, Alec Baldwin, and Missy Elliot

15. CNN News and the Washington Post

16. Echo Dot Kids Version (FreeTime for Alexa)

17. Amazon FireTV/Stick voice control

18. Traffic information for multiple points

19. Set & name multiple timers

20. Multi-room audio

Multi-Room Audio and Echo Spot

Some of the biggest features included new product launches like the Echo Spot, Amazon Tap, and Echo Show.

In particular, the Spot was a smart clock that included a tiny touchscreen for video calling.

The Echo also expanded outside the United States into the UK and Germany with software updates that introduced new dialects, a smarter AI, and device awareness with Echo Spatial Perception.

Along with new devices, we saw updates to things like alarms/timers with new tones from "Finding Dory" and Missy Elliot as well as a slew of different news feeds and podcasts.

Amazon Music & Spotify Support

21. Amazon Music Unlimited

22. Spotify Premium

23. Pandora music station

24. Bluetooth playback controls (pause, resume, skip songs)

25. Listen to Kindle books

26. Hear audiobooks from Audible with playback controls (skip chapters)

27. Set repeating alarms either daily, weekly, or weekend only

28. Local restaurant and business info from Yelp

29. Theater showtimes and movie information from IMBD

30. Google, iCloud, and Outlook Calendars

31. Order and Reorder Prime eligible items

32. Track Amazon packages

33. Customized sports update for favorite teams

34. IFTTT recipes to generate multiple commands/rules

35. Connect to other Bluetooth devices

36. Associated Press and Engadget

37. MLB.com gameday audio

38. USA Today

39. Amazon Alexa Easter eggs

New Music Stations

Amazon's launch of Amazon Music Unlimited gave your Echo devices even more music options with its low cost monthly subscription service of $3.99 a month.

The caveat is you have to have an Echo product and be a Prime member, but there are other options too. Alexa can play Spotify Premium songs, Pandora, or music from a Bluetooth connected device.

You can also control playback with pauses, resumes, and volume controls either within a music service or by connecting to another Bluetooth speaker.

Those playback controls also pertain to audiobooks and your Kindle eBook collection with the ability to skip chapters and return to where you left off in the story.

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Top Amazon Alexa Skills

40. Amazon Alexa Skills

41. Domino's Pizza

42. Uber and Lyft

43. Sleep and Relaxation Sounds

44. 1-800-Flowers

45. Logitech Harmony

46. Fitbit

47. Amazing Word Master Game

48. 7-Minute Workout

49. TrackR to find lost phone

50. "The Wayne Investigation" for audio storytelling

51. "The Magic Door" choose your own adventure

52. Find My Phone

53. Akinator

54. Ask My Buddy

55. Patron Tequila and The Bartender

56. OurGrocies for synched shopping lists across iPhone and Android devices

57. StubHub

58. 1-Minute Mindfulness

59. Yo Mamma Jokes and 4A Fart (sound effects)

60. Campbell's Kitchen

20 Best Amazon Alexa Skills

Some of the greatest additions of the past two years have been in the form of "Alexa Skills".

A few premiere skills include Uber, Lyft, Domino's Pizza, Logitech Harmony, "The Wayne Investigation", and Capital One, but there are thousands of skills to choose from.

You can ask for a variety of crude jokes, sound effects, and recipes or perhaps listen to new audio stories, play games, and quiz yourself on a multitude of topics.

The possibilities are endless as more and more skills are added daily, but be on the lookout for higher quality skills to come. Amazon has partnered with so many companies that it won't be long before your favorites are on this list.

The Alexa Smart Home

61. SmartThings

62. Nest

63. Wink & Phillips Hue

64. Insteon

65. Automatic skill for cars

66. Alarm.com and Scout Alarm

67. August Home, iDevices, and SkyBell

68. Caseta Wireless

69. Yonomi

70. Nexia Home Intelligence

71. Haiku Home for fans

72. TP-Link Kasa

73. LIFX for colored smart lighting

74. Rachio Sprinkler control

75. Vivint.SmartHome-Complete

76. Iris connected home control

77. Ecobee, Emerson, and Honeywell thermostats

78. BMW Connected

79. Genesis for G80 & G90 Hyundai Genesis auto owners

80. Control4 Smart Home

Amazon Is King of the Smart Home

Google's Home may be more intelligent than the Echo but its smart home skill-set does not compare to Amazon's.

With partners ranging from Nest and Insteon to TP-Link Kasa, Iris, and Yonomi; there's never been such a vast integration across so many platforms.

You can control your lighting, fans, TV, thermostats, smart locks, and even check your car's mileage/fuel level with "Automatic". Heck soon you'll be able to tell Alexa to start your car for you with skills like Genesis.

Alexa will be a huge platform for automakers in the near future.

Most of these skills also integrate with IFTTT so you can create multiple recipes to trigger combined actions. While not every smart home skill is perfect and there are several limitations, it's a sign that the internet of things market is ready to burst.

These integrations will only get better and better with time.

Alexa Voice Calling & Texting

81. Voice Calling & Messaging

82. The Voice

83. Food Network

84. TV Shows (SyFy, Netflix)

85. KidsMD

86. PGA Tour

87. "Drop-In" Intercom

88. Cat and dog facts

89. Garageio

90. Big Sky local weather app

91. Ooma for voicemails

92. Twenty Questions

93. Animal Game

94. Receive NCAA Football scores/schedules

95. EarPlay

96. Twitter Reader to read timeline, mentions, likes, trends, and retweets

97. Control scenes with Philips Hue, SmartThings, and Insteon

98. Dash Wand with Alexa

99. Alexa on Amazon mobile app

100. Google Home

Future of Amazon Echo

Finally Amazon has begun to entertain us by bringing snippets from "The Daily Show, "The Voice", SyFy, and Food Network into users lives.

There's even a few skills to tell you about different movies/shows playing on cable and streaming channels like Hulu, Amazon Video, and Netflix.

Along with those gems and a few more games or smart skills, there's the bigger picture of improved AI and the launch of intelligent digital assistants with the arrival of Google Home.

It's been a profitable few years for the Amazon Echo, but the next two years will push for greater innovation as Google and Apple come aboard.

These are the top 100 Amazon Echo features, but expect 100's more soon.

So what is your favorite feature or what did I forget to add? Feel free to comment below and let me know.

Your Turn

What's the top Amazon Echo feature?

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