Amazon has launched yet another Echo product in the Indian market, this time it’s targeting car owners in the country. The Echo Auto has been around for quite sometime and now it will be available in the market for Rs 4,999, starts shipping from 15 January.
The Echo Auto supports Amazon’s Alexa voice ecosystem, and you can power up the device by using the 12V charging socket or connect to the USB port.
But it’s worth pointing out Echo Auto will only work if you’ve paired the device with your smartphone, and you have installed the Alexa app on the phone. Through your phone, the Echo Auto uses the mobile data which gives you access to music, lets you receive calls, and send messages too.
Amazon claims the Echo Auto has been “designed exclusively for in-car usage, and it has 8 microphones and far-field technology to be audible even in noisy traffic conditions.”
Echo Auto is powered by car's 12V charging socket or USB port. The device connects to your car stereo system for audio playback using a 3.5 mm auxiliary cable or Bluetooth connection, the company mentioned in its statement.
This basically means the Echo Auto is just a hardware that supports more mics than your phone, but without pairing with a mobile (and Alexa app), the device doesn’t offer much.
Keeping that in mind, it’s hard to say whether the Echo Auto makes a strong case with its price tag, that too when you have the regular Android Auto ecosystem, which can be accessed from your phone itself, rather than having to spend 5K on a device separately.
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