Echo Flex - Plug-in mini smart speaker with Alexa

The new Echo Flex does exactly what it is supposed to do, which is why I bought one. Amazon came up with this small Echo device to give people the ability to add an Alexa enabled device literally anywhere you have an electrical outlet, so that you can control all your smart devices with your voice, and make your life a bit easier.For this, I gave it 5 stars. I wanted to have an Alexa enabled device in my kitchen so I could turn some lights on and off with my voice when I am busy cooking, or to ask for food measurement conversions, to set timers for cooking different things, and to also answer the phone when my hands are messy. All of these things it does, and does perfectly.I also bought it to have voice activation of all my music, which I have it play over my WiFi speakers that I have in all the rooms of my house. Again, for this, it does that function perfectly. My kitchen is the loudest room in the house, especially at meal times! And the very tiny speaker built into the Echo Flex gets drowned out very quickly when people are talking, exhaust fans are going, and spoons and other utensils are banging against pots and pans. So to try to listen to music on the actual Echo Flex is never going to happen. Not even in a quiet room.That is not the Echo Flex's intention. People are bashing the sound that comes out of the Echo Flex as being really poor quality. And it is, compared to larger Echo devices like the Echo Dot and regular Echo. If you want to listen to music using the speaker in an Echo device, you have to buy a larger one! You buy the Echo Flex to expand the areas of your house/garage/basement that you want to have voice control in!My favorite feature of the Echo Flex is that it plugs directly into an electrical outlet with the male prongs on the back of it. It does not use a long cable like all the other Echo devices. This puts it up and out of the way of other things you normally have on your counter tops or shelves. By getting it up off your workspace you don't have to worry about knocking it off or damaging it by accident.Another feature the Echo Flex has is that there is a USB port on the bottom of it that you can connect USB enabled devices to. There are night lights you can plug into it, and there is even a motion sensor you can plug into it that you can use to program WiFi enabled lights to turn on and off when you enter a dark room. That is pretty cool.Overall, the Echo Flex is a great little Alexa enabled device that expands the areas that you want voice control of all your WiFi and smart items. Think of it as your assistant, or helper. You tell it what to do, and it does it. For that, it works great. Using it as your only means of listening to music? No way. It is not designed for that, and you will be disappointed in the sound quality. You want a larger Echo device for that.But if you buy it for what it is, and what it was made to do, you will love it, and it will make your life easier and more enjoyable.Jim

I just got my Echo Flex - Plug-in smart speaker with Alexa this morning and I'm already totally in LOVE with it!With it I also bought that "Made for Amazon" THIRDREALITY Smart Night-Light for Echo Flex, and I love it too! I had been wanting to put an Echo Dot in a very tiny bathroom, but I was trying to figure out how, since I have no counter space and didn't want to use up my last outlet.Then, along comes this Echo-Flex thingy, so I decided to give it a try. I've been super delighted with it all morning long! I love how it just plugs right into an outlet and is totally out of my way but still basically does most of what the echo Dots do. I had a regular nightlight in the room that took up an outlet socket, so this new Smart Nigh-Light was a great solution because it plugs right into the bottom of the Echo Flex, so just the Echo-Flex is using that 1 outlet now. It's so cool too because I can ask Alexa to change the lights colors!I've bought 4 of the Echo Dots for my home and I am in love with all of them. This Echo-Flex is just a smaller version that is so perfect for small bathrooms, laundry rooms and basically anywhere else where you just don't have counter or table space for an Echo Dot.I also love how easy it is to set these devices up! Just be sure the little box below the "Add to Cart" and "Buy Now" buttons is checked "Link to my Amazon account to simplify setup"! It really does simplify the set-up wonderfully!Anyway, I am totally loving this new Echo-Flex so much and I already have ideas of getting some more of them for other tiny places around my home that I had not considered before. These things are just so helpful AND so fun!UPDATE 08/16/2020:I've now bought 4 of these echo Flexes with the nightlights. One for the laundry room, one for my Kitchen and 2 for my small bathrooms. I use these every day and they have become indispensable! Sure, the sound is not super great for music, but the fact that these are not stealing any counter space is paramount for me. I have other Echo's in other rooms for music anyway. I love these things!UPDATE 10/13/2020:I am STILL in love with these cool little Echo Flex gadgets! I use them many times daily! A great size for small rooms like Bathrooms, laundry rooms, store rooms, mud rooms, garage, even out in our woodshed! I happily got more today on Prime Day! Thank you Amazon!