Amazon Echo Auto: How Much Fun Are Voice Commands While Driving

In-vehicle experiences are not the same as they used to be a decade ago. The drastic evolution in vehicular technology can be accredited to auto makers around the globe. A large part of this, however, has also been made possible by technology majors who constantly worked upon in-car entertainment and connectivity features in vehicles.

Another tech major, and the largest one for that matter, has now introduced a new device to enhance this experience even further. Meet Amazon Echo Auto.

Now many of you would be aware of Amazon Echo already. Echo Auto is essentially an extension of the same, specifically designed for on-the-go experience in a vehicle. For those who find it new, the range of Echo devices by Amazon come as smart speakers that are able to perform several functions through voice commands.

Powering these, is a voice assistant named ¡®Alexa¡¯, just like Apple devices have ¡®Siri¡¯ and Tony Stark had ¡®Jarvis¡¯ and ¡®Friday¡¯ in the Iron Man franchise.

Amazon Echo Auto

So practically, all you have to do is give voice commands to the Echo Auto once it is in your car and the device will perform the related action. Sounds cool, right? Especially for those on the driving seat. No more taking your eyes off the road for touching any buttons or screens and just saying what you want and ¡®thy shall be done¡¯.

But how does it work? What do you need in your car to make it work? And does it solve any real issue that commuters face? We had all those questions in mind before we had a chance to experience the Echo Auto firsthand. After a drive with the device in our car, here is a recollection of our encounter with it.

How it looks in your car

If you ever had a chance to look at any other Amazon Echo device, you would have noted Amazon¡¯s obsession with a perfectly round figure for its devices. The firm decided to go astray from this with the Echo Auto. Considering the device had to be mounted on a car¡¯s AC vents, it had to be compact too.

So essentially, the Echo Auto turned out to be a flat piece of equipment on each of its sides with slightly curved edges, much like a bar of soap or rather a regular battery power bank. This is attached to a mount that fits into an AC vent.

The setup is not yet complete though. To power the Echo Auto, you will have to keep it connected to a car charger at all times via a cord. Next to the power port on the device, there is an input for the aux to make it work just in case your car does not have a Bluetooth system.

As for the device itself, Amazon has embedded eight microphones at the top of it which surround just two click buttons - one to mute the microphones when not in use and another to give voice commands in case the device does not respond to a simple ¡°Alexa¡±.

How it works

Once the above setup is complete, the Echo Auto practically works like any of its brethren. It is an Alexa on the go to keep you company while you move to and from destinations. So in essence, the rest of the journey will mostly be a verbal communication between you and the Echo Auto¡¯s Alexa.

Let us take an example here. ¡®Alexa, play songs by Kendrick Lamar¡¯ is a voice command that I tried out on the go. Just like the Echo Dot I have back at home, the Echo Auto started playing songs from its library. A simple response to a straight-up question.

There is a difference here though. While the Echo Dot uses its own speakers to play music (by default), the Echo Auto is connected to the speaker system of your car. So the music that will play will be through your car¡¯s system.

Naturally, the device will need to have an active internet connection to work. So that means you will have to keep your smartphone connected to it at all times. A bit of a bummer but more of a necessity here.

A point to note here is that the device has to be connected to two different systems for working. One, with the smartphone for an internet connection and another to the car¡¯s audio system for its output.

What can it do?

On to the most important part, what all can the Echo Auto do? As mentioned earlier, it is much like any other Echo device and hence most of the actions are passed over from there. This includes playing songs, getting information, setting reminders, taking calls and messages on the go and action commands for the same functions, like ¡®turn the volume down¡¯. Don¡¯t forget Alexa¡¯s oh-so-hilarious jokes!

There are some additional voice commands on the Echo Auto as well. These are specifically designed for the occupants of the car. Step-by-step Navigation is one of them, wherein Alexa can lead you to your preferred destination with turn-by-turn voice guide. You can also look for the nearest fuel stations, restaurants and even parking!

To make such rides fun, the Echo Auto has also been equipped with in-car entertainment actions. These include Bollywood trivias and other games for a group of people on a long drive.

The driving experience

In essence, the Echo Auto is able to do exactly what it is meant to - It can take the load off looking for buttons in the car¡¯s in-built system, selecting songs on your phone or checking out the map on the go. Many of these functions require the driver to take his/ her eyes off the road. With the Echo Auto, that is not the case anymore.

The device helps with the voice commands too. It beeps once when it hears its name and then beeps again once it hears the command. So even if you are driving along, you don¡¯t really have to look away from the road to see if it caught the command you gave in the first go. Hence, voice commands prove to be less of a distraction than actually interacting with a device.

Worth it?

With all these features and functions, is the Amazon Echo Auto worth its price that stands at Rs 4,999? To answer that, we will have to take into consideration all the other devices that are able to perform similar functions and how, if or not, is the Echo Auto better than them? We will be answering this in a complete review of the device soon. For now, we can focus on the part that the Echo Auto is perfectly capable of performing the functions that it claims to do.

What is even more exciting is the fact that it works with any (or most of the car models), irrespective of the fact whether the system is Bluetooth enabled or not. The only exceptions are based on whether the AC vents of the car can support the Echo Auto¡¯s mount or not. Amazon lists a total of four cars that do not support it which are - Toyota Camry (2015), Toyota Corolla (2017), Honda Civic (2013) and Honda CRV (2014)

Those compatible with the device can use it as a handy companion for drives and with our experience, we can easily say that if this is your first time using a voice assistant on the go, your drives will never be the same again! Watch this space for a complete review of the Echo Auto soon!