Stacey on IoT | Internet of Things news and analysis

Internet of Things

  • Home
  • Analysis
  • Startups
  • How-To
  • News
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Speaking
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

What outdoor Alexa speakers are good for music, voice control and communications?

July 22, 2019 by Kevin C. Tofel Leave a Comment

Ultimate Ears Blast (credit: Ultimate Ears)

On the latest IoT Podcast, Steve called into our voicemail hotline with a question we receive quite often: What Amazon Echo device can I use outside for music, voice control and to communicate with the family? It’s a tricky problem to solve, mainly because none of Amazon’s own Echo devices are outdoor rated, meaning they aren’t resistant to moisture and dust.

All is not lost, however. Depending on what compromises Steve wants to make, there some options, even if none of them are optimal.

We dug around and found that the Ultimate Ears Blast speaker can be used outdoors, thanks to its IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. This $179 speaker – often found on sale for much less – is battery powered and has Alexa Voice Services built-in. Sounds like a winner, right? Unfortunately, no third-party Alexa-capable devices support the Echo Calling and Drop-In features.

Another, less expensive choice, is the $35 Amazon Echo Input. This device works with your own speakers, so if you already have outdoor speakers installed, it could work. Essentially, the Echo Input adds a microphone and Alexa to your existing speakers via Bluetooth or a 3.5-millimeter cable. The downsides? It requires power so you have to plug it in outdoors. And since it’s not rated for outdoor use, you’ll have to connect and disconnect it as needed.

Amazon Echo Input

Finally, we don’t want to overlook the obvious. Since the Alexa mobile app supports the Echo Calling and Drop-In features, it may make sense just to use or buy regular outdoor speakers for music and use your phone for voice control and communications. No, it’s not ideal but it’s an option that you already have. And some phones these days have reasonably good speakers for music playback, so if you don’t need super immersive sound, maybe using your handset is the best choice.

To hear Steve’s question in full, as well as our discussion, tune in to the IoT Podcast below.

 

 

Like this story? Get it and more every Friday when you sign up for my free IoT newsletter. Sign up here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Featured, How-To Tagged With: alexa, Amazon, digital assistant, Echo, smart speakers, Ultimate Ears, Waterproof

Sponsors


Become a sponsor

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

IoT Podcast

Listen to the latest episode of the Internet of Things Podcast. Just press play!

Sponsors

Become a sponsor





Get Stacey’s free weekly Internet of Things newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Upcoming Events

See All Events

Recent Comments

  • Kartik Soni on Four clever ways to use a door/window sensor for home automation
  • The Great Gazoo on The cloud is coming to the edge because latency matters
  • Rick Tinker on How to move from one smart home hub platform to another
  • Alberto Ciarniello on The cloud is coming to the edge because latency matters

Stacey on Twitter

Tweets by gigastacey
Copyright © 2019 SKT Labs, LLC · Privacy Policy