The Amazon Echo was the subject of a lot of snark when it first launched in 2014, but then something funny happened: People loved it, and Amazon sold a ton.
In addition to being a pretty solid Bluetooth speaker, the Echo can check the weather, turn on your lights, read you the news, trigger custom IFTTT recipes, order food, and—my personal favorite—read you Jeopardy questions like a robotic Alex Trebek.
The Echo now has a popular sibling in the form of the smaller, more affordable Echo Dot, but for now at least, the original is still the most popular among our readers.
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