News And Events

Details about Alexa Echo Dot Latest New Features, Price, How to Use

How does Amazon’s Echo Dot work?

The Echo Dot is the Amazon Echo’s tiny cousin.

You may be familiar with the Echo, Amazon’s cylindrical voice-controlled smart speaker. To use the Echo, you first summon Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa. The Echo isn’t the only Alexa-enabled device Amazon offers, though. Among its growing suite of offerings, it also offers a pint-sized alternative: the Echo Dot.

If you’re on the fence about whether an Echo Dot is right for your home, here’s what you need to know. 

What is the Echo Dot?

The Amazon Echo Dot is a small connected home speaker—that is, it connects to your home Wi-Fi network and also to your phone via the Amazon Alexa app. Available in black and white, it looks a bit like an oversized hockey puck but with a blue LED rim around the top. Also on its top are four buttons: a power button, mute button, and volume controls. 

What does the Echo Dot do?

You can use an Echo Dot for anything you’d use a normal Echo for—anything you can ask or command of Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa. You can use it to play music from sources such as Amazon Music or Spotify; you can ask her about the weather, get updates on the news, or a heads-up on your schedule; you can also use her to set timers or alarms. And with the addition of third-party apps called “skills,” you can broaden her capabilities further, so you can order Domino’s pizza or an Uber, or play a trivia game. 

Because of its small size and cheap price point—full price, it’s $50, but it’s often on sale for less—the device is often used in homes that already have one or more larger Alexa-enabled devices so that you can access Alexa anywhere in your home. You can also use the device as an intercom. 

How does Echo Dot work? 

1) Set-up

To get started with an Echo Dot, first make sure you have the Alexa app downloaded. Then, decide where you want your Echo Dot to reside and plug it in. The ring around the top of the device will glow blue, then orange. Now, you’ll need to connect the device to your home’s Wi-Fi network. Once connected, the setup process should automatically begin in the app. If not, head to Alexa Devices, then select Add Alexa Device within the app. When that’s done, you’re ready to start talking to your Echo Dot.

2) Daily use 

Once your Echo Dot is all set up, you can summon its smarts by saying “Alexa,” followed by a query. There are a huge number of things you can ask or command of Alexa (and if you don’t like “Alexa” as the device’s wake word, you can switch that to “Amazon,” “Echo,” or “Computer” in the app—especially useful if someone in your house is named something similar to “Alexa”). You can start off your day by asking Alexa what the weather is, or for your daily news briefing. You can also ask her to play music from a number of different sources. She can do a number of smartphone-type tasks, things such as setting an alarm or timer, acting as a reference when you have a question, or letting you make calls or send messages to contacts. 

If you have more than one Echo device in your home, you can also use your Echo Dot as part of an intercom system. This is useful if you live in a larger, multi-bedroom home: It gives you the ability to “call” a specific Alexa unit in the house (say “The kitchen” to “Lisa’s bedroom”) to let a family member know that it’s time for dinner or that a neighbor has stopped by. It’s a bit more civilized than yelling across the house but costs significantly less than installing an actual intercom system in a home.

Are there any downsides to the Echo Dot?

Amazon maintains that Alexa devices are only designed to listen for their wake word (typically “Alexa,” unless you set it otherwise). Once they pick up that wake word, they’ll listen to what you say, analyze it to figure out what you’re asking, and then will execute on that command. However, there have been some creepy anomalies over the years. 

In March, numerous Alexa device owners reported that their smart speakers were randomly laughing for no apparent reason. (The reason for this appears to have been the devices’ mistakenly hearing the command “Alexa, laugh.” Amazon changed that command to “Alexa, can you laugh?” so that there are fewer false positives.) 

There was also a bizarre incident in May where a family realized their Echo unit had somehow recorded a private conversation and sent the recording to a random contact. After analyzing the data from this incident, it appears that the Echo unit heard what it thought was “Alexa” in the conversation, heard another string of words that sounds like “send message,” recorded audio, and then again misheard audio cues after asking “To whom?” and confirming the recipient’s name. 

This very unlikely, but evidently possible, incident highlights the fact that Alexa technology isn’t always perfect at identifying its wake word and human commands. And while Echo units such as the Echo Dot feature an LED ring that illuminates when Alexa hears its wake word, if you’re not paying attention—and its volume is turned down low—you might not realize she’s been activated. 

Should you buy an Echo Dot?

If you’re looking to get a virtual assistant-imbued smart speaker but you’re on a budget, the Echo Dot is a good option. It can also be helpful if you already have one or more Alexa-enabled devices in your abode but you’re looking to expand their reach to additional rooms. If you’re short on space, it’s also a smart option as it’s one of the smallest smart speakers available (the Google Home mini is another choice if that’s a key purchasing factor for you). 

However, if you intend to use the speaker to frequently play music and audio, you may be better served by purchasing a larger Echo or Echo Plus, staying within Amazon’s ecosystem, or a Google Home, Google Home Max, or Apple HomePod, for a competing smart speaker. Because these devices are larger, they typically feature better audio internals and can thus playback music with higher quality and louder volumes. Some of these devices, such as Apple’s HomePod, were specifically engineered with music playback in mind. 

Because the Echo Dot is based on the same Alexa software platform as its larger cousins, opting for this smaller device doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on any important features or updates. Whenever Amazon gives Alexa some new capabilities, you’ll get them just the same as an Echo owner. 

If you’re planning to purchase an Echo Dot for someone else, it may be a good idea to put out some feelers first. While these devices technically do not “listen” to user conversations all the time, some people may not be comfortable with such an always-on audio device in their home. 

And if you’re not sure whether you’d like or use a smart speaker, an Echo Dot can be a good entry point. If it turns out you don’t like the experience after all, at least you haven’t dropped several hundred dollars on it. 

All the Alexa tips and tricks you never knew you needed

Here’s everything you need to know to master Amazon’s virtual assistant.

 Amazon 

Amazon Alexa is one of the most popular digital assistants today. Housed in Echo products, a growing number of third-party hardware accessories and the Alexa smartphone app, you can ask Alexa all sorts of things—and her capabilities are constantly evolving. Think you know everything there is to know about Amazon’s Alexa? Think again. Whether you’ve used Alexa before or you just plugged in your Echo Dot for the first time, we’ve got tips, tricks, and information that can ensure you’re maximizing your use of this virtual assistant. Here’s how to use Alexa like a pro. 

What is Alexa? 

Alexa is Amazon’s virtual assistant that lives within Amazon Echo products and hardware accessories, including headphones, car speakers, and smart home products. You can use Alexa to answer general questions, deliver short audio news briefings, play music, control smart home products, and more. Alexa uses what’s known as “on-device keyword spotting” to detect her wake word (“Alexa”). Once she hears that wake word, she streams what you say to the cloud for analysis, and returns with a response. 

In the Alexa app, you can change the wake word—particularly useful if you have someone named Alexa, Alex, or something similar in your home—and also see a history (with links to audio clips) of all the recent queries you’ve asked the assistant. 

How to use Alexa : Amazon Echo in kitchen next to a toaster 

Photo via Amazon

How to use Alexa: Getting started 

Once you’ve got an Alexa-enabled product set up in your home (or car), here’s what you need to do. Download the Alexa app from the App Store or Google Play on your phone or tablet, and select “Set up a new device.” Then log in with your Amazon account information. You’ll want to make sure your phone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network that you’ll use for your Echo device, and enter in those network credentials in the app when prompted. 

 App Settings 

From there, you can go into the app’s settings to customize your Alexa. You can do this by tapping the three-line icon in the upper left, or the gear icon in the lower right of the home screen. 

1) Personal settings 

Tap the gear icon, then tap the top option in the menu, “[Your name]’s Echo.” This is where you can edit the device’s name, customize the sounds that it plays (and at what volume), and add a street address if you’d like to truly customize your weather, time zone, and other location-focused features. Here you can also enable “Do Not Disturb”—like your phone, you can also schedule your Echo to automatically enter “Do Not Disturb” mode during certain times of the day, like when you’re usually sleeping. 

2) Music and media 

Next, you’ll want to connect your favorite music and TV services to your account. Amazon Music will already be enabled, but you can link up Spotify, Pandora, or iHeartRadio accounts. You can also select which you’d like to make your default music service on the device. Once that’s done, when you ask Alexa to play music for you, she’ll automatically use that service. However, you can also specify what app you want to use, saying something like “Alexa, play Beyoncé on Spotify,” for example. 

3) Flash briefing 

or many, Alexa’s Flash Briefings are one of the most useful features of the device. In this section, you can select which news sources you’d like to hear news and headlines from, as well as what order they’re read through. Then, when you tell Alexa to read you your Flash Briefing, she’ll give you brief snippets of what’s happening in the world that day. It’s a great way to get a brief overview of current events and trending news topics. You can also lump in the day’s weather forecast and trending music news, too. 

Below this section in the app’s settings, you can also add in your work address so you can get traffic updates for your daily commute. You can also select your favorite sports teams for Alexa’s Sports Update. Then, when you say “Alexa, what’s my Sports Update,” she will tell you recent scores from games and information about their upcoming schedules. 

4) Calendar and lists 

By linking your email account, as well as the account of any to-do apps like Any.do, AnyList, or Todoist, you can use Alexa to manage your schedule or add items to your to-do lists. 

5) Alexa account settings 

Under this section, you can select whether you’d like to receive push notifications on your phone when you set a reminder with Alexa and set your notifications preferences for Amazon purchases. For example, you can get a notification when items are delivered or out for delivery, and you can get reminders for items you’ve previously bought on Amazon. You can also customize your Voice Purchasing settings to require a four-digit voice-based code to be spoken before purchases go through. Here you can also create a voice profile to better personalize your experience with the assistant. 

6) Smart home products 

If you have connected lights, thermostats, or other Wi-Fi-connected products in your home, they may be compatible with Alexa control. First, set up these products according to the manufacturer’s guidelines, ensuring they’re on the same network as your Echo unit. If you have Phillips Hue products, you can then tap “Discover devices” within the Alexa app. For other products, first search for their skill in the Skills section of the Alexa app’s menu. Next, tap Enable, and then follow any on-screen prompts. 

Hardware 

Depending on what Alexa-enabled device you’re using, its hardware buttons and capabilities will differ. However, we’ll share some hardware-focused tips for some of Amazon’s most popular Alexa products, such as the Echo and Echo Dot. On Echo devices, the blue LED ring at the top illuminates to let you know when Alexa is listening. 

While many Echo devices now have plus and minus buttons for adjusting the volume, on some older Echo models—and the Echo Plus—you can twist the top of the device clockwise or counter-clockwise to adjust Alexa’s speaking volume (or the volume of whatever music you’re playing). 

how to use Amazon Alexa: Woman looking towards Amazon Echo Show 

Photo via Amazon

How to use Alexa: tips and tricks 

OK, so you’ve got your app setup and you understand how the hardware works. Now what? Here’s a rundown of all the things you can use Alexa for.

General queries 

Below are some of the most common things you may use Alexa for.

1) Reminders 

You can set regular, repeating reminders (or one-off reminders) for important tasks like taking out the recycling each week, the monthly rent payment, and more. 

2) To-do lists 

You can create, organize, and customize lists of any kind with Alexa. First, say “Alexa, create a list,” and then you can build a specific grocery list, packing list, or any other kind of list you can think of. These are stored in the Alexa companion app. Alternatively, you can use a third-party to-do list such as any.do, AnyList, or Cozi. 

3) Calendars 

You can use Alexa to find out whats next on your calendar, or edit it. To do this, ask Alexa to add an event to your calendar. You can also send an invite to another contact to be a part of that event via Alexa as well. 

4) Amazon ordering 

Instead of heading to the store or opening Amazon on the desktop, you can reorder household staples such as toilet paper or laundry detergent using Alexa. 

5) Restaurant ordering 

You can also order a variety of non-Amazon things, such as food from GrubHub, Domino’s, or Pizza Hut by downloading their respective skills. You can also order a Starbucks drink ahead of time using Starbucks’ Reorder skill. 

6) Calls and messages 

You can use Alexa to send a message or make a call by saying a command such as, “Alexa, call dad.” If you have multiple Echo units in your home, you can use Amazon Alexa devices as an intercom system. 

7) Facts and stats 

If you’re wondering a question about the world, you can ask things like “Alexa, when is the first day of spring?” or “Alexa, what is 84 times three?” You can ask her for a variety of information about sports, TV shows, and movies, including things such as giving you a quote from Game of Thrones, who is the top-paid female actress, or information about how many touchdowns a certain football player has made. 

8) Music 

You can ask Alexa to play music from a specific app, such as Spotify, or ask her to play a specific playlist, artist, or streaming radio station. 

How to use Alexa: Easter eggs

Alexa wouldn’t be complete without a handful of fun, quirky responses and features. A handful of Alexa’s most notable Easter eggs can be found here, but we’ve gathered a few more that fun-loving Alexa users may enjoy. You can say:

“Alexa, flatter me.”

“Alexa, what’s your favorite hobby?”

“Alexa, what’s your favorite song?”

“Alexa, you have mad skills.”

“Alexa, tell me a pun.”

“Alexa, can you sing in auto-tune?”

“Alexa, inspire me.”

“Alexa, tell me a light bulb joke.”

Holiday-related queries (which you can ask any time of year) such as “Alexa, give me a Thanksgiving limerick” or “Alexa, sing a Christmas rap.”

If you can think of a query, there’s a good chance that Alexa has a response, unless it is something particularly offensive. And her capabilities are constantly expanding—if you try asking her something once and she has no response, she may be able to do it a month or two later.

The complete list of Alexa commands for your Amazon Echo 

Here's everything you can ask Alexa to do.

Basic commands

Ask for help: "Alexa, help."

Have a conversation: "Alexa, let's chat."

Mute or unmute: "Alexa, mute" or, "Alexa, unmute."

Stop or pause: "Alexa, stop" or, "Alexa, shut up."

Change volume: "Alexa, set the volume to 5," "Alexa, louder" or "Alexa, turn up/down the volume."

Echo Show

The Echo Show and Echo Spot are the only Echo speakers with touchscreen displays. This means you can tell them to show you things.

Ask for what the Echo Show can display: "Alexa, what can you show me?" 

Show your calendar: "Alexa, show my calendar."

Show pictures: "Alexa, show my photos" or, "Alexa, show me pictures of cats."

View your cameras or other rooms: "Alexa, show the living room camera."

View movie trailers: "Alexa, show me the trailer for 'It.'"

Movie showtimes: "Alexa, show me movie showtimes."

View the forecast: "Alexa, show me the weekend forecast."

Play YouTube videos: "Alexa, show me travel videos on YouTube."

Display recipes: "Alexa, show me a slow cooker recipe from Allrecipes."

View your Flash Briefing: "Alexa, play my video Flash Briefing."

See your timers: "Alexa, show me my timers."

Open a visual skill: "Alexa, open Uber."

Fire TV and Fire TV Stick

You can now use compatible Echo devices (Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Look, Echo Show and Amazon Tap) to control your Fire TV and Fire TV Sticks.

Control Fire TV: "Alexa, [pause, play, resume, stop, fast-forward, rewind] on Fire TV." 

Search movies or TV: "Alexa, search for [movie to TV show title] on Fire TV" or "Alexa, find [movie or TV show title] on Fire TV."

Find work by a certain actor: "Alexa, show me titles with [actor] on Fire TV."

Open apps: "Alexa, open [app name] on Fire TV" or "Alexa, launch [app name] on Fire TV."

Return home: "Alexa, return home."

Fire TV Edition televisions

Amazon also builds its Fire TV operating system into televisions like the Element EL4KAMZ17 series. All of the commands above work on those too, in addition to a few TV-specific commands below.

Turn on or off the TV: "Alexa, turn on Fire TV" or "Alexa, turn off Fire TV."

Change the volume of Fire TV: "Alexa, set the volume to [level] on Fire TV" or "Alexa, turn [up/down] the volume on Fire TV."

Mute Fire TV: "Alexa, [mute/unmute] Fire TV."

Change the channel when watching an antenna: "Alexa, go to [channel or network name] on Fire TV."

Change inputs: "Alexa, switch to PlayStation on Fire TV" or "Alexa, switch to HDMI 1 on Fire TV."

Open antenna program guide: "Alexa, open TV guide on Fire TV."

Media controls

Adjust audio settings: "Alexa, set the bass to four."

Play music: "Alexa, play some music."

Play music on other (or multiple) Alexa devices: "Alexa, play [artist] in the living room" or "Alexa, play [artist] everywhere."

Queue specific song or artist: "Alexa, play music by [artist]."

Play a song based on context: "Alexa, play the latest Avett Brothers album" or "Alexa, play that song that goes 'Gotta gotta be down, because I want it all.'"

Play music based on a theme: "Alexa, play baby-making music" or "Alexa, play rock music for working."

Play the song of the day: "Alexa, play the song of the day."

Play Spotify music: "Alexa, play [playlist] on Spotify."

Play Pandora station: "Alexa, play [artist] station on Pandora."

Play a radio station: "Alexa, play [radio station] on TuneIn."

Play an audiobook: "Alexa, play [title] on Audible," "Alexa, read [title]" or "Alexa, play the book, [title]."

Resume the last played audiobook: "Alexa, resume my book."

Skip audiobook chapters: "Alexa, next chapter" or "Alexa, previous chapter."

Play a bedtime story: "Alexa, read a bedtime story to [name]."

Listen to Alexa read you a Kindle book: "Alexa, read me my Kindle book."

Set a sleep timer: "Alexa set a sleep timer for 45 minutes" or "Alexa, stop playing in 45 minutes."

Song information: "Alexa, what's playing?"

Music controls: "Alexa, play" or "Alexa, next."

Control music playback on another Alexa speaker: "Alexa, stop in the kitchen" or "Alexa, next in the office."

Restart song: "Alexa, restart."

Add a song to your Prime Music library: "Alexa, add this song."

Create a playlist in Amazon Music: "Alexa, create a new playlist," or "Alexa, create a 'Friday Chill' playlist."

Add a song to a playlist in Amazon Music: "Alexa, add this song to my playlist," or "Alexa, add this to my [playlist name] playlist."

Like or dislike a song on Pandora and iHeartRadio: "Alexa, I like this song" or "Alexa, thumbs down."

Start Amazon Music Unlimited trial: "Alexa, start my free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited."

"Alexa, wake me up every day at 8 am to music" allows users to set their mornings off right with music from Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio and Vevo.

Time and date

Set an alarm: "Alexa, set an alarm for 7 a.m." or "Alexa, wake me up at 7 in the morning."

Set a music alarm: "Alexa, wake me up to [artist, song, genre, playlist or album] at 8 a.m.," "Alexa, set an alarm to Band of Horses" or "Alexa, wake me up to Kiss FM on TuneIn."

Set a repeating alarm: "Alexa, set a repeating alarm for weekdays at 7 a.m."

Set a timer: "Alexa, timer" or "Alexa, set a timer for 15 minutes."

Create a named timer: "Alexa, set a pizza timer for 20 minutes."

Set multiple timers: "Alexa, set a second timer for 5 minutes."

Check timer status: "Alexa, how much time is left on the pizza timer?" or "Alexa, what are my timers?"

Cancel a timer: "Alexa, cancel the pizza timer" or "Alexa, cancel the 15-minute timer."

Ask the time: "Alexa, what time is it?"

Ask the date: "Alexa, what's the date?"

Ask when the next alarm is: "Alexa, when's my next alarm?"

Cancel an alarm: "Alexa, cancel my alarm for 2 p.m."

Snooze alarm: "Alexa, snooze."

Check dates: "Alexa, when is [holiday] this year?"

Calls and messaging 

In May 2017, Amazon introduced calling and messaging between users of its Echo speakers. Later, it added another feature, called Drop In, that lets users call different Echo devices throughout their home, intercom style. (You can also call and message from the Alexa app, but no commands are needed.)

This year, Amazon has added new features like Announcements and the ability to send text messages with your voice. 

Call another Echo user: "Alexa, call [name]." 

Answer an incoming call: "Alexa, answer the call" or "Alexa, answer."

Hang up: "Alexa, hang up" or "Alexa, end the call."

Message another Echo user: "Alexa, message [name]" or "Alexa, send [name] a message."

Play messages: "Alexa, play messages."

Send an SMS: "Alexa, send an SMS to [contact name]," or "Alexa, send an SMS."

Use Drop In on one of your own devices: "Alexa, drop in on the living room."

Drop In on another user (requires the other user to allow you to Drop In anytime): "Alexa, drop in on [name]."

Turn off the video during an ongoing call (only works with Echo Show): "Alexa, turn video off."

Make an announcement: "Alexa, announce it's dinner time," "Alexa, broadcast it's time to go," or "Alexa, tell everyone good night."

Number check: "Alexa, open phone number check" → "tell me about 301-555-5555" or "please provide information about 301-555-5555."

Purchasing

Reorder essentials from Amazon: "Alexa, buy more deodorant" or "Alexa, reorder deodorant."

Track packages from Amazon: "Alexa, where's my stuff?" or "Alexa, track my order."

Order an Amazon Alexa device: "Alexa, order an Echo," "Alexa, order an Echo Dot," or "Alexa, order an Amazon Tap."

Add an item to your cart: "Alexa, add garbage bags to my cart."

Order an Uber or Lyft with their skills: "Alexa, ask Uber to request a ride" or, "Alexa, ask Lyft for a ride."

While listening to music in Amazon Music: "Alexa, buy this song" or "Alexa, buy this album."

Find new music to purchase: "Alexa, shop for new music by [artist]."

Purchase a song or album from an artist: "Alexa, buy [song or album] by [artist]."

Ask about deals: "Alexa, what are your deals?"

For good recommendations on products, Alexa has you covered. Just say "Alexa, find me a good smartphone on Amazon?" and it will find products based on Amazon customer ratings and reviews.

Notifications

To turn on notifications, open the Alexa app or go to alexa.amazon.com and go to Settings > Notifications > Shopping Notifications and move the toggle to the on position. Then your Echo speakers will light up yellow when you have new notifications.

Check missed notifications: "Alexa, what did I miss?," "Alexa, read my notifications" or "Alexa, what are my notifications?" 

Navigate through notifications: "Alexa, next" or, "Alexa, previous."

Delete notifications: "Alexa, delete all of my notifications."

To-do and shopping lists

Add task to to-do list: "Alexa, add 'go to the grocery store' to my to-do list" or "Alexa, I need to make an appointment with the doctor."

Create a new to-do item: "Alexa, create a to-do."

Check calendar events: "Alexa, what's on my calendar for tomorrow?"

Add an event to a calendar: "Alexa, add [event] to my calendar for [day] at [time]" or "Alexa, add an event to my calendar."

Move a calendar event: "Alexa, move my meeting from 12:00 to 3:00."

Create a shopping list: "Alexa, add eggs to my shopping list" or "Alexa, I need to buy laundry detergent."

Check your shopping list: "Alexa, what's on my shopping list?"

Create a reminder: "Alexa, reminder" or "Alexa, remind me to check the oven in 5 minutes."

Check on existing reminders: "Alexa, what are my reminders this weekend?" or "Alexa, what reminders do I have tomorrow?"

Donate money to your favorite charity by saying "Alexa, make a donation to American Cancer Institute INC." or any number of approved charities.

Want to check your American Express balance? Just say "Alexa, open Amex," and look at your account.

News and weather

Ask for your Flash Briefing: "Alexa, what's my Flash Briefing?"

Add music news to your Flash Briefing: "Alexa, enable Today in Music."

Check headlines: "Alexa, what's in the news?"

Check weather: "Alexa, what's the weather like?" or "Alexa, will it rain today?". You can also ask "Alexa, will I need an umbrella today?"

Get a weather forecast: "Alexa, what's the weather going to be like this weekend?

Get traffic information: "Alexa, what's my commute look like?" or "Alexa, what's traffic like?"

Entertainment 

Find movies in nearby theaters: "Alexa, what movies are playing?" or "Alexa, what action movies are playing tonight?"

Get information on movies playing: "Alexa, tell me about the movie [title]."

Get movie quotes: "Give me a [movie] quote."

Get IMDb rating: "Alexa, what is the IMDb rating for [movie or TV show]?"

Get casting for a movie or show: "Alexa, who plays in [movie or TV show]?"

Find out who an actor is: "Alexa, who plays [character] in [movie or TV show]?"

Find an actor's latest work: "Alexa, what is [actor]'s latest movie?"

Find out who sings a particular song: "Who sings the song [title]?"

Get the names of band members: "Who is in the band [name]?"

Get album information: "What year did [band] release [song or album]?"

Find popular music from an artist: "Alexa, what's popular from [artist]?"

Sample music from an artist: "Alexa, sample songs by [artist]."

Find a particular album or song: "Alexa, find [song or album] by [artist]."

Food and businesses

Get a recipe: "Alexa, how do you make chocolate chip cookies?"

Discover nearby restaurants: "Alexa, find me a nearby pizza restaurant" or "Alexa, what's the nearest coffee shop?"

Get operating hours or a phone number for local businesses: "Alexa, find the address for Bank of America" or "Alexa, find business hours for Harris Teeter."

Saying "Alexa, open Wine Finder" lets Alexa help you match the best vino with your meal. If you tell Alexa your eating shrimp, it will tell you the best wine.

Read more: The best Alexa commands for exercise, better sleep and stress relief.

Math 

Convert units: "Alexa, how many [units] are in [units]?"

Convert units: "Alexa, how many [units] are in 2 [units]?"

Basic math: "Alexa, what's 5 plus 7?" or "Alexa, what's 56 times 33?"

Advanced math: "Alexa, 70 factorial." (Warning: Alexa will list numbers you didn't know existed for about a minute.)

Settle a score

Roll a die: "Alexa, roll a die" or, "Alexa, roll a 26-sided die."

Flip a coin: "Alexa, flip a coin."

Pick a number: "Alexa, pick a number between 1 and 50."

Definitions and spelling

Get the definition of a word: "Alexa, what's the definition of [word]?"

Get the spelling of a word: "Alexa, how do you spell [word]?"

Sports

Check the results of a finished game: "Alexa, what was the score of the [team] game?"

Ask if a team won: "Alexa, did the [team] win?"

Ask when the next game is scheduled: "Alexa, when do the [team] play next?"

Find out the results of your favorite teams: "Alexa, give me my Sports Update."

Get Fantasy Football update with the Yahoo Fantasy Football skill: "Alexa, ask Yahoo Fantasy Football for a score update" or "Alexa, ask Yahoo Fantasy Football if Colin Kaepernick is playing this week."

Get league standings: "Alexa, what are the MLB standings?"

Voicecast

Send current listening to a Fire tablet: "Alexa, send that to my Fire tablet."

Send to a different profile's Fire tablet: "Alexa, show this on [name]'s Fire tablet."

Smart home 

Alexa can integrate with loads of smart home platforms, such as SmartThings, Wink, Insteon, Lutron, Belkin WeMo, Philips Hue and many more. Some require you to enable skills, some don't. Earlier this month, Amazon updated Alexa to be able to change the color of smart bulbs from Philips Hue, LifX and TP-Link.

Here are some of the varieties of commands you can use for controlling your smart home, although there are dozens more. 

Turn lights on or off: "Alexa, turn on the lights" or "Alexa, turn off the living room lights." 

Dim the lights: "Alexa, dim the lights to 50 percent."

Change the color of the lights: "Alexa, make the living room lights red" or " Alexa, turn the lights to soft white."

Change the color temperature of the lights: "Alexa, make the kitchen lights a little warmer."

Adjust temperature: "Alexa, raise the temperature 1 degree."

Set temperature: "Alexa, set the temperature to 72."

Lock your doors: "Alexa, lock my back door."

Close your garage door: "Alexa, ask Garageio ($129 at Garageio) to close my garage."

Discover smart home devices: "Alexa, discover my devices."

Use IFTTT recipes: "Alexa, trigger [IFTTT recipe]."

Activate a scene (limited to Control4, Insteon, Lutron Caséta Wireless, Philips Hue, SmartThings and Wink): "Alexa, turn on Movie Time" or "Alexa, turn on Bedtime."

Control GE appliances with the Geneva skill: "Alexa, tell Geneva to preheat my oven to 400 degrees" or "Alexa, ask Geneva if my laundry is dry."

Locate a lost phone with the TrackR Lost My Phone skill: "Alexa, ask TrackR to find my phone."

Control the TV via Harmony hub: "Alexa, turn on the TV" or "Alexa, turn on Netflix."

The Polk Command Bar has Alexa embedded in its soundbar that provides great sound quality.

Saying "Alexa, run Away Mode" produces conversations to scare off any potential burglars.

Alexa Guard can help keep your home safe by alerting you when it picks up the sounds of smoke alarms or breaking glass. It works with the Amazon smart door bell, a Ring and an ADT security system. To set this feature, simply say "Alexa, I'm leaving."

Bluetooth

Pair a Bluetooth device: "Alexa, pair" or "Alexa, Bluetooth."

Connect to a Bluetooth device: "Alexa, connect to my phone."

Disconnect from a Bluetooth device: "Alexa, disconnect from my phone."

Profiles and user accounts

Switch profiles: "Alexa, switch accounts."

Check which profile is active: "Alexa, which profile is this?"

Skills

Skills are like third-party applications for Alexa speakers. They allow you to connect third-party software and hardware to your speaker, as well as play games and add different news sources to your Flash Briefing.

Use a skill: "Alexa, open Earplay." 

Find kid's skills: "Alexa, what kid's skills do you have?

Enable skills: "Alexa, enable Jeopardy!"

Disable skills: "Alexa, disable Domino's."

Bartender skill gives you access to more than 12,000 cocktail recipes: "Alexa, open the bartender."

Another recent update removes the need to enable skills before using them. You can still manually enable or disable skills, but just saying "Open [skill invocation]" will find and enable a skill. But if that skill requires you to log in to your account such as with the Starbucks Reorder or Domino's skills, you will still need to open the Alexa app or go to alexa.amazon.com, open the skills menu and log in to your account to authorize the connection.

Cortana 

Microsoft's Cortana is available as a skill, as well. But rather than just being a skill, it opens the door to a completely separate digital assistant through your Alexa speakers.

Once you've added the skill, enabled permissions and connected your Microsoft and Amazon accounts, just say, "Alexa, open Cortana." When you're speaking to Cortana you can check your emails, ask for the next event on your calendar or add items to your to-do list. 

For now, the Cortana skill is limited because it's a public preview of what the full integration will be in the future. 

Search 

Get Wikipedia information: "Alexa, Wikipedia: [subject]."

Tell Alexa to continue reading a Wikipedia entry: "Alexa, tell me more."

Ask a general question: "Alexa, how tall is [person or object's name]?"

Ask Quora a question: "Alexa, ask Quora if Crustaceans feel pain when you boil them."

Get a "Game of Thrones" quote: "Alexa, give me a 'Game of Thrones' quote."

Whether it's a bull or a bear market, users can check their stock values by saying "Alexa, ask Opening Bell for Microsoft" (or any other publicly traded company).

Holidays

Find out when a holiday is: "Alexa, when is [holiday]?"

Holiday limerick: "Alexa, tell me a holiday limerick."

Learn about a holiday: "Alexa, why do we celebrate [holiday]?"

Ask about Santa: "Alexa, how old is Santa Claus?" "Alexa, is Santa Claus real?" or "Alexa, where does Santa Claus live?"

Ask about Santa's reindeer: "Alexa, who's your favorite reindeer?" "Alexa, what can you tell me about Santa's reindeer?" or "Alexa, what do you know about Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer?"

Track Santa: "Alexa, where is Santa?" or "Alexa, track Santa."

Sing a Christmas carol: "Alexa, sing a Christmas carol."

Have Alexa read "The Night Before Christmas": "Alexa, read "The Night Before Christmas."

Spin the dreidel: "Alexa, spin the dreidel."

Ask for holiday jokes: "Alexa, open my gift," "Alexa, how ugly is your/my holiday sweater?" or "Alexa, tell me a snowman joke."

Ask for holiday movies?: "Alexa, what's your favorite holiday movie?" or "Alexa, what are the top holiday movies?"

Easter eggs

Alexa comes chock-full of Easter eggs and jokes -- the list is long. We cover the strange world of Alexa Easter eggs here, noting some of the more popular or prominent commands that prompt a snarky or humorous response.

"Alexa, give me an Easter egg." 

"Alexa, good morning."

"Alexa, tell me a joke."

"Alexa, beam me up."

"Alexa, set phasers to kill."

"Alexa. Tea. Earl Grey. Hot."

"Alexa, my name is Inigo Montoya."

"Alexa, I want the truth."

"Alexa, party on, Wayne."

"Alexa, show me the money."

"Alexa, what's the first (or second) rule of Fight Club?"

"Alexa, surely you can't be serious."

"Alexa, are you SkyNet?"

"Alexa, party time!"

"Alexa, open the pod bay doors."

"Alexa, when am I going to die?"

"Alexa, what is your quest?"

"Alexa, nice to see you, to see you..."

"Alexa, don't mention the war."

"Alexa, this is a dead parrot."

"Alexa, what is your cunning plan?"

For even more, check out this Reddit thread dedicated to Alexa Easter eggs.

This story is periodically updated.