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Review Of Amazon Tap -- Like An Echo Only Portable

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My wife and I are huge fans of the Amazon Echo. We have one in our kitchen and another in our bedroom and, when we want to listen to, say, the Fab Four, we say "Alexa, play the Beatles" without having to so much as touch the device.

Alexa is the name of the app that powers the device and you invoke her name to get it to respond just as iPhone users do with Siri and Android users to with "Hey Google."

But now we have a third Alexa-powered device that I have been playing with in my back yard, far from any power source. It's called Amazon Tap ($130) and it's basically a smaller and portable version of the Echo. Amazon also released the $90 Echo Dot, which does require a power cord but, unlike the larger and more expensive ($180) Echo, only has a tinny built-in speaker and is designed to work with external speakers connected via Bluetooth or its headphone jack.

The Amazon Dot is also smaller than the regular Echo. The cylindrical shaped device is 6.2 inches tall and  2.6 inches in diameter and weighs 16.6 ounces, so it's kind of on the big size for a portable device but I suspect that's to accommodate its built-in speakers which are surprisingly good.

Setup

Like the Echo, you configure it with the Amazon Alexa smartphone app. The same App that controls my two Echos also works with the Tap. Setup is pretty easy but not trivial. Even though this is a great device for people who might be technically challenged, it's slightly complicated to setup for the first time. Not too bad, but you do have to connect it via WiFi to a smartphone and then configure it to your WiFi network. I had to try it a few times before I could get the Alexa App to communicate with the Tap.

But once it is configured it's extremely easy to use. Unlike the regular Echo and the Echo Dot which respond to "Alexa" even from across the room, you do need to press a button to issue it a command. That's an energy saving feature to stretch the time between charges. If it were constantly listening, it would use more power.  Amazon says that it runs for 9 hours on a charge (I haven't timed it yet). You can charge it using a cradle that it sits on or you can plug in a standard MicroUSB plug -- the same type of cord used on most Android phones. The plug, charing cradle and power connector are supplied.

No headphone or external speaker jack

There is a 3.5 mm jack on the device that I had hoped would work with headphones or an external speaker, but I was disappointed to find out it's not for output but for input from an external sound source such as a phone or audio player. It seems odd to me to have a portable device that won't work with headphones and bothering to connect it to an external sound source kind of defeats the purpose of an Alexa-powered device. It's beauty is the ability to use voice commands. If I wanted external speakers, I could have spent less for better ones.

Tethering 

The Tap can be tethered to a smartphone, which makes it possible to use while you're on the go. Setting it up for tethering is a bit more complicated so it's best to follow the directions on this Amazon help page. Also, if you have trouble using your smartphone to connect to your network or just prefer doing it from a website, you can configure the Tap and other Alexa devices from the settings menu at Alexa.Amazon.com.