You speak, Alexa delivers: Amazon Echo is a voice-activation winner

I was skeptical when I requested an Amazon Echo for review. Having used speech-recognition software for decades to transcribe interviews, I was well aware of the limitations of the technology.

But shortly after plugging in Amazon.com’s new music-playing, Internet-searching voice-controlled device, all I could say was, “Wow.”

The Echo is a 9.25-inch-tall cylinder made of matte-black metal. Inside, the device contains a 2-inch tweeter, a 2.5-inch woofer and circling the top is an array of seven microphones, all waiting to hear your voice commands.

When the Echo hears its wake-up word — “Alexa” — a light ring at the top of the device signals it’s ready for commands.

Three features in particular impressed me immediately.

First, the sound quality, even at high volume, is surprisingly good for such a small unit. It’s not as good as a high-end multiunit system, but it delivers a strikingly clear and full sound.

Second, the voice of Alexa, Echo’s vocal avatar, is very humanlike, lacking the wooden articulation of most computerized vocalizations.

Last, but not least, I was stunned by how accurate the Echo is at recognizing speech. No, it’s not infallible, but it’s really, really good.

First and foremost, the Echo is a device for listening to music. Once you’ve logged the device in to your Wi-Fi network, it can stream music from any of five subscription services: Amazon’s Prime Music library, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.

If you don’t subscribe to one of them, you’ll be limited to streaming music from one of your own devices over the Echo’s Bluetooth connection. In addition, the Echo also offers access to Audible, the audiobooks service that Amazon owns.

For most users, the biggest draw to buying an Echo will be the easy control it gives over playing music. With simple voice commands, you can have the device shuffle your entire music collection or play specific playlists, genres, albums or songs. It’s also simple to pause, move to the next song and raise or lower the volume with simple voice commands.

As noted, the Echo does a surprisingly good job of recognizing what you say you want — even from an adjacent room, and even with music playing and other background noise present.

I did encounter a few minor failures to communicate. For example, the device kept interpreting my request to play “Phil Ochs” as a request to play “Phil Kelso.” (Curiously, however, when I asked Alexa to play, “the album Phil Ochs in Concert” she had no trouble retrieving the right music.)

That problem could be overcome by allowing users to train Alexa to recognize specific words, a feature often included in speech-recognition programs. While the Echo does offer a voice-training utility to increase accuracy, it doesn’t allow users to train recognition of user-specified words or phrases.

Amazon does provide two other ways to control the Echo. First, you can download the Echo app to your Android or iOS device, or you can run the app through the Google Chrome browser on other operating systems. Alternatively, you can buy a $29.99 remote unit that connects via Bluetooth.

While music is the primary selling point of the Echo, it offers other useful functionality by providing voice-controlled access to data over the Internet.

For example, ask Alexa when the next Mariners game is and she’ll tell you not only that but also who their opponent is and where the game will be played. You can also get live scores.

Ask Alexa when Abraham Lincoln was born and she’ll give you the date. If you say, “Alexa, Wikipedia Abraham Lincoln,” she will recite the first lines of the Wikipedia entry on Lincoln. If you want to read the full article, you’ll find a link provided on the home page of the Echo app.

The Echo app is also useful for accessing shopping lists and tasks that you can record using the device.

Another very handy feature is the Echo’s alarm/timer, which can be set either using the app or by voice commands.

It also can be used to control home-automation products that conform to the Philips Hue and Belkin WeMo standards.

Not surprisingly, Amazon has not overlooked the potential to sell other products through the Echo. You can’t use the Echo to go shopping on Amazon, but you can reorder previously purchased products. Simply say, “Alexa, reorder AAA batteries,” assuming you’ve purchased them before. Alexa then will tell you the name and cost and, once you’ve confirmed, will order the item using the default payment method and shipping address in your account.

The Echo does have a few shortcomings. First, while you can stream music from other devices over Bluetooth, you can’t stream from the Echo to your high-end music system.

Also, you can’t use Echo to access your local iTunes libraries of music over Wi-Fi connection. Instead, you have to import your iTunes library to Amazon Music, which if you have more than 250 songs means paying $25 a year for additional storage.

Finally, in addition to allowing users to train Alexa to recognize specific phrases, it should be easy for Amazon to allow users to create wake-up words of their own choosing. As it is, the only choices are “Alexa” and “Amazon.” If you have someone in the house named Alexa, you’re stuck with the latter.

Fortunately, because the Echo is constantly connected to the Internet, its software can be updated regularly with new features and access to new data sets.

With a list price of $179.99, the Amazon Echo is bound to be a winner. It’s not only entertaining, it’s genuinely useful.