Amazon Alexa Review

Amazon Alexa is a virtual assistant that is a worthy competitor to Google or Apple products. It is named after the ancient Library of Alexandria and is created by the Lab 126 developers.

Interface 7/10

Interface in the app is rather convenient, but I think that not all the users will be able to make sense of it quickly. There are many various tabs with the help of which it's possible to play music, manage smart devices, create shopping lists and much more. I think that the developers couldn't create rather simple interface because there are really many functions in the application.

Features 8/10

Many everyday tasks can be done with the help of the app. Alexa will set and turn off the alarm, timer during cooking dinner, find out the exchange rate, request a summary of the article from Wikipedia and much more.

You can control large number of smart devices with the help of the voice. For example, turn on the lighting on the kitchen, saying "Alexa, Turn on the lights in the kitchen". All standard commands can be easily found on the Internet.

An interesting function in the app is called "Skills". It has got certain features that Amazon provides on its own or through third-party developers. For example, using Skills you can call a taxi, get information about traffic jams, etc.

Performance 6/10

As the first tests have shown, numerous Skills in the application are programmed very incoherently. The Deutsche Telekom smart home system, connected to Alexa, only allows you to switch between previously created scenarios through the Smart Home app. It would be much more convenient if the system itself understood the command "Turn on the heating in the living room to 15 degrees." This is exactly what Netatmo allows, for example.

Also, Alexa doesn't understand many complex commands, as opposed to Google Assistant. But I believe that such flaws are likely to be resolved some time later.

Pricing 

The app is distributed for free, but you need to have compatible devices from Amazon or some third-party companies. And if you want to play music, for example, then you need to enter a subscription to the musical service.

The Verdict

All in all, if you have got devices from Amazon then you should install Amazon Alexa on your device. Of course, it's not perfect and comes short of many features to similar services. Anyway, such feature as Skills makes it unique and promising.