Amazon Tap Review - Review 2022

Editors' Note: This review has been updated to reverberate changes to the Amazon Tap since we reviewed information technology in April 2022. Nosotros've raised its score from 3.five to iv stars.

The $129.99 Amazon Tap is a portable smart speaker with Amazon's voice assistant Alexa. Basically a bombardment-powered, Bluetooth version of the larger Echo or the smaller Echo Dot, the Tap tin be spoken to in order to set alarms and timers, heed to the news, traffic, and weather, social club items from Amazon, and link upwards with smart habitation devices similar Philips Hue lights. You originally had to press a button on the speaker to activate Alexa (hence the Tap name), but it has since been updated and so that the voice assistant works completely hands-complimentary, only like the Echo and Echo Dot, making the Tap a compelling alternative. That said, while audio quality is ameliorate than with the Echo Dot, you'll get better performance for the price with a dedicated Bluetooth speaker.

Design and Features

The Tap ($59.99 at Amazon) is an all-black cylinder that measures 6.ii by 2.6 inches (HW) and weighs sixteen.six ounces. It's smaller than the original Echo (9.iii past 3.3 inches), and hands portable. Yous can too wrap information technology inside an optional $20 prophylactic Tap Sling sleeve with a strap that y'all can then adhere to a backpack. Out of the box, the Tap comes with a 0.half dozen-by-2.half dozen-inch (HW) charging plate and a micro USB cable.

Like the Repeat and the Echo Dot, the Tap has a grayness Amazon logo on the front well-nigh the bottom. There'southward a micro USB power port, a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi button, a 3.5mm audio input, and a power push button (which doubles as an LED indicator) on the dorsum. On top, you'll find a rubbery console with play/pause, volume, and runway navigation buttons, along with a row of 5 LEDs on the front border. Below the LEDs—which glow blue when using Alexa or orange when in pairing mode—you'll see the Tap'south namesake, a Microphone button you can tap to manually use phonation control. It's a simple, utilitarian design that looks more like a rugged Bluetooth speaker than the simple cylinder of the Echo or the make clean white air freshener appearance of the Google Home.

It doesn't have a display, which is a characteristic y'all'll just observe on the Echo Prove and Echo Spot. The Show's 7-inch touch on screen and 5-megapixel photographic camera permit for video chatting, among other multimedia capabilities like watching movies. The Tap—like the Echo and Echo Dot—is strictly for audio.

The Tap is powered by a rechargeable battery, which Amazon estimates will last for nine hours of playback or three weeks in standby mode.

Setup and App

Setting up the Tap is simple. Plug it in and download the free Amazon Alexa app on your Android or iOS device while the speaker charges. The app volition guide you through the the setup process. We paired the Tap with a Samsung Milky way S6 and setup only took a minute or two.

The app is the aforementioned as the 1 used for the Echo devices. The home screen collects all of your recent commands and questions in a timeline, and a tab in the upper left corner slides out to brandish options, including your Amazon Prime Music account, connecting to services similar Pandora and Spotify, and accessing third-party vox-based apps and smart home integration. For a full breakup of the app'south abilities, refer to our review of the Amazon Repeat.

Alexa

The Tap has the same Alexa capabilities as Amazon'due south Echo devices. Similar to other voice assistants like Google Assistant and Siri, you lot tin can ask Alexa to locate nearby restaurants and services, set alarms and timers, play music, report the news, or society products from Amazon. Alexa tin also connect with smart abode products like the Nest Thermostat or Philips Hue light bulbs to command home automation tasks similar adjusting the temperature or dimming the lights via vox.

An update in Feb 2022 introduced full hands-free functionality, so yous no longer have to press the microphone push to employ Alexa. This makes the voice banana much easier to work with. Previously, you needed to printing the button for every control that wasn't a direct response to a prompt. Now you tin can say "Alexa, play music" or "Alexa, what's the weather?" and the speaker will answer without your needing to tap it kickoff.

Although the Tap connects to your audio device via Bluetooth, it also needs to be connected to Wi-Fi in guild to utilize Alexa. That means you won't be able to utilise Alexa on the road unless you're connected to public Wi-Fi or using a hotspot.

From left to right: Amazon Echo Plus, Amazon Tap, Amazon Repeat Dot

Sound Performance

Don't forget, the Tap is too a Bluetooth speaker. As far equally audio quality goes, it sounds improve than the tiny, tinny Echo Dot, but not as rich as the larger Echo or Echo Plus. It also falls a bit short of the Google Dwelling, which has a richer sound, especially when information technology comes to sub-bass.

Listening to The Knife's bass-heavy "Silent Shout" on the Tap, the depression stop is more credible than on the Echo Dot, and there's notwithstanding some semblance of thump in less-intense tracks like Lana del Rey'due south "Savage Globe" and Daft Punk'due south "Beyond." That said, you'll meet some distortion if you push the volume to max.

Yous'll get far meliorate audio quality from a dedicated Bluetooth speaker like the Bose SoundLink Color Ii or the Ultimate Ears UE Nail 2, both of which offering fuller, richer, distortion-free audio.

Comparisons and Conclusions

The Google Home is available for the aforementioned toll as the Tap, merely it's not portable. Thanks to the addition of hands-free voice activation, the Amazon Tap is a very appealing alternative to the Echo, and its bombardment means you can use information technology anywhere instead of merely plugged in, which no other Echo device tin can do. The Echo and Repeat Show offering superior sound quality for a higher price, while the Echo Dot is much less expensive and can be plugged into the speaker of your choice. While the Tap doesn't earn our Editors' Choice, it's a solid culling if you value portability above all else.

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Further Reading

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• How to Measure out Home Power Usage

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/home-security-products/14137/amazon-tap-review

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