smartphones have cameras and mics too, kinda creepy as the mic on the phone is listening and you get ads according to keywords you've said o.O Time to go back to the 'ol trusty Nokia :D
This will be the Amazon echo to own. They nailed the design and the inclusion of a screen adds much more functionality for a little extra money. Cameras screen improved speaker etc all inclusions we would expect a next generation echo to have. 😀
I have the same concerns... which is why I havent bought on of these devices.. however - lets not forget, our smart phones and webcams already do the same thing. Your phone is a portable microphone and camera and GPS track-able device we carry everywhere. So the potential privacy invasion is already there........ :/
This would be a perfect addition for a small office, for a manager to call other employees or employees to call each other without having to go from one office to another. The broadcasting option is a game changer for businesses. Probably not for a bed room though.
Maybe cause 50% time your phone is in your pocket and the other 50% when its charging its laying down facing the ceiling. Meanwhile this device faces forward and gets a room eye view.
This isn't a review it is a talk about the concept that we all knew was coming. Can you actually review the device and how it works instead of just talking about the concept. This was way to vague and general to be of any help. I'll find out tomorrow when I get it in the mail.
they spend a significant portion of the video talking about the privacy concern... we get it, but, they make it sound more creepy than we already think it is.
6 лет назад+2
for example whether it turns the display off at night in order to keep light down. Personally I am already annoyed at some phones led lighting up when charging so any ambient light coming from this would be a reason for me not to buy it
Christophe the idea is to make this one more device you can use Amazon's video calling service. Kind of like how Apple's FaceTime is kind of synonymous video calling over phones.
MartialBob I understand that, but I also think that the majority of the people that are purchasing this product won’t even use the video chatting feature, I know if I did I wouldn’t use that feature. My opinion the screen real estate is way too small to facilitate such a video chatting feature effectively
linuxmind Well I stand mistaken but I think the point still remains that a camera is incredibly unnecessary on such a device. Thank you for the correction by the way :)
The drop in feature is great I brought my mum and grandad one so that if he’s not picking up his telephone she can just drop in and ask if he’s okay its great!!!
I've heard the light sensor is very near the camera but is actually separate. If that's true, then you could very carefully cover the camera with tape w/out affecting the light sensor.
I’ve had my spot for a few hours now, and overall I think it’s a good device. The good: it’s surprisingly good but the bedside. Wait adjustments are good and the LED does not keep you up at night. The sound is better than the dot. The display is somewhat useful, and overall it’s a good replacement for the old bedside clock. The bad: It uses a non-standard power cord when a high-capacity USB connection would have worked fine. Custom power connector is OK, if you have an internal USB power for a second device, but it does not do that. It doesn’t have battery back up although the alarm will work if you lose Internet. There aren’t enough clock options, both analog and digital faces are limited, but it is acceptable The ugly: as many have said the bedside camera. About to solutions for this, and I use both. Turn off the Camera via the settings menu, and then take two small pieces of translucent scotch tape cut into a small circle and stick over camper. This prevents the camera from getting a picture, but allows enough light for the sensor. Second ugly point is the price. It’s about $20-$30 too expensive
Frog man Luke there's a few videos of them dissecting these things. Never heard of any of them have the camera but. You're right who knows. I was also told Comcast was installing cameras in their set TV boxes. could be anywhere I guess
Why is the camera a problem now? There's two cameras on the device I carry everywhere already. I personally wouldn't be more disturbed by the camera in this than the camera in my smartphone.
Yea, no cameras are going in my room unless you can close the lid like a laptop. For me I cover my camera on my laptop when I am not using it, but on my iPad and iPhone, I don't cover the camera, which maybe I should. It's always covered while I'm not using it though, like facing the desk or floor. These days the only privacy you really have is in your house or bed room. Thats only if you don't let the cameras on these devices always be visible.
Thank you for the review. I just ordered one. I bought mine to use as an alarm clock and bluetooth speaker for my laptop's dying/distorted speakers. Not that I'm expecting hi-fi sound, but it should do fine for me. We have a few Echos and while I love them dearly, teaching them chores like activating Blink alarms and such isn't for the faint of heart. Actually, I'm a bit disappointed on that side of things. This, coming from someone who used to build all of his own PCs. They need to make it easier!
You could cover the camera with a piece of translucent frosted tape or similar. Presto auto brightness works but camera can't capture anything else than brightness.
During the whole video, I was anxiously looking at my echo if you are going to turn it on when you utter Alexa word. I was quite happy until the last 5 seconds of the video, it turned on! Was it intended?!!
I have a eco dot in the bedroom to control lights and for an alarm atm, i was considering getting another Echo show to replace it now there going down in price but this is way smaller more suited for a bedroom I think
yeah im not to comfy with the camera on this tbh I have an iMac in my bedroom this has tape over the lens as well as my laptop im not too fussed with mics since my TV computers and phones all already have these so defiantly be Turing that camera off and putting tape over it
Just put a transparent blurring sticker over the camera - done. Lets light through for auto-brightness and blurs enough to make any captured video useless. Seriously though, companies need to have retracting guards that are obvious when their retracted or not. Some smart but simple design could make it pretty cheap too.
How is the Light Bleed? In a Dark Room can you see the backlight as a white haze like when you have the contrast too high on a CRT TV as apposed to the screen being totally black where it's supped to be black. My Amazon Echo Show's screen is not totally black even when it's in Do Not Disturb Mode, the entire screen has a very dim white haze to it that would bother me if it was on my night stand as a alamr clock because the light would be too bright.
Looks like a nifty gadget but I wonder about the necessity of having a display outside of very niche functions like video calling from one specific spot in your home, or for displaying a clock. These voice assistants were so great because they let you control your home or get information without having to touch anything or look at anything. I can’t really figure out the need to have one other than for the sake of having a cool piece of tech to play with.
The camera is used to adjust brightness so it would be a problem if you cover it. Sounds like that is done by design to me to nudge you into not covering the camera.
Nice one with the "privacy concern" hahaha! With that being said, later in the future, all that we do will be monitored. Our advancement in technology proves that. It is inevitable as the knowledge of human being grows. And this thing called "privacy" will just be only for those people who are "off the grid".
The second gen is so much worse in every way that it's actually offensive. They are censoring reviews too because there are too many honest reviews of it on Amazon.
Echo SPot is an intelligent team, in our house we call it Alexa we have the Noe that has the screen and only with our voices can we handle it we can ask it to play music, videos, it tells us the temperature, it informs us about the news of the day, we can do calls or video calls to another Echo without problems is the best gift we could give.
A piece of tissue paper and some double-stick tape would allow it to sense brightness without being able to take pictures. Tape with a matte finish would probably do as well.
Use a piece of frosted plastic, or tape to cover camera lens, light will still get thru so it can sense light and dark, but image will be blurred. take care of your privacy issues
Don't really see the point of having this device lol. I have a plasma 60 inch TV to watch movies on, a samsung galaxy phone that I use for alarm and time. And a surround sound system for music and movies. And desktop speakers.
Making a big deal that the spot has a camera on it.....our phones have mics and cameras on it also......and it's our bedroom as well probably in bathroom also...just saying
You can cover the camera with a thin piece of white medical tape and it can still sense light changes but won’t be able to actually see anything. It’s unsightly, but it works.
But can you set alarms for multiple days? Current echos will not allow alarms to be set in the way of a traditional alarm clock. Alexa, set alarm for 4:00 Monday thru Friday, it will not do it. I currently have to remember to set an alarm everyday prior to sleep. Makes no sense! Is there an update recently that changes this? If not then people will be disappointed to try and use this as a viable alarm clock.
Alexa, set an alarm for 4:00 (am/pm?) every weekday. Worked on my Echo Dot just fine. You could of course go into the Alexa app to change the time/days etc.
I'm honestly not sure if it had ever been a problem or not. I have used the recurring alarm feature before but turned it off as I was always ready before the alarm would ring. I last used it a few months ago.
Bought on July 16th, 2018. On Aug 12, 2019, the screen started flickering. Less than a month out of warranty. I tried the factory reset. Flicker got worse. I am calling Amazon, but after reading other reviews I am not hopeful. $129 for 1-year use. Hope amazon is better than this. We will see. I will update after my call to customer service Just got off the phone with Amazon. They were very helpful. I brought the problem to their attention and requested that the problem be looked into as I wasn't the only one reporting this problem. The agent actually looked at the reviews. I am getting a partial refund and I am returning my spot. I loved my spot for the last year. I will be purchasing another except this time it will be with the extended warranty. Just to be safe. I would have given this product 5 stars until it broke. I gave this a one star, but my customer service was exceptional. So I am increasing this to a three-star.
Yeah put an always on camera and mic in your bedroom, what could go wrong?
smartphones have cameras and mics too, kinda creepy as the mic on the phone is listening and you get ads according to keywords you've said o.O Time to go back to the 'ol trusty Nokia :D
KG Productions smart phone camera is pointed up
Yeah but the phone camera is facing the ceiling when it's placed on the bed or the table.
Ammar Malik how do you look at the phone then
KG: or flip phone RAZR
The spot is defenitely getting a spot in my bed room. Looks amazing!
Still using in 2024! Great for the bedroom,and no ads!👍
I'm getting a Echo spot for Christmas!!!
This will be the Amazon echo to own. They nailed the design and the inclusion of a screen adds much more functionality for a little extra money. Cameras screen improved speaker etc all inclusions we would expect a next generation echo to have. 😀
Me and my mom got this for Christmas I️ love it so much.
And a camera of course, to ensure that there's not a single spot in your house where you can feel unwatched.
I have the same concerns... which is why I havent bought on of these devices.. however - lets not forget, our smart phones and webcams already do the same thing. Your phone is a portable microphone and camera and GPS track-able device we carry everywhere. So the potential privacy invasion is already there........ :/
Nobody wanna see your dumb face trust me.
Bang Bang: What they wanna see? Something lower? ;)
Me too. Camera? no thanks
And you're too naïve if you don't think CIA can use these devices.
1:12 wHaT hAvE yOu JuSt sAiD?!?!
I definitely prefer the white model?? o.o
i prefer the white model too, better contrast against the black screen :)
This would be a perfect addition for a small office, for a manager to call other employees or employees to call each other without having to go from one office to another. The broadcasting option is a game changer for businesses. Probably not for a bed room though.
Why the camera paranoia? All our phones and tablets have at least one, I don't see people taping those up.
Frog man Luke just not that paranoid
Maybe cause 50% time your phone is in your pocket and the other 50% when its charging its laying down facing the ceiling. Meanwhile this device faces forward and gets a room eye view.
Howard Price the phone camera isn’t watching you while you sleep
Mine is taped
@@MrRaErickson but it is listening.....
This isn't a review it is a talk about the concept that we all knew was coming. Can you actually review the device and how it works instead of just talking about the concept. This was way to vague and general to be of any help. I'll find out tomorrow when I get it in the mail.
they spend a significant portion of the video talking about the privacy concern... we get it, but, they make it sound more creepy than we already think it is.
for example whether it turns the display off at night in order to keep light down. Personally I am already annoyed at some phones led lighting up when charging so any ambient light coming from this would be a reason for me not to buy it
WHAT IS THE PRICE
You really need an explanation on how it functions? It's not rocket science.
Bezels are too big
Abdullah Abdulhussain we want it bezel less!!😂🤣
It's because it's a round display.
SomePlaceForVideos round display can have even less bezel right?
HACKING MADE FUN goo.gl/images/b3XURg yes the can. It's a real prototype from sharp.
There's no point when it's circular
0:50 my Alexa just sent an alarm for 12:45
Why don’t they just use an IR sensor for the auto brightness control instead of a camera?
Christophe the idea is to make this one more device you can use Amazon's video calling service. Kind of like how Apple's FaceTime is kind of synonymous video calling over phones.
How to spy then? Be logical.
MartialBob I understand that, but I also think that the majority of the people that are purchasing this product won’t even use the video chatting feature, I know if I did I wouldn’t use that feature. My opinion the screen real estate is way too small to facilitate such a video chatting feature effectively
an IR sensor will not help :D
> Lux sensor is what you'd need.
linuxmind Well I stand mistaken but I think the point still remains that a camera is incredibly unnecessary on such a device. Thank you for the correction by the way :)
The drop in feature is great I brought my mum and grandad one so that if he’s not picking up his telephone she can just drop in and ask if he’s okay its great!!!
Tape the camera with transluscent but not clear Tape. Will make the image blury but still autobrigthness will work
I've heard the light sensor is very near the camera but is actually separate. If that's true, then you could very carefully cover the camera with tape w/out affecting the light sensor.
I’ve had my spot for a few hours now, and overall I think it’s a good device.
The good: it’s surprisingly good but the bedside. Wait adjustments are good and the LED does not keep you up at night. The sound is better than the dot. The display is somewhat useful, and overall it’s a good replacement for the old bedside clock.
The bad: It uses a non-standard power cord when a high-capacity USB connection would have worked fine. Custom power connector is OK, if you have an internal USB power for a second device, but it does not do that. It doesn’t have battery back up although the alarm will work if you lose Internet. There aren’t enough clock options, both analog and digital faces are limited, but it is acceptable
The ugly: as many have said the bedside camera. About to solutions for this, and I use both. Turn off the Camera via the settings menu, and then take two small pieces of translucent scotch tape cut into a small circle and stick over camper. This prevents the camera from getting a picture, but allows enough light for the sensor. Second ugly point is the price. It’s about $20-$30 too expensive
Sidenote, Siri sucks, sorry for typos
I really dig that head movement :-D 4:40 snazzy! Great review tho!
Totally agree. Make a version without the camera!
Omfg they do have one JUST BUY A CAMERA COVER
This video set a 12:45 alarm on my echo dot lol. It was perfectly in sync.
put clear scotch tape over autobrightness will still work but it'll be to blurry for the camera to be used maliciously
Yes, I thought the same thing
There is one without the camera it's called The Echo.
Frog man Luke there's a few videos of them dissecting these things. Never heard of any of them have the camera but. You're right who knows. I was also told Comcast was installing cameras in their set TV boxes. could be anywhere I guess
ur stupid
@@DAMEDASH23 no u
nice video! can you tell me where I can find your iPhone Case? Looks super nice.
Why is the camera a problem now? There's two cameras on the device I carry everywhere already. I personally wouldn't be more disturbed by the camera in this than the camera in my smartphone.
Thank you for being one of the few people here with a brain
Yea, no cameras are going in my room unless you can close the lid like a laptop. For me I cover my camera on my laptop when I am not using it, but on my iPad and iPhone, I don't cover the camera, which maybe I should. It's always covered while I'm not using it though, like facing the desk or floor. These days the only privacy you really have is in your house or bed room. Thats only if you don't let the cameras on these devices always be visible.
Thank you for the review. I just ordered one. I bought mine to use as an alarm clock and bluetooth speaker for my laptop's dying/distorted speakers. Not that I'm expecting hi-fi sound, but it should do fine for me.
We have a few Echos and while I love them dearly, teaching them chores like activating Blink alarms and such isn't for the faint of heart. Actually, I'm a bit disappointed on that side of things. This, coming from someone who used to build all of his own PCs. They need to make it easier!
I e
So you prefer the white one over the black one? What are you trying to say?
You could cover the camera with a piece of translucent frosted tape or similar. Presto auto brightness works but camera can't capture anything else than brightness.
Love it or hate it , but u can’t deny it looks so frickin’ cool
This is perfect for the corner of the bar in the kitchen/living room
Hahaha, Dan trolling Alexa at the end.
You really made a song and dance about that camera! #bigdeal
"But I can't ever imagine wanting to make video calls when I'm in my bedroom." (Has wedding ring. Checks out.)
During the whole video, I was anxiously looking at my echo if you are going to turn it on when you utter Alexa word. I was quite happy until the last 5 seconds of the video, it turned on! Was it intended?!!
I love your phone case, what is it that you are using on your iPhone X?
This is a very well reasoned review. Nice job.
I have a eco dot in the bedroom to control lights and for an alarm atm, i was considering getting another Echo show to replace it now there going down in price but this is way smaller more suited for a bedroom I think
yeah im not to comfy with the camera on this tbh I have an iMac in my bedroom this has tape over the lens as well as my laptop im not too fussed with mics since my TV computers and phones all already have these so defiantly be Turing that camera off and putting tape over it
PJ Duffield if you're not too comfy and not too fussed, I have a really good solution for you. Don't buy this device.
Who is going to turn your cameras on and bother to stare at you? Nobody!
Never understand the people with laptops and other devices with stupid tape over the camera. I always want to walk over and rip the tape off.
"I definitely prefer the WHITE model"
i prefer the white model too, better contrast against the black screen :)
Just put a transparent blurring sticker over the camera - done. Lets light through for auto-brightness and blurs enough to make any captured video useless. Seriously though, companies need to have retracting guards that are obvious when their retracted or not. Some smart but simple design could make it pretty cheap too.
When it’s on the screensaver, and it showing the time. There’s a little number that shows right above the time. Do you have it too ? What is it ?
Any chance of an actual review?
When (if) I get a smart speaker,
I would get this.
How is the Light Bleed? In a Dark Room can you see the backlight as a white haze like when you have the contrast too high on a CRT TV as apposed to the screen being totally black where it's supped to be black. My Amazon Echo Show's screen is not totally black even when it's in Do Not Disturb Mode, the entire screen has a very dim white haze to it that would bother me if it was on my night stand as a alamr clock because the light would be too bright.
Will it display whether/ day/ date/ time at the same time?
Can it display the time in 24hr format? My Echo Show's after several months still can't manage such a complex feature :(
I should say finally in April 2018 echo show can display the time in 24hr format.
Looks like a nifty gadget but I wonder about the necessity of having a display outside of very niche functions like video calling from one specific spot in your home, or for displaying a clock. These voice assistants were so great because they let you control your home or get information without having to touch anything or look at anything. I can’t really figure out the need to have one other than for the sake of having a cool piece of tech to play with.
Which smart home device integrates best with the iPhone ?
I'd buy it in a heartbeat if it played youtube. Is there a device I can use in the kitchen that plays RUclips?
The camera is used to adjust brightness so it would be a problem if you cover it. Sounds like that is done by design to me to nudge you into not covering the camera.
Can we default the home screen to show weather (and not cycle?)
I really want a google version of this. Exactly what I want.
Thanks, my echo set an alarm while watching this
*But my iPhone has done this for years....?*
Nice one with the "privacy concern" hahaha! With that being said, later in the future, all that we do will be monitored. Our advancement in technology proves that. It is inevitable as the knowledge of human being grows. And this thing called "privacy" will just be only for those people who are "off the grid".
Very nice, how much price?
This is the best in the echo family
weird question, which brand is the phone case of the iphone in the video?
what spec. should I need to buy a replacement adapter?
The second gen is so much worse in every way that it's actually offensive. They are censoring reviews too because there are too many honest reviews of it on Amazon.
this i would use - but for some reason it's not available here in japan
Echo SPot is an intelligent team, in our house we call it Alexa we have the Noe that has the screen and only with our voices can we handle it we can ask it to play music, videos, it tells us the temperature, it informs us about the news of the day, we can do calls or video calls to another Echo without problems is the best gift we could give.
Can you “verge” review the late 2017 ue megablast bluetooth speaker?
I think is looks pretty cool compared to other smart speakers the screen is a nice edition buttt.....🤔 cannwe really call it a speaker at this point
A piece of tissue paper and some double-stick tape would allow it to sense brightness without being able to take pictures. Tape with a matte finish would probably do as well.
When is this available in UK ?
I wouldn’t use this for my house but if I had an office I would for sure make the splurge.
Maybe the drop by would work as a baby monitor?
I've never cared about privacy with electronics. I may be the minority on that opinion, but I honestly can't imagine it ever being a bad thing.
I honestly don't mind the camera. It's a pretty cool device. Such a shame that competition with Google killed some potential functionalities, though.
Just got one, first thing I thought “have to cover up the camera” 😅
Can I pair this with my sonos play 3?
I didn't know Amazon had woken up.
In France we have not heard of it.
Use a piece of frosted plastic, or tape to cover camera lens, light will still get thru so it can sense light and dark, but image will be blurred. take care of your privacy issues
Once they add a security camera feature and free cloud storage I'll buy one.
Don't really see the point of having this device lol. I have a plasma 60 inch TV to watch movies on, a samsung galaxy phone that I use for alarm and time. And a surround sound system for music and movies. And desktop speakers.
NewPScity Pair an assistant with all of them and use voicecontrol ;)
im shocked you still have a plasma TV!!! those things were short lived lol
Well don't buy it then lol.
What brand is the phone case?
What’s an alternative to this device with video option? Including RUclips.
Redmi 8 a dual
Can you dim it at night?
Just use some scotch tape, it will blur the image and the light sensor will still work.
So the music doesn’t play that loud?
If I have WiFi and the other person don't have WiFi can they use it?
I can get one for 50.00 . Is it worth it?
erm..just use some matte 3M Scotch tape? I won't block the light but the luminosity sensing should work just fine lol...
Funny when you really think about the features on this, they are so elementary. "It displays album art." Game-changer.
Making a big deal that the spot has a camera on it.....our phones have mics and cameras on it also......and it's our bedroom as well probably in bathroom also...just saying
I can’t help but wonder had the Amazon Firephone not been a failure, would Amazon have gone this route.
The camera drop in feature is no big deal, just don’t enable it.
Bruh when he said he preferred the white model. Idk it just made me look at this man different. 😝😞🤣
Still so expensive. Needs to be $10...
Looking forward to a Google version integrated with FaceTime (lol)
If you have a smartphone do you really need this?
Can it connect this to Bluetooth?
what about putting a tape over the camera?
You cant imagine wanting to make video calls from your bedroom..??? YEAH RIGHT !!! lol
You can cover the camera with a thin piece of white medical tape and it can still sense light changes but won’t be able to actually see anything. It’s unsightly, but it works.
can somebody tell me how's the sound when music is played?
But can you set alarms for multiple days? Current echos will not allow alarms to be set in the way of a traditional alarm clock. Alexa, set alarm for 4:00 Monday thru Friday, it will not do it. I currently have to remember to set an alarm everyday prior to sleep. Makes no sense! Is there an update recently that changes this? If not then people will be disappointed to try and use this as a viable alarm clock.
Alexa, set an alarm for 4:00 (am/pm?) every weekday.
Worked on my Echo Dot just fine. You could of course go into the Alexa app to change the time/days etc.
Raphael Ndem Ok Thanks, I have to try it out. Its been about 3 weeks since the last attempt. Maybe this was finally addressed properly.
I'm honestly not sure if it had ever been a problem or not. I have used the recurring alarm feature before but turned it off as I was always ready before the alarm would ring. I last used it a few months ago.
Bought on July 16th, 2018. On Aug 12, 2019, the screen started flickering. Less than a month out of warranty. I tried the factory reset. Flicker got worse. I am calling Amazon, but after reading other reviews I am not hopeful. $129 for 1-year use. Hope amazon is better than this. We will see. I will update after my call to customer service
Just got off the phone with Amazon. They were very helpful. I brought the problem to their attention and requested that the problem be looked into as I wasn't the only one reporting this problem. The agent actually looked at the reviews. I am getting a partial refund and I am returning my spot.
I loved my spot for the last year. I will be purchasing another except this time it will be with the extended warranty. Just to be safe. I would have given this product 5 stars until it broke. I gave this a one star, but my customer service was exceptional. So I am increasing this to a three-star.