Echo Auto 2: An Alexa Microphone Designed For Your Car’s Needs

The little Echo Auto 2 is for your car’s dashboard. It features good microphones, is easy to install and store, and adds hands-free music listening to your car audio without Bluetooth. Most people, including myself, don’t need it unless they have an ecosystem of Amazon smart home gear. It’s not as clever as your smartphone’s built-in assistant.

Alexa is a popular speech assistant, but it doesn’t integrate with automobiles as Siri does with Apple CarPlay and Google Assistant with Android Auto. You’ll need your phone, the Alexa app, or an Amazon Echo Auto to use Alexa while driving. The $54.99 second-generation Echo Auto is a compact, easy-to-mount microphone that connects to your phone for Alexa in any automobile. Its mic works well, and you can set it wherever on your dashboard, but those are its main advantages over a dashboard-mounted phone. It works with Android Auto and CarPlay but is not reliable. Due to its December 2022 launch, Amazon has sold Echo Autos for $40 instead of $55. For $8 more, you can purchase an Echo Auto with a helpful vent mount. (This should have come with the $55 bundle by default.)

Echo Auto 2 Specifications

What Is In The Box?

• Device Echo Auto: The Echo Auto primary device is a little gadget that adds Alexa capability to your automobile.
• USB Micro-Cable: This cable connects the gadget to a 12V vehicle outlet or USB port for charging.
• 3.5mm Aux Cable: If Bluetooth is unavailable, certain models include a 3.5mm auxiliary connection to connect Echo Auto to your car’s music system.
• Air vent mount: An air vent mount to fasten the Echo Auto to your car’s ventilation.
• Documentation: User manuals and setup tutorials for Echo Auto installation and configuration.

Design: Small and Mountable

Amazon removed the Echo Auto’s broad, flat appearance. The new model has two components with little black boxes on either end of a three-foot cord. At one end is the microphone module, a 2-by-0.9-by-0.6-inch (HWD) rectangular capsule with a fabric-covered front grille, action, and mute buttons. The mic module’s polycarbonate back has a magnetized mount notch, and the blue Alexa light ring has an LED disc on top. The wire ends in a 2.4-by-1.4-by-0.6-inch box with a speaker, a 3.5mm connection for your car’s aux audio jack (optional), and a USB-A connector for electricity.

The microphone capsule should be near the driver, and the speaker box should be near the Echo Auto’s connector. These locations are ambiguous since Amazon offers many ways to install, charge, and connect the gadget to your automobile. Power it using a USB port in your car. Alternatively, you may use the supplied 12V vehicle charger, which features USB-A and USB-C connectors, to charge your phone or activate Android Auto or CarPlay.

The Alexa App Connects Everything

The Echo Auto is easy to set up. Connect the gadget to your power source, and the speaker will urge you to install the Alexa app on your phone, open it, and add the Echo Auto. The app should identify the device and invite you to link it with your phone by choosing it. Despite early detection, the Echo Auto was not in the app twice during setup. To pair the Echo Auto, I had to reset my phone and redo the setup by unplugging and plugging it in.

After pairing the Echo Auto, the app will ask how you want to connect your phone to your car’s sound system: Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio cable, Android Auto/CarPlay, or wifi. Echo Auto uses your phone for calls and media playing, but it has a speaker for the voice assistant. After that, the app will ask you to customize media, calls, messages, and directions. These easy adjustments guarantee your phone exchanges call and message information with the device and that Alexa uses your favorite streaming providers.

Few Hiccups, Accurate Voice Commands

Echo Auto was tested with my 2018 Honda Fit via Bluetooth and wired CarPlay. Only two-thirds of the time, Echo Auto linked to my phone without prompting. After starting the car and waiting 10 seconds for the gadget to switch up and communicate, I could use it instantly. The other third of the time, Echo Auto had phone connection issues and ignored my requests. Launching the Alexa app on my phone and waiting manually was annoying, but it usually worked.

Alexa functioned perfectly after the Echo Auto, and my phone was synchronized (I never had a problem connecting my phone to my car). My phone reacted quickly and precisely to my requests when it had a signal. I spoke to the mic, and it understood everything except for a couple of artist requests not in Amazon Prime Music’s collection. I could phone, listen to Prime Music and Spotify radio, and get instructions. A vehicle console system with Android Auto or CarPlay provides a lot of utility.

If you have Alexa on your phone with Android Auto or CarPlay, how does it help?

With a decent phone mount, you can utilize the Alexa app for hands-free voice help, with queries and instructions appearing on your phone’s screen. In this instance, the Echo Auto’s dedicated microphone is most useful. The mic is good and can be placed wherever the adhesive or vent mounts go. It can pick up requests even over road noise and loud music (which the system will turn down when it senses the wake word). If your phone’s mic misinterprets Alexa queries, Echo Auto may help.

Echo Auto has a modest benefit over Android Auto or CarPlay but a more difficult downside. You can use Alexa in your car instead of Google Assistant or Siri with a decent mic. Sometimes, it integrates with your car’s built-in display. However, that connection is inconsistent, and if you want to have the Alexa app visible to confirm instructions and manage music, you’ll need to balance two screens on your console.

Pros and Cons Of Echo Auto 2

Should I Get One?

Amazon’s Echo Auto enhances Alexa in your automobile. For basic Alexa capability, attach your phone and utilize Auto mode. However, the Echo Auto’s mic is designed to hear your orders over road noise and the radio, improving your phone’s microphones. It’s less enticing if your car already has a linked platform, but it offers an alternative to Apple’s and Google’s voice assistants, with limitations. Even if a phone mount is cheaper, it’s an economical item that can improve your car-based Alexa experience.

FAQs

• How does Echo Auto 2 work?

Amazon Echo Auto 2 brings Alexa to your automobile. Bluetooth or a 3.5mm auxiliary wire links it to your car radio for hands-free voice control for music, navigation, calls, and more. Eight built-in microphones provide good voice recognition in loud cars.

• What cars is Echo Auto 2 compatible with, and how is it powered?

A micro-USB cable charges Echo Auto 2, which uses a 12V vehicle plug or USB port. It integrates seamlessly with most Bluetooth-enabled automobiles’ music systems. The gadget enhances the in-car experience by allowing access to Alexa’s vast abilities and functions, making it easy for on-the-go consumers.