Since 2014, Amazon has been having a special day around July called ‘Prime Day’. It’s basically a day of exclusive deals for Amazon Prime Members. Being a Prime member for the past couple of years I decided to purchase something this year and pick up an Amazon Alexa (or Echo), the voice activated smart home controller for your smart home devices.
Luckily this year, they had the Amazon Dot and TP-Link Smart Plug Outlet packaged together for about $55. Not a bad deal, since at regular price, these two would normally cost about $85. After using it for about a week now, it’s easily one of the best purchases I’ve made and can’t wait to pick up some more devices.
More or less, it’s been a great purchase because I can be forgetful and at times lazy. There’s a light close to my bed, but not close enough that I can turn it off by hand. The smart plug and Alexa have been the fix for that. After setting both of them up and connecting them, the only I do now is say, “Alexa, turn off bed light!” *Click* and it’s off to dream land.
Besides my light dilemma, Alexa has been a great device to help me remember various tasks and to set an alarm if I forget to set one on my phone. Yes I am one of the few 20-somethings that doesn’t sleep with my phone in my bed. Alexa makes a great little speaker for your personal desk, but don’t expect stellar sound quality from the dot. If you’re looking for that, consider purchasing the full size Echo.
