Difference Between Alexa and Echo | Easy Guide & Examples

Author
Recent Posts

Gained early experience with automation technology in the private and industrial sector, can turn his living room into a movie theater with one voice command and is the owner of this website. He is happy to share his accumulated experience with every new article.

Alexa Advantages

intuitive operation with the help of speech
conveniently operated from where you are at the moment
now compatible with many devices
can be personalized

Alexa and Echo make your smart home comfortable

Both make operation not only convenient but also very practical: For example, you can turn on the light without having to go to the switch. Or control the heating without having to walk through all the rooms.

The principle is similar to that of a remote control. You can control all aspects of your apartment or house from a central point. But Alexa can do even more.

Alexa can also talk to you. This is helpful when you want something other than the pure operating function. For example, if you are looking for information on a certain topic, Alexa will help you find it.

But you don’t have to get out your smartphone to do it. And you don’t have to type in anything. Ask Alexa – she hears you and answers you.

Alexa, the voice assistant, can do that:

Record and process commands
Find the right information for you
Respond to your questions in a meaningful way

Echo, the smart speaker, can do that:

Record your words with the built-in microphone
Forward your words to Alexa via internet connection
Output the answer with the built-in speaker

Why “they” at all?

Alexa used to speak exclusively in a female voice. The reason lies in the perception of many people: they simply prefer to hear warm female voices.

Nevertheless, there are now two timbres: a male voice has supplemented the female voice. Ziggy has been around since the fall of 2021 – of course, nothing has changed in terms of function.

The relevant command for switching is: “Alexa: Change your voice!”. You can also activate the voice assistant with the intro “Ziggy” on newer devices. For the sake of simplicity, we will always refer to Alexa in this text.

Alexa Needs Echo

Are you looking for information about a specific route? Or do you want to hear the regional weather forecast? If you have trouble switching off in the evening, why not order music from Alexa to help you fall asleep?

Of course, you could also do all this with your smartphone. However, you would need a separate app each time. Here is another advantage of the voice assistant.

It’s not only super comfortable. It also offers you a unique range of functions. Once you’ve met all the technical requirements and connected the components correctly, Alexa will make your life in the smart home much easier.

Roughly speaking, you can understand the whole thing like this:

Alexa processes information.
Echo is one of the interfaces you need for this.

Alexa is thus responsible for content, while Echo helps her: Without Echo, Alexa could not communicate with you. And, of course, you couldn’t communicate with Alexa either.

Thus, Echo is more of an interface through which a certain content is transported. So you can run Echo without Alexa. Alexa without Echo, however, does not work, at least not without a comparable interface.

So is Alexa an artificial intelligence?

Because of these capabilities and her extensive tasks, Alexa is often referred to as Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, this is not quite correct. Artificial intelligence is characterized by the fact that it is capable of learning.

Wait: Doesn’t that also apply to Alexa?

Alexa is capable of learning, but only within narrow limits. Her learning ability is mainly related to you: So she can learn to understand your voice better and better.

However, it cannot learn much more. It is cleverly designed and often looks like an artificial intelligence. But that is only because it can do so much.

This, in turn, is rooted in their design, how they work, and their access to huge databases online.

Possible Areas of Application for Alexa

Cameras, lighting, kitchen appliances
Entertainment: games, music, sports activities
Timer function
Research in databases of all kinds
Calendar functions, also alarm clock
Take over router functions
Air conditioning, ventilation, fans
Locks: open and lock garage door, garden door, other doors
Heating, thermostats

And much more! This makes Alexa a mix of a smart home control center and a supercomputer. In view of this, it is no wonder that the combination of Echo and Alexa has become increasingly popular in recent years.

What You Absolutely Need to Run Alexa with Echo

Echo or another compatible device isn’t all you need for Alexa, though. Remember where Alexa works: in a cloud, that is, online. That’s why you need Internet first.

But a functioning WLAN is not everything. You have to get in touch with Alexa somehow: The software has to respond to you.

She needs to hear you – and understand you. For this purpose, there is an app that you download to your smartphone. The Amazon Alexa app ensures that your voice can issue commands to Alexa.

Finally, even if this seems obvious to you, you logically also need a smartphone.

At a glance: Requirements for Alexa and Echo

Internet
Smartphone
Amazon Alexa App
Amazon customer account

What is the Amazon customer account for and is it really necessary?

Alexa is a development of the Amazon company. You need the app to be able to use it. This, in turn, also works without an Amazon customer account. However, Alexa’s range of functions is much broader with a customer account.

Therefore, the operation of Alexa and Echo with an Amazon customer account is recommended. Something we haven’t even talked about yet are the numerous Alexa skills.

Skills: Use thousands of additional functions

The normal function of Alexa works with the help of routines. These are the basic functions that Alexa absolutely needs in operation. However, there are even more functions beyond that.

They are called skills, which can be translated as additional functions. There are now more than 20,000 of them, which means you can do even more with Alexa and Echo.

Most skills are free, you just have to activate them. To do this, you contact Alexa, in each case using a specific command.

Skills give Alexa the ability to function like a computer. Here is an overview of what they enable:

Knowledge memory: Access databases, e.g. laws, recipes, household tips, train connections.
Activities: Cell phone finder if you misplaced your phone again. Offer brain jogging, quizzes and games. Access music by style. Use Amazon for streaming or listening to music.
Find information: Sundays on sale, weather, news, holidays.

These are just a few examples. With the help of skills, Alexa can be personalized, i.e. adapted to your personal needs and preferences.

What can be found in the Skill Store:

The categories that Amazon offers you here cover almost all areas of daily life. In addition to food and drink, these also include fitness, sports, lifestyle and more. Smart Home even has its own category!

There you can find manufacturers of washing machines, music systems or televisions. The advantage is that you hardly have to set or install anything yourself. The manufacturers have of course already installed the possible connection with Alexa on the respective device.

The skills are available in many languages. In addition, there are customer reviews, as usual with Amazon. They show you how satisfied other customers were with the use.

Can I also turn off Echo / Alexa?

If you ever really want to be private, you can also turn off the system. There are several ways to do this.

Switch off the microphone manually: Echo is deactivated. Use the button on the speaker with the microphone icon. If you press it and it lights up red, the microphone is off.
Do not disturb” command: Echo is still active. However, it no longer responds to commands until you change this again with another voice command. You can also limit the function to a certain period of time.

Alexa and the security

In this context, we still want to talk about security with Alexa. There have been concerns about this in the past. Is Alexa always listening in – so is the voice assistant a security risk for you?

Alexa records everything with Echo when you leave it turned on. However, the manufacturer claims to delete all the information after a few seconds.

This should provide enough security. In addition, you can manually disable the connection to Alexa as shown. So it depends on you and how you handle it.

Thus, Alexa is not necessarily a security risk. On the contrary, Alexa can increase security in the home for certain groups of people.

Alexa with smart speaker for seniors, blind and people with disabilities

This includes senior citizens, for whom a home emergency call would then always be available. If they call for help, Alexa hears this and initiates appropriate, predefined routines.

Blind people can also get help from Alexa, as can people with certain impairments. The prerequisite is always that Echo, a smartphone or another device transmits her voice.

In addition, Alexa can perform important functions as part of a home’s alarm system. It can lock doors, set up and control cameras, and lower shutters at a certain time: All of this can be programmed with the help of routines and skills.

Merge Alexa and Echo

By the way, connecting the components is very easy. After connecting Echo, you open the Amazon Alexa app in your smartphone. It automatically searches for a new device.

Under “More” you will find the corresponding menu item. Add your device version of Amazon Echo as a new device. To do this, you only need to select the name of the device in question.

A wizard will then start to guide you through the setup process.

What belongs to the Echo Family and which one suits me?

Because Echo plays such a central role in this, we would like to introduce the parts of the Echo Family in more detail here. The time when there was only one speaker in the family is long gone.

However, there is a fundamental difference that will remain in the future. You can address Alexa with all devices. Echo then connects with the other devices in your home via Bluetooth.

But not every device has a practical display in addition. Such devices can be operated like a tablet, and they also look a bit like one. In their basic function, however, they remain a speaker.

You can see how you can distinguish the individual members of the Echo family in the following overview.

Echo Family

Models without display: Echo* / Echo Dot*
With display: Echo Spot* / Echo Show 5* / Echo Show 8* / Echo Show 10* / Echo Show 15*
Further perfected in features and sound: Echo Sub*

What suits you, you decide. Just go by size and purpose.

Amazon Echo Spot, for example, is a small video alarm clock that fits on every nightstand. If you want something bigger, the Amazon Echo Show with a ten-inch display might be something for you.

How you should set up Echo to make everything work

Sometimes there are a few problems with the operation at the beginning. Users often think that Alexa is to blame. However, this does not always have to be the case.

Echo can also be responsible for Alexa not understanding you. Therefore, make sure that you set up Echo correctly.

For example, avoid placing the device directly next to a source of interference. This can be the microwave, but also an active baby monitor. Place the speaker so that there is at least 20 cm between them.

Also, don’t put the device on the floor. Echo works best when it can receive your voice well. This is usually the case somewhat elevated, i.e. on a shelf or table.

Echo – Alternatives

Smart speakers are now also available from third-party suppliers. Amazon has thus kept the option open to spread its voice assistant even further.

So because every manufacturer can make their devices Alexa-compatible, it became a big success: More than 65% market share currently goes to the Bezos company. This means that Amazon even beats Google’s “Home”.

Examples of alternatives come from renowned manufacturers like Medion, Sonos or Clazio.

Are there also Alexa alternatives?

Smart speakers from other manufacturers often have both: They already include Alexa. However, you can also use the competition, which is the respective in-house voice assistant.

For example, Google naturally has its own voice assistant for “Home”: Google Assistant. The same applies to Telekom and other large companies. Apple also produces its own smart speaker, the HomePod.

What you choose, you have to know yourself. It depends on your technical requirements and how you want to set up your smart home. The more devices you have that are compatible with Alexa and Echo, the more Alexa is worthwhile.

Apart from a few large companies, however, there is hardly any serious competition. This is due to Alexa’s huge range of functions. In addition, almost all smart devices are compatible with it.

Therefore, if you want to look for other manufacturers, you should work through the following checklist.

Alexa checklist or alternative?

What do I want to do with it?
Which devices do I want to control with it?
Are they compatible with the voice assistant in question?
Which skills do I absolutely need?

Then decide what the voice assistant has to be able to do. Then you can decide more easily whether it should be Alexa with Echo or an alternative.

Conclusion difference Alexa – Echo

The Alexa voice assistant is based on software. It controls smart devices and entire smart homes on human command. To do this, it needs at least one other device: This task is performed by the Echo speaker.

It forwards the commands to Alexa with the help of a microphone and speaker. Furthermore, an app, i.e. a smartphone, and the Internet are required for operation. A customer account with Amazon is optional for operation.

However, it opens up many more possibilities: Alexa can be personalized with the help of additional functions. Alexa functions include, for example, controlling devices in the smart home or searching for information online.

There are now third-party alternatives for both Alexa and Echo. Some of them already come with their own voice assistant. This widespread use has led to Alexa in combination with smart speakers becoming one of the most successful concepts for smart homes.

Attention: When installing electronic equipment, please be sure to observe the manufacturer’s safety instructions. You have to take care of your own safety. The information on this site only helps you to learn.
Disclosure: This website is the property of Martin Lütkemeyer and is operated by Martin Lütkemeyer. Martin Lütkemeyer is a member of the Amazon Services LLC Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to enable Web sites to earn advertising revenue through advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Links marked with * are affiliate links.