12 gadgets you didn’t know had Alexa onboard

12 gadgets you didn’t know had Alexa onboard

It’s not just Amazon’s Echo range of smart speakers that has Alexa onboard these days. The AI assistant has found her way into all kinds of other kit, some more obvious than others. But we bet you didn’t know about all of this little lot…

1. Ultimate Ears Megablast

Megablast by name and megablast by nature, UE’s surprisingly loud Bluetooth speaker can also be connected to your Wi-Fi to access Amazon’s smart assistant. That makes it slightly less portable than before but does mean you can control your music by voice, although annoying it only works with Amazon Prime Music at the moment.

2. 66 Audio Pro Voice

Like two tiny smart speakers to wear on each side of your head, 66 Audio’s Pro Voice headphones pipe Alexa’s answers straight into your ears. Completely wireless with a 40-hour battery life, they also have a neat ‘find my headphones’ feature in the app, which, considering they have a Bluetooth range of 125 feet, you might just need.

3. HTC U11

Say her name or squeeze the EdgeSense sides of HTC’s U11 and you can trigger Alexa, which is available exclusively for this Android phone via a downloadable HTC Alexa app. In fact, U11 owners are spoiled for choice when it comes to AI helpers, as it has Google Assistant built in right out of the box too.

4. Lenovo Yoga 730

Lenovo’s contorting Yoga laptops come in 13in and 15in configurations but no matter which size you plump for you’ll get Alexa onboard. The screen folds right back so you can prop it up to watch Netflix, or fold it flat and use its touchscreen like a tablet, and if you get bored of Alexa it’s got Microsoft’s Cortana ready and waiting to help out instead.

5. Garmin Speak

If there’s one place that could really benefit from voice control it’s behind the wheel of your car. With autonomous vehicles still some way off, being able to control music, sat-nav and check the weather without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road is really important. Available with or without a built-in dash cam, Garmin Speak will allow you to do just that, and with its black barrel-shaped body and blue ring, it even looks like a windscreen-mounted Echo Dot.

6. Triby IO Smart Speaker

Not to be confused with a trilby, not least because this would fall off your head in seconds, the Triby IO is a portable smart speaker that looks a bit like an old-skool ghetto blaster from the future. As well as Alexa it’s fully Apple HomeKit compatible, with five buttons on the front that can be used to trigger different pre-setup Scenes.

7. Ecobee Switch+

Sometimes flicking a switch is just too much effort, isn’t it? Ecobee understands your struggle and has installed Amazon’s voice assistant into its Switch+, so if you can’t be bothered to get up and actually flick it, you can just ask Alexa to do the honours instead. There’s also motion and daylight sensors that you can use as well.

8. Martian mVoice

Talking to your wrist might look a bit Star Trek but Martian’s mVoice smartwatch allows you to carry Alexa around on your arm 24/7. Handy for setting reminders, adding stuff to your shopping lists and controlling any smart home kit when you’re not home, it also gives you someone to talk to if you go to a party and find there’s nobody fun there.

9. Polk Audio Command

Watching a movie and can’t put your finger on what you’ve seen that actor in before? With a Polk Audio Command soundbar under your telly you can easily pause the action and ask Alexa to reel off a few highlights from their filmography. That way you can enjoy the rest of the film in peace, without it bugging you in the back of your mind. Oh, and it’ll make the movie sound much better too.

10. Jabra Elite 65t

If you talk to Alexa with these buds stuck in your ears, the chances of looking insane are fairly high thanks to their tiny dimensions and complete lack of wires. Admittedly Amazon’s voice assistant isn’t actually onboard, a long press on the button just activates the app on your phones, but that means these earphones can also be used with Siri and Android’s Google Assistant.

11. C by GE Sol

Doing a more than passable impression of a Dyson fan, this hoop-shaped lamp has a microphone and speaker built into the base, so you can turn it on and off using just your voice. With full Alexa functionality (minus making calls) you can also use it to control the rest of the lights in your house.

12. Sonos One

OK, so you might know about this one, but just in case you didn’t, the Alexa-infused Sonos One is probably the finest smart speaker you can buy. It sounds great, fits in with any existing Sonos speakers you’ve got (and can be used to play music on them too), and while its microphones aren’t quite as sensitive as those on a regular Echo, that’s a small price to pay for such all-round excellence.