What’s driving Echo Auto?
Occasional glitches are more than made up for by features device brings, such as interfacing with phone for GPS data
Glitches don’t override cool features in Amazon device.
Two years ago, I bought a 2017 Subaru that missed having CarPlay by one model year. The StarLink system it came with is fine, but I wanted more useful technology. I found it, and it’s Amazon’s Echo Auto.
But even though I have it, you may not be able to get it. Yet.
In January I became aware of this device, which is a slimmer, simpler Echo for your car. And the price was right. The Echo Auto retails for $50, but a promotion price slashed it to $25.
There’s a catch, however. The Echo Auto is available by invitation only. While offering new tech by invitation is not unusual, it can seem a little strange.
I submitted a request for an invitation in January and it wasn’t until early July that I received an email from Amazon indicating that I was selected to buy one.
I purchased it using a special link they sent me, and the Echo Auto arrived the next day (thank you Amazon Prime). I was eager
to set it up.
In the box, there’s the device itself; an audio cable in case your radio is not Bluetooth-capable; a USB power cable; a converter for the 12-volt socket that allows you to power two USB devices; and a small magnetic pad that you can use to affix the Echo Auto to your dashboard.
The only thing you need to provide is a smartphone, which the Echo Auto uses to connect to the internet via the Amazon Alexa App.
I thought it would be possible to do most of the setup in my living room, but no. You have to go out to your car and set it up there. I believe this is because the Echo Auto talks to itself over the car stereo as part of the setup process. It plays some tones over the speakers, which Echo Auto listens for. The setup will not proceed until this happens.
Once the Echo Auto is properly configured, everything else is just as you would expect from an Echo device. You can ask questions, play music, add items to your shopping list, control your home automation and even use the Drop In feature to call your other Echo devices.
But the Echo Auto goes a few steps further. It not only performs the normal tasks of an Echo, it also interfaces with your phone’s GPS for location data, allowing you to get directions or find nearby restaurants or gas stations. It will even give you realtime traffic data.
If you use it for navigation, it will send the information to your phone in the form of an Alexa App notification for turn-byturn directions.
These are early days with this new gadget, but it has been fun to use and is a great addition to my car’s digital toolkit. It picks up my voice easily, even over the sound of the car stereo and cabin noise, and it doesn’t trigger the voice activation built into my car as my iPhone does when using Siri.
Is it flawless? No, but Version 1.0 tech rarely is. The occasional glitches, however, are more than made up for by the added features this device brings to the driving experience.
And while I am glad I got it for the sale price, I could easily see myself purchasing one for full price had I not had this opportunity.
Lee writes the Chronicle’s HelpLine column. Email him at helpline@chron.com