Amazon Echo 4 with Alexa

[doctormann]

Anyone had experience of using these Amazon Echo devices in Thailand?

I'm considering getting an Echo 4 (fourth generation).  Reviews seem good apart from, apparently, some features not being available outside USA or Europe.  I'm not too bothered about controlling household devices at the moment so maybe this is not important.  Just want the device as a bit of fun really and to play music.

Any opinions?

[johng]

No way I want any of these things.

 

https://www.pcmag.com/news/amazons-alexa-collects-more-of-your-data-than-any-other-smart-assistant

[doctormann]

6 minutes ago, johng said:

No way I want any of these things.

 

https://www.pcmag.com/news/amazons-alexa-collects-more-of-your-data-than-any-other-smart-assistant

 I think that Google has everything of mine already!  At least I don't do Facebook - ha-ha!

[johng]

If forced to  I would only consider  some of these open source and privacy minded alternatives  listed in this article.  say no to "cloud everything" keep that data where it belongs in your own possession.

 

https://www.yourtechdiet.com/blogs/open-source-voice-assistants/

 

 

 

[Stocky]

I've got 4 of them, 2 x Echo 3 and 2 x Echo 4, they work fine.

 

I've a few smart plugs that work with Alexa to to turn lights on, and a couple of Sensibo controllers for a/c. I have Alexa connected to my Spotify account and it pulls up BBC Sounds for radio together with whatever is on TuneIn. I've an old Skype out account that I use for phone calls when I can't be bothered grabbing my phone. They also work as a handy intercom, useful when you live in a 4 storey shophouse. 

 

 First one I picked up in the UK, second one via Amazon Japan, the most recent two I bought through Lazada. 

 

I don't have a Prime account and I don't buy anything via the Echo. The Skype account only has limited contact details and I've not given the phone app access to my contacts. You can get the voice history to delete. All of these things are a trade-off with your privacy, personally I consider it worth it.

 

.

[doctormann]

3 minutes ago, Stocky said:

I've got 4 of them, 2 x Echo 3 and 2 x Echo 4, they work fine.

 

I've a few smart plugs that work with Alexa to to turn lights on, and a couple of Sensibo controllers for a/c. I have Alexa connected to my Spotify account and it pulls up BBC Sounds for radio together with whatever is on TuneIn. I've an old Skype out account that I use for phone calls when I can't be bothered grabbing my phone. They also work as a handy intercom, useful when you live in a 4 storey shophouse. 

 

 First one I picked up in the UK, second one via Amazon Japan, the most recent two I bought through Lazada. 

Thanks for that.

Despite other comments, I'm not too bothered about the data-gathering aspect.  My Linux systems are well protected and I don't think that Alexa is likely to be very interested in anything that 'she' might 'overhear'.  Probably get bored very quickly!

[recom273]

I use mine pretty much exclusively for home automation (I have 3), I don't use Spotify, the wife does, I thought echoes stopped supporting spotify, we have the app on everything and yet she uses her phone and BT speaker. 

 

I have a sensor that detects motion in the morning and plays my "morning briefing" from the BBC, reads my apple calendar for the day, then reads the weather. I can control aircons via a Broadlink mini, similar to @Stocky 

 

I intended to use them as intercoms but I always forget the wake command.

 

Generally, I can take them or leave them ..

[Stocky]

1 hour ago, recom273 said:

 I thought echoes stopped supporting spotify

Not so far, still works fine.

 

I bought the first one as an experiment, they were on offer Amazon UK for 25 quid. Last one was Bht1,850 through Lazada.

 

I don't get the maximum out of them I'm sure, but they great for:

• Turning plugs / lights on
• A/C on/off and setting the temperature
• Giving the time, alarms, timers (especially the one in the kitchen) and reminders
• Spotify, BBC World Service, BBC radio 3 & 4 or Classic FM
• Shopping and to-do lists
• Local weather forecast
• Intercom and Skype-Out

[BritManToo]

On 11/2/2021 at 1:04 PM, doctormann said:

Just want the device as a bit of fun really and to play music.

Any opinions?

Just bought a Echo Dot 3 after reading reviews that the Dot 4 offers nothing extra.

1,300bht on Lazada.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i2147860769-s7174394620.html

 

Also ordered a Tuya smart Hub @250bht, a couple of smart sockets and a couple of smart light switches.

Don't know it will all work but only 2,500bht for the lot so not a big gamble.

 

DON'T enable Amazon Music unless you're happy to pay the subs.

Spotify works just fine for free, but if you add Amazon Music it will trump Spotify and keep asking for payment each time you say "play music" which is a real pain.

 

[RafPinto]

I had one in my bedroom.

 

Alexa was always shouting "Go go go, you can do it, push".

I sent her back and reported a fault.

[doctormann]

18 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Just bought a Echo Dot 3 after reading reviews that the Dot 4 offers nothing extra.

1,300bht on Lazada.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i2147860769-s7174394620.html

 

Also ordered a Tuya smart Hub @250bht, a couple of smart sockets and a couple of smart light switches.

Don't know it will all work but only 2,500bht for the lot so not a big gamble.

 

DON'T enable Amazon Music unless you're happy to pay the subs.

Spotify works just fine for free, but if you add Amazon Music it will trump Spotify and keep asking for payment each time you say "play music" which is a real pain.

 

After a bit of procrastination I opted to get the Echo 4 - not the Dot 4 - because the sound quality is reputed to be better.  I must say that I'm quite impressed with it in that respect.  The device arrived yesterday and Alexa is now in residence - only just started to play with it.

 

I had some problems setting it up.  My Amazon account is in the UK and I had to use a VPN on my phone before the Alexa app would work.  The basic functions work OK but the skill set seems to be quite restricted in Thailand - get 'not supported' from Alexa,a lot of the time.  I could change my address to UK, I suppose, but then I would probably lose the local Thailand info.  I can get the local time and weather but not local business info so searching for a pizza restaurant doesn't work.  Alexa will happily tell me the right sort of beer to have with my pizza but will not help in finding the pizza in the first place!

 

Alexa will connect to my HP printer so I can print lists, graph paper, lined paper but, strangely, not a calendar!

 

Early days - only really got the Echo for a bit of amusement anyway.

 

I have a couple of smart sockets on the way, for experimental purposes, so I'll see how that goes.

[BritManToo]

OK so I ordered a dot 3 and a Tuya s08 smart hub .......

Put Alexa on my mobile phone ......... nothing worked.

The Tuya s08 just arrived, suddenly Alexa works with just my phone, full functionality, no Alexa device.

 

Can control my TV and sound bar with voice commands as long as the phone screen is on.

 

My Amazon account is also in the UK, everything works no VPN.

 

[doctormann]

13 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

OK so I ordered a dot 3 and a Tuya s08 smart hub .......

Put Alexa on my mobile phone ......... nothing worked.

The Tuya s08 just arrived, suddenly Alexa works with just my phone, full functionality, no Alexa device.

 

Can control my TV and sound bar with voice commands as long as the phone screen is on.

 

My Amazon account is also in the UK, everything works no VPN.

 

This is beginning to strain my brain, what's left of it.

I think that something is wrong with my set-up - can't even link Alexa to my Spotify account - not supported in my region,  it says.

I may reset everything, delete the app and reinstall it on the phone with the VPN set to UK and see if that makes a difference.  I could set up the VPN on my router so that the Echo would appear to be in the UK.  I'd really like to not do that though as it's a bit of a PITA to change locations and sometimes I need to be 'in' the USA.

 

The smart switches haven't arrived yet - probably going to have issues with those as well!

 

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, doctormann said:

This is beginning to strain my brain, what's left of it.

Alexa Echo Dot 3 arrived earlier this afternoon.

It doesn't complete setup, just an endless loop of the phone app searching without ever completing.

Complete junk ...........

Returned for refund.

 

PS. Spotify works right away with my Alexa phone app.

My smart plugs and light switches haven't arrived either

But they will work from my phone with the Tuya smart home app hopefully..

[doctormann]

14 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Alexa Echo Dot 3 arrived earlier this afternoon.

It doesn't complete setup, just an endless loop of the phone app searching without ever completing.

Complete junk ...........

Returned for refund.

 

PS. Spotify works right away with my Alexa phone app.

My smart plugs and light switches haven't arrived either

But they will work from my phone with the Tuya smart home app hopefully..

Sounds as if you are seeing the same problem that I had, trying to register using the Alexa app. - just went round in circles and never found whatever it was looking for.  Setting the phone to UK, using a VPN - NORDVPN in my case - immediately got round that problem and set-up completed with no further issues.

 

The problems with unavailability of Alexa skills remain to be investigated.  I don't know what's up with Spotify.  I have a Spotify free account and that works perfectly on my Linux PC - but Alexa doesn't want to link it!

 

I'll post back if I have any luck with the smart switches.

[recom273]

@doctormann Like I said, the missus is a spotify person, I never bother, I just tried to add it after reading your post. 
 

Amazon are really clever, I can’t load some apps onto my firestick using a VPN, they know. I just tried adding Spotify as a service with no luck, both in Thailand and via VPN, I’m not too sure if you need to factory reset and start afresh with a VPN.

 

What calendar do you use? Mine has no issue with apple calendar.

 

@BritManToo not too sure what the issue is there, like I say, I have three, no issues - they are for voice command. 
You won’t have any issues using your phone to control tuya devices, but why not try Google home device? I really liked mine, translate feature was good and they had some good home automation features, I just didn’t like the idea of Google in my home. 

[BritManToo]

Phone connects to Dot 3, then you get an endless loop of it asking to select my wifi and password/connecting.

The router shows the Mac address of the Dot 3 as a client, but setup never finishes.

There doesn't appear to be any data flow through the router (3BB fiber) to Amazon.

 

Trying to return it for refund but the shop is being difficult.

[doctormann]

@recom273To be honest, I'm thoroughly confused about the calendar.  On my desktop and laptop machines I use Google Calendar and that works just fine.

 

The Alexa app says that I have the Alexa calendar - asking Alexa what's on the calendar says no events scheduled, which is probably correct as I haven't scheduled anything for that calendar.

 

I tried to link my Google calendar but this results in a lot of pages in Thai script that I can't cope with so I have failed to do this.  If I ask Alexa what's on my Google calendar then I get no events scheduled - even though there are some - so the calendar is obviously not linked.

 

The Spotify graphic that you posted is the same as the one that I get.

 

I wonder which location Alexa is using?  There is the location of your Amazon account - UK in my case - your delivery address, as specified in your Amazon account - a Thai address in my case - your internet address which, in my case will be a Thai ISP address as the Echo knows nothing about VPNs - or the address that the phone is using, which can be a Thai ISP address or a UK address if I implement my VPN on my phone.  Confused?  You bet I am!

[doctormann]

12 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Phone connects to Dot 3, then you get an endless loop of it asking to select my wifi and password/connecting.

The router shows the Mac address of the Dot 3 as a client, but setup never finishes.

There doesn't appear to be any data flow through the router (3BB fiber).

 

Trying to return it for refund but the shop is being difficult.

Can you set a VPN on your phone to the same country where your Amazon account is located?  This is what I had to do in order to set up the Echo 4 using the Alexa app, otherwise the set-up never completed.  Sounds just like your problem.

[doctormann]

@recom273Quick update on the calendar problem.  I've now managed to link my Google calendar to Alexa by using my VPN to set my phone to UK location.  The instructions now appear in English and the linked calendar now works - but still can't print it, not that i really need to do that.

 

[BritManToo]

17 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Can you set a VPN on your phone to the same country where your Amazon account is located?  This is what I had to do in order to set up the Echo 4 using the Alexa app, otherwise the set-up never completed.  Sounds just like your problem.

Not really interested in playing games like that.

Item purchased in Thailand, so I expect it to work in Thailand.

I also read many people in the USA have exactly the same problem.

Item not fit for use IMHO.

 

When I buy a new TV or computer or phone or other media device, I expect to turn it on and to work with the signals available. If I buy a car or m/c, I expect the engine to start when I turn the ignition.

 

[recom273]

15 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Can you set a VPN on your phone to the same country where your Amazon account is located?  This is what I had to do in order to set up the Echo 4 using the Alexa app, otherwise the set-up never completed.  Sounds just like your problem.

I never used a VPN to setup mine, I never even owned a VPN until 2 months ago. I set everything on stockys list without one, with the exception of Spotify which I don't care for anyway. 

 

@BritManTooHere lies the issue, they aren't officially released here, they are grey imports - but as above, you should be able to set them up without a VPN - like I said in the first, I can take them of leave them, you aren't missing much - everything has a voice assistant these days, my watch or TV box. You can put the Alexa app on your phone and it kind of does the same thing.

[doctormann]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Not really interested in playing games like that.

Item purchased in Thailand, so I expect it to work in Thailand.

I also read many people in the USA have exactly the same problem.

Item not fit for use IMHO.

 

When I buy a new TV or computer or phone or other media device, I expect to turn it on and to work with the signals available. If I buy a car or m/c, I expect the engine to start when I turn the ignition.

 

I totally agree with you but I have found, in the past, that sometimes a little tweak is required to get things to work here because of regional restrictions.  I do think that it's reasonable to expect hardware to work 'out of the box' - and it mostly does, but not in the case of Amazon Echo it seems.

[BritManToo]

5 minutes ago, recom273 said:

You can put the Alexa app on your phone and it kind of does the same thing.

Oddly enough I put Alexa on my phone and it wouldn't connect with anything until I connected a Tuya S08 smart hub (250bht).

The second that was installed I could find my LG smart TV and my Samsung Sound bar and connect them to my Alexa account with voice control.

[doctormann]

Update on the Echo 4 situation.

 

My Tuya smart plug thingies duly arrived - user manuals are the smallest that I have ever seen and a magnifying glass is definitely required!

 

Anyway, the procedure is to download the Tuya app and configure the device to connect to your internet.  I am assuming that it needs to be connected to the same local network as the Echo 4.  Did that without too much hassle.

 

Next step is to use the Alexa app to install the Alexa skill for the brand of smart device that you have.  Tuya is on the list so I thought that I might be in with a chance.  No!!  Cannot install the skill because of geographical restrictions!!  This is crazy - I can understand why some skills might be locked but surely not this one.

 

Something is clearly wrong somewhere and I think it's maybe down to needing a VPN to download the Alexa app in the first place.  I'm considering biting the bullet, resetting the Echo and starting over with the Alexa app downloaded from the UK, where my Amazon account is located.  Of course, this may not work as the Echo will still physically be in Thailand with a Thai IP address, unless I install a VPN on the router and I really don't want to do that.  What a PITA!

 

I might try talking to Amazon to see if they have any suggestions.

[recom273]

23 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Update on the Echo 4 situation.

 

My Tuya smart plug thingies duly arrived - user manuals are the smallest that I have ever seen and a magnifying glass is definitely required!

 

Anyway, the procedure is to download the Tuya app and configure the device to connect to your internet.  I am assuming that it needs to be connected to the same local network as the Echo 4.  Did that without too much hassle.

 

Next step is to use the Alexa app to install the Alexa skill for the brand of smart device that you have.  Tuya is on the list so I thought that I might be in with a chance.  No!!  Cannot install the skill because of geographical restrictions!!  This is crazy - I can understand why some skills might be locked but surely not this one.

 

Something is clearly wrong somewhere and I think it's maybe down to needing a VPN to download the Alexa app in the first place.  I'm considering biting the bullet, resetting the Echo and starting over with the Alexa app downloaded from the UK, where my Amazon account is located.  Of course, this may not work as the Echo will still physically be in Thailand with a Thai IP address, unless I install a VPN on the router and I really don't want to do that.  What a PITA!

 

I might try talking to Amazon to see if they have any suggestions.

I have never had issues that you describe - no issue with downloading the Tuya skill but I don’t own any tuya products. 
 

I think what I did do was setup another Amazon account from Thailand, maybe. 

[doctormann]

33 minutes ago, recom273 said:

I have never had issues that you describe - no issue with downloading the Tuya skill but I don’t own any tuya products. 
 

I think what I did do was setup another Amazon account from Thailand, maybe. 

I can download and install the Tuya smart app onto my phone, that's not a problem.  I can even register the smart plug on the Tuya app.  The problem is that Alexa will not let me install the 'skill' that I need to control the plug by talking to 'her'.  The error says that the skill is not available in my region, which I find hard to believe!

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, doctormann said:

Something is clearly wrong somewhere and I think it's maybe down to needing a VPN to download the Alexa app in the first place.  I'm considering biting the bullet, resetting the Echo and starting over with the Alexa app downloaded from the UK, where my Amazon account is located.  Of course, this may not work as the Echo will still physically be in Thailand with a Thai IP address, unless I install a VPN on the router and I really don't want to do that.  What a PITA!

Alexa app on my phone has no problem controlling my TV and sound bar through the Tuya app, and a Tuya IR smart hub.

I've returned the Alexa Echo Dot 3, too difficult to use, I've given up.

 

Just ordered a Google Mini Nest and installed Google home on my phone in an attempt to find something more friendly to use. Tuya and Google home already working with Tuya IR smart hub ....... waiting for smart plugs and smart light switches to arrive. 

[doctormann]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Alexa app on my phone has no problem controlling my TV and sound bar through the Tuya app, and a Tuya IR smart hub.

I've returned the Alexa Echo Dot 3, too difficult to use, I've given up.

 

Just ordered a Google Mini Nest and installed Google home on my phone in an attempt to find something more friendly to use. Tuya and Google home already working with Tuya IR smart hub ....... waiting for smart plugs and smart light switches to arrive. 

I can control my smart plugs through the Tuya app, which is something, I suppose.  I'm still working on the Alexa problem but it's hard going and my head hurts!

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, doctormann said:

I can control my smart plugs through the Tuya app, which is something, I suppose.  I'm still working on the Alexa problem but it's hard going and my head hurts!

I can certainly give my Tuya connected devices voice commands using Alexa app and Google Home app.

ZERO connection problems, but the Alexa Echo Dot 3 just didn't work at all.

 

What smart plugs did you buy (link)?

I ordered two of these .........

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i2161746382-s9565214783.html