Amazon Dot vs.Echo: Which smart speaker is best for you?

Well both the devices come with built-in omnidirectional microphones which are specifically designed so that they pick up your voice when you are away in a room. But there are few differences between both. 

Not only omnidirectional but they both come with a voice-controlled assistant too. You can ask Alexa to do a number of things for you from doing math problems to checking the weather or turning on lights etc. If you wish to customize or want to create your own skills, that's pretty much easy and possible. All you need to do is say your wake up word which is “Alexa “ by default but you can change it to whatever you want to.  whereas the Echo has 7 microphone array and Dot Has only 4.

There are a lot of smart technologies available in the market that go well with Echo and Dot. Either it is Philip hue light system or nest thermostats. You can control everything via one app that is Alexa app which is available in your app store or google store depending upon the device you're using.

SIZE, PORTABILITY, AND LOOKS: Both the devices are almost the same in diameter but the current versions available in the market are different in size.  Second gen Echo is 3.4 inches whereas Third gen Dot is 3.9 inches in diameter 

Also, Echo is taller, heavier and has a different look more of cylindrical than Echo Dot. Dot is much
lightweight and looks like a hockey puck whereas Echo is heavier in weight than compared to its predecessors. ait almost weight 10.6 oz. The recently released version is 1.8 pounds heavier than the previous one. 

Talking about height, Both have a fraction of difference. Current dot stands at 1.7 inches and Echo at 5.8 inches. It is so portable that you can carry it with you in your handbag and bring it to your parties or place it anywhere in the room, or in a shelf 

SOUND QUALITY: Both Echo and Dot have a built-in speaker but Echo has higher quality, it boasts better and larger, it has a 360-degree speaker with Dolby processor for crisp and better sound quality  Dot has improved the sound quality than previous devices and sounds louder than previous ones. But both support 3.5mm jack to use external speaker using a cable. 

LOOK AND FEEL: If you are worried about how it would look with your interior then you need not be worried. Echo comes in 6 different shades whereas Dot comes in charcoal, gray and sandstone.

so matching it with home decor will not be an issue.

COST: Cost is obviously the key factor while buying one. Dot is comparatively cheaper which half the price of the Echo. 
 
CONCLUSION:  The major difference is the sound quality of both devices. If you are new to Alexa and using it for fun, you should go for Echo but if you looking for better sound, and a great experience for you and your kids, you go for ECHO which is quite popular than the dot. 

Common amazon alexa problems and How to fix them

An Alexa speaker such as the Amazon echo, echo dot or Amazon tap can be a great addition to any living room kitchen or even a bedroom especially in a smart home and typically after the initial setup there's not a lot of tweaking or maintenance that needs to be done but that doesn't mean that things can't go wrong.

If you're having trouble connecting your smart home device to your Alexa speaker which is one of the most common issues people face. Here are four common problems with Alexa speakers and how to fix them. 

With growing technology the list of the compatible device is also growing day by day, By saying this, we mean, First you have to make sure that's your device is natively supported device. Because you may see that Many of those devices are actually only compatible through a third-party skill which is from skill catalog. 
 

If you wish to add a new device to your Alexa, For this you first need to open the Alexa app on your smartphone, Alexa app is easy to download from your app store or play store depending upon the device you are using. 
 

Now, in the app go to a smart home in the left menu which is under “your devices”.

You need to discover the new devices and for this   Click on discover devices.

If you are not able to see your device, this means it's still not discoverable.

To make it appear, go to the skills section in the Left menu, search for the brand of your smart home device.

 If your skill is available then you only need to follow the on-screen instructions for connecting it through the skill. 
 

If your device is not Alexa natively supported device or there is no skill available, there is still hope to make it work but only, if it's in that channel of Alexa.
 

 if you're having trouble with the Alexa speaker disconnecting from your network regularly then there are chances that you won't be able to make it work. 
 

In such cases there are a few things you can try:

This is the mandatory step to do when something goes wrong or not working out, which is power cycling everything.

  

so, First power cycle everything, you need to unplug the router, the modem and the speaker and then restore power after a few minutes. 
 

If this again doesn't fix things then there are chances that the position of your device needs to change. So, try relocating the Alexa speaker closer to the router and away from other devices and check if this works.

If that doesn't work too, the second things are switching your frequencies. sometimes low frequency causes trouble.

  

You may want to consider switching your Alexa speaker from a 2.4 gigahertz network to 5 gigahertz.

Also when you decrease interference you may also notice that the Alexa speaker doesn't hear you quite as well now like it used to do. 
 

By saying this we mean, the noises around Alexa are one of the major issue in causing trouble with its functionality. 
 

This could be explained by things kept around the speaker and it is cluttered or you can say speaker physically moving closer to the wall. 
 

To fix this try to remove all throbs ructions and disturbances away from the speaker and keep it at least eight inches which is advisable to do, away from the wall.
 

You may also consider what's around the speaker, like some sort of noisy appliance if it's near a noisy appliance or air vent,

You should immediately relieve your device to another room away from such noises. 
 

After all the reallocations, you can finally start with voice training which is available under Alexa settings in the app. In the Alexa app voice training, you can only have twenty-five phrases allowed in a typical voice from a typical distance. You can only read the provided number of phrases to Alexa
 

Adding phrases helps Alexa to better understand you. 
 

Increased marketing, popularity or we can say sometimes pure coincidence, the television can also activate tour Alexa. Let’s say, the wakeup word for your Alexa is “Hey “and if Alexa hears this, it wakes up be it from the Television show or be it you. It will be activated which can be quite frustrating at times. For this, you can either changes your wakeup word or you can simply deactivate Alexa and you can always reactivate it later when required. 
 

It is mostly seen that Alexa wakes up even though the person has not uttered the wake-up word, there are three things you can do to help prevent it.
 

Reallocation of your Alexa.  simply move the Alexus speaker further from the television so it doesn't pick up on the audio from the sound system quite as well.

  

Muting Alexa, Hit the mute switch so it stops listening to audio altogether.

Changing the wakeup word, Change the wake word that is used commonly in the show or movie that you're watching.