Amazon Tap

Now fully hands free, the Amazon Tap does everything the original Echo can do for less and adds portability to the package.

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  The Amazon Tap offers all of the conveniences of Amazon's assistant Alexa in a battery powered bluetooth speaker. Now that it has a hands free option, it works well both as a way to take Alexa on the road and as your primary Alexa device at home.

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  Alexa aside, the Tap doesn't sound as good as other Bluetooth speakers in its price range. It's not waterproof and Alexa doesn't work at all without Wi-Fi.

The Amazon Tap is a fine portable wireless speaker with built-in Alexa voice assistance, and hands-free voice activation makes it a more compelling option than when it launched.

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  Battery operated., Same Alexa voice assistance features as the Echo, including hands-free activation., Better sound quality than the Echo Dot.

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  Average audio quality compared with dedicated Bluetooth speakers.

Amazon landed with a splash in the smart home space, the Echo smart speaker opening our eyes to the potential of voice control, and Alexa hasn’t stopped accelerating since. Now Echo has a baby sibling, Amazon Tap, a Bluetooth speaker that allows you to take Alexa on the move with you.

The Amazon Tap Portable Speaker makes Amazon’s Alexa voice service technology mobile and cheaper in one package. We reviewed the original Amazon Echo giving it rave reviews. How does the smaller and more portable version compare?

Released last year, Amazon Echo (Alexa) is a device that’s designed specifically around your voice. It’s connected to a Amazon’s cloud-based voice service so it can assist you with just about everything, from anywhere in your home.

Amazon Tap improves upon the Echo's legacy by adding dual stereo speakers and a battery pack … only to take two steps back by cutting out one of its predecessor's most important features.

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  Better sound quality, Decent battery life, Totable, Steadily improving AI

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  Requisite Amazon Prime, Alexa's still learning

I'm an airline pilot and though this would be a good bluetooth speaker/Alexa substitute in the hotels that I stay in (4-5 times per week, every week). The concept is great and likely works fine if you stay connected to a wireless system that has either no authentication or simple WPA authentication.

I feel like the Echo, design-wise, was a complete miss. Sound not as good, tethered to an outlet, not even usb-powered so you have to move the charger as well as the device, hunt for a new outlet, etc. if you want to put it in another place.

I have quite a few Alexa products in my home and love each one. Some more than others but nonetheless, they all serve their purpose. I bought the Tap mainly to take to the river as we frequent it quite a bit during the summer months. This little thing is awesome and I absolutely love it.

Love the fact that it now responds to voice commands and does not require the push of a button. Use it a lot to play music outside and on wifi. Eliminates the need for outside speakers attached to the stereo and you can ask it all of the normal questions your may ask of a normal echo, etc.

This would have been a great time if it does the things that the second generation Alexa gadgets can do this include sending and receiving messages and making and receiving telephone calls all conspicuously absent unless you're ready to purchase more costly equipment...

Was nice while it worked. Stopped working and now fails to connect to the wifi. Tried everything in the support pages and it still fails.

There's a reason this has been discontinued. It has subpar battery life compared with other speakers. The voice recognition was quite good but setting it up is a bit of a pain and is not the most logical of processes.

Since I got this for free, I can't really complain much. When I first got it, I did have to perform all the major updates that it had before I could use the voice command feature.

Portability and sound quality are great. I don’t use all the feautres. However translation/interpretation by Alexa (the cloud) is not that good e.g. very frequently can’t even understand Alexa, what is the battery level (even after voice training)

I am not pleased with this item. If does not consistently work. I've had to reset it about a dozen times. After reset, it doesn't always follow commands. I've had many calls to HELP line & still have issues. I wish I could return it!