Bought an Amazon Echo connected speaker? Did you just plug it in and get a little lost? We offer a step-by-step guide to configuring your Echo and launching your first commands to Alexa.
How do you set up and configure your Amazon Echo?
The first thing to do when unboxing your Amazon Echo is to find the best place for it in a room of your home. The speaker’s seven microphones have a relatively wide range, but are less likely to make mistakes when next to Alexa. Therefore, choose a location close to where you will use it most: next to the sofa, in front of the TV, in the kitchen… Once the space issue is resolved, connect the speaker to the supplied adapter.
The light circle on the speaker should be orange, as shown here:
If not, you can press and hold the • button on the speaker for 5 seconds. The rest of the setup is a breeze. On your smartphone:
- Install the Amazon Alexa app From Google Play Store Where app store
- After logging in with your Amazon account, go to the gear icon in the bottom right
- To touch CONFIGURE A NEW DEVICE and follow the wizard
On one screen, the app will ask you to connect to your Echo’s WiFi network. Next, you should connect to a network that includes Amazon in its SSID, as if you were trying to connect to the internet. Then return to the application to complete the installation.
Amazon Echo: How to connect all your connected objects to it
Of course, already on its own, your Amazon Echo is very useful. However, if you connect various devices to it, it quickly becomes necessary.
Connect your speakers to Amazon Echo’s auxiliary audio output
Amazon Echo speakers all have an auxiliary output, which is very practical to easily improve the sound quality. To use it, you just need to connect it to your hi-fi system with a jack – RCA audio cable or male jack – male jack suitable for your device. Configuration is not required.
Connect your bluetooth speaker or headset
Pairing a Bluetooth device is incredibly simple and effective:
- Put your speaker or earphone in pairing mode (long press pairing button)
- Say: Alexa, Bluetooth pairing
- A confirmation message will appear from your newly connected speaker or headphones.
Connect lamps, switches and other connected objects
Amazon Echo is the most compatible speaker series with connected objects on the market. But support for your linked objects is non-native. To actually control them, you need to install a Skill (French skill or ability) that corresponds to the brand of your connected objects. The procedure is very simple – here’s how to connect your Hue lamps, for example:
- Install and configure your lights and Hue Bridge by following Philips instructions
- Go to Amazon.com and login to your account
- Type Skill Hue in the search box
- The first result should normally be the correct Skill.
- click enable on the block get this skill
Then you can start saying commands like “Alexa, turn on the living room lights”. Of course, if you run into any difficulties during the configuration, let me know in the comments. To get started with Alexa, we recommend reading this list of essential commands.
