If you find devices Amazon Echo and Alexa useful at home, they can also be useful in your car. Amazon Echo Auto is a smart device that provides access to voice assistant Alexa in your vehicle. For less than $50, it brings modern functionality like hands-free navigation and music selection to an old car.
While Echo Auto adds significant functionality to older vehicles, some of its features may be redundant in newer vehicles that are equipped with this technology.
What Can Echo Auto Do?
Echo Auto performs the following tasks:
- Play or launch music from Amazon Music , Spotify Sirius XM, Audible audiobooks, podcasts or NPR news.
- Make phone calls.
- Add or check reminders.
- Add items to shopping lists.
- Manage calendar appointments.
- Get directions with Google Maps Apple Maps or Waze.
- Find locations such as gas stations.
- Run location-based procedures and tasks based on places like your home or workplace.
How does Echo Auto work?
Echo Auto comes with a mount and micro USB cable, making it easy to set up on the dashboard and connect to the car’s power source. Echo Auto is portable and can be moved between multiple vehicles.
To hear Alexa from your car speakers, plug her in with Bluetooth or cable. If your car lacks both Bluetooth and an aux port, you can connect the Echo Auto to your speakers using a cassette adapter or FM transmitter.
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The device’s network connection and data comes from your smartphone, so make sure it supports the Alexa app.
Echo Auto includes eight microphones that listen to the word Alexa Wake. The microphone array picks up voice commands from vehicle-related sounds such as music, air conditioning, conversations, and ambient noise.
