QOTW: Do you own a smart speaker?

[Wozza63]

No interest in one from the big companies, but interested in setting up my own home automation setup with Home Assistant, I believe there is a voice assistant available too, and this one probably won't spy on you

[Hoonigan]

Got an Amazon Echo Dot and an Amazon Echo. Bought a few Wi-Fi enabled sockets for lamps around the house and looking into upgrading the heating system to a Nest or something similar.

The Mrs and I find it incredibly handy having the ability to shout at the devices and have things happen.

I want some RGB LEDs for behind the telly, just to annoy CAT-THE-FIFTH

[peterb]

Ive got an Echo dot, but I don't find it that useful - and the sound quality is pretty poor unless you bluetooth it to something better. I will control Hue lights, but its a bit hit and miss - Siri and homekit do a better job.

Sonos speajers are pretty clever - I dont have the ones with Alex built in. Alexa will control them, but again its a it hit and miss. Alexa will control the Nest thermostat, but its no faff to use the app or (shock horror) get up and adjust it manually

So I wouldn't call Alexa smart, just pretentions to being clever.

[gordon861]

Currys were selling three Google Home Minis for £99 just after Christmas so I bought a set. I now have these spread around the house and can just tell them to play the radio either on an individual speaker or on the whole set at once when wondering around the house.

[Jaffo]

I wouldn't have bought one myself but I got a Google Home Mini for my birthday off my sister and use it mainly for listening to the radio and podcasts. The sound quality's as good as the DAB radio we have in the kitchen. The phonecall feature they added recently works pretty well too.

[g8ina]

Ive made a Bluetooth amplified speaker to play stuff off my phone in the kitchen, but apart from that, not a chance.

[whatif]

Mentally, I am smart enough to do without.

BUT I am physically disabled, so I got a dot and have it linked into my Logitech Harmony Elite and trying it out instead of my remote control.
I've only had the Dot for a week and a half, still getting used to it and seeing if it is worthwhile and as useful as some people claim.

Haven't gotten any smart switches yet, but that is next if all goes well. Being able to turn on and off, or to dim the lights via voice command sounds like it would be very handy.
To finish up, a front door smart lock with a camera would be great.

All they have to do then is figure out how to get the Dot to cook my meals, clean the house, wipe my bum, et cetera. :-)

Edit : read a few comments about the speaker not being very good, well mine is a Dot and I didn't get it to listen to music, so I have not used it for that. I have a 320w bluetooth enabled speaker system I use instead.

[3dcandy]

Mentally, I am smart enough to do without.

BUT I am physically disabled, so I got a dot and have it linked into my Logitech Harmony Elite and trying it out instead of my remote control.
I've only had the Dot for a week and a half, still getting used to it and seeing if it is worthwhile and as useful as some people claim.

Haven't gotten any smart switches yet, but that is next if all goes well. Being able to turn on and off, or to dim the lights via voice command sounds like it would be very handy.
To finish up, a front door smart lock with a camera would be great.

All they have to do then is figure out how to get the Dot to cook my meals, clean the house, wipe my bum, et cetera. :-)

Got some tp-link light bulbs for the better half. No hub needed and work great via the Dot. £25 each from Argos which isn't cheap but they do work well. They also have the smart plugs

[rich835]

I have an Echo Dot. I use it to control some of my smart lights, and my Nest Thermostat.
I've linked it to my Logitech Harmony and can also control the TV to some extent. The wife uses the music and radio functionality a lot.
The To Do and shopping lists are useful, as you can just shout out what you need, then it adds the item to a notepad type app automatically on my phone.
Timers are really handy too.

I might buy more Echo devices in the future, but I'm inclined to wait and see if Google come out on top.

I have many other Smart devices, locks, doorbell and smart power sockets, but haven't linked them to the Echo as there's no benefit for me really.

[whatif]

Got some tp-link light bulbs for the better half. No hub needed and work great via the Dot. £25 each from Argos which isn't cheap but they do work well. They also have the smart plugs

Trying to save up to get some but have a few other priority bills to sort out in the meantime (example - new tyres for the car). I have yet to look into exactly what is out there and what I can afford. Always good to hear first hand experiences with these products, thanks. I would like some globes for the ceiling that I can dim and some that just turn on and off, and maybe something like a swart awitch for the fan. Just a few to start with and see how it goes.

[cheesemp]

Nope - Even if I could justify £50+ on one I've no smart gadgets for it to control anyway. Personally I'll wait for the market to calm down before I go anywhere near one (even if I could afford one and a load of smart bulbs/switches/thermostats etc to make it worth while).

[chrisbreame]

Nope, not a great fan of personal assistants, whether they be on my phone or in a speaker. I just can't find any actual use for them. Kinda like smartwatches (of which I have several), they are very cool, but, well... kinda pointless

[Wheelzup]

I have two Echo's, one is the first ones out the second is the second generation and the Dot which I refer to as a hockey puck. Being a quadriplegic they come in handy turning lights off and on, listening to music, alarm clocks, reminders for appointments and so on. One is constantly streaming music, especially at night.

The only problem is when the cable internet is acting up or the power goes out everything is down.

[DaMoot]

Smart speaker is what they're calling Google and Amazon Spy these days? No thanks. I don't need eavesdropping devices listening full time in my home. I'd like to retain some privacy.

As another commenter put it, I'm smart enough to have dumb speakers.

[oxyfueled]

theres one in the house and it seems to tank the internet when its plugged in

[Spreadie]

theres one in the house and it seems to tank the internet when its plugged in

The whole internet?!

Damn, you could hold the world to ransom!





ION, no we don't own a smart speaker - might just be my paranoia, but I don't want an "always on" internet-connected microphone in my home.