The Amazon Echo has turned into the sleeper hit of the connected home. Who would have thought hiding Alexa — Amazon.com, Inc.‘s (AMZN) virtual assistant — in a Bluetooth speaker would prove so popular with consumers?
Now the company is trying to expand on that success with the Amazon Tap, a less expensive and portable version.
The Echo is a $180 Bluetooth speaker with an array of always-on microphones that let the user ask Alexa anything from the weather to sports scores, while making it as easy as a voice command to order products from Amazon.
Smart home integration has proven to be a killer feature. Using the Echo and Alexa, Amazon’s speaker can control Alphabet Inc’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Nest smart thermostat and program Koninklijke Philips NV (ADR)’s (PHG) hue smart lights. The Echo also plays music.
And its influence is making its way out of the household: Ford Motor Company (F) recently announced it’s working on Alexa integration in millions of its Sync-equipped vehicles.
With the runaway success of the Echo, it makes sense that AMZN would seek to expand its smart home footprint. That’s where the Amazon Tap comes in.
Unveiled in March, this is a smaller, portable and less expensive Alexa-powered Bluetooth speaker.
Does the Tap have what it takes to duplicate the Echo’s success and further cement AMZN’s stealthy smart home leadership? Our Amazon Tap review will reveal all.
Amazon Tap: Alexa on a Leash
The spotlight feature of the Amazon Echo was Alexa integration and that’s a key selling point for the Amazon Tap as well.
Unfortunately, in going portable, AMZN put Alexa on a leash and that hurts the experience.
The Echo used an array of sensitive, always-on microphones and a permanent Wi-Fi connection to put Alexa in your home. The Echo is always “listening” and can hear commands or questions directed at Alexa from 30 feet away. That makes using Alexa so easy that it becomes second nature.
As a portable speaker, the Tap has to deal with limited battery life and the potential for being in noisy environments. So Alexa has to be engaged by pushing a microphone button — even when it’s docked in its charging cradle. That takes away much of the spontaneity of using Amazon’s virtual assistant.
Portability also impacts Alexa’s availability, period. Because AMZN’s virtual assistant actually lives in the cloud, a Wi-Fi connection is required. On a beach, camping or in the park? Wi-Fi is tough to come by, unless you bring along a smartphone with LTE, hotspot capability and a decent-sized data plan.
Alexa aside, the Amazon Tap is a portable Bluetooth speaker.
The Dolby-powered 360-degree audio is decent for a speaker in the $100-plus range, but not outstanding. Bass isn’t a big factor, there’s not a lot of power on tap and once the volume gets near the upper range distortion kicks in.
While many portable speakers in this price range boast 12 to 15 hours of battery life, the Tap is rated at nine. Not bad, but not great.
The Tap’s mesh wrapped enclosure looks good, but it’s not the best choice for a portable speaker. That mesh traps dust and dirt, and the speaker itself lacks water resistance — something that many competitors offer.
Amazon is selling $20 “Sling” silicon covers for the Tap that add a little protection against bumps, but they do nothing to waterproof the speaker and must be removed to charge it in its base.
As a low to mid-range priced Bluetooth speaker, the Amazon Tap offers pretty good audio performance, but it takes hits for lacking features many other similarly priced portables offer (water resistance and extended battery life).
In short, there’s nothing on the speaker front to make it stand out from the pack.
Amazon Tap: Key Specs
- Dual 1.5-inch drivers, dual passive radiators
- Microphone button (for Alexa) with LED Alexa indicators
- Top-mounted media playback controls
- Mesh covering
- Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm AUX input
- 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi compatible, 2.4GHz only
- Battery rated at 9 hours playback
- Charging cradle, microUSB cable and power adapter included
- 6.2 x 2.6-inches, weighs 16.6 ounces
- MSRp $129.99
Amazon Tap Review: Conclusion
The Tap doesn’t hit the mark the way the Amazon Echo did, and that’s largely because its portable form factor and the desire to hit a lower price point resulted in a series of compromises.
One of the best features of the Echo is the fact that Alexa is always listening and can hear a command from 30 feet away. With the Tap, the user has to physically push a button to engage Alexa. And if they aren’t connected to Wi-Fi, Alexa is offline altogether.
That kills some of the Alexa magic.
And as a portable speaker, the Tap is only so-so in comparison to others in its price range and lacks popular features like water resistance and extended battery life. AMZN shows photos of people listening to music on a Tap at the beach, but even wrapped in the optional $20 Sling case, the Tap could easily be damaged by sand or a stray splash.
If you’re looking at the Tap as a cheaper way to get Alexa, you’re probably better off just spending the extra $50 on an Amazon Echo — the Alexa experience is much better. And if you’re looking at the Tap as portable Bluetooth speaker, you can get better sound, better battery life and water resistance in name-brand portable speakers that cost the same or less.
As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
