How To Set Up An Amazon Echo

It’s not enough just to talk to Siri, Google Assistant, and Cortana.

- Eric Griffith

These days, the audio assistant of choice seems to be Alexa, the technology inside the Amazon Echo, the smaller Echo Dot, and the portable Amazon Tap, not to mention a few other select products—including the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick media hubs and the third-party Invoxia Triby speaker for mounting on kitchen appliances.

But it’s the Echo line of sleek, cylindrical speakers that really showcase Alexa’s capabilities. The Echo is a standalone, kickass wireless speaker that needs nothing more than a power connection. The Echo Dot can stand alone but shines brightest when plugged into a bigger speaker. The Tap is the only one you have to push a button to activate (rather than just saying “Alexa”), as it’s a portable battery-powered unit meant to go with you on the road, to the beach, by the pool, and so on. They have differences, but when it comes to setup, they’re essentially identical.

1. DOWNLOAD THE AMAZON ALEXA APP