With many of us now owning smart assistant-powered devices in our homes, there’s never been a better time to see what accessories and extra products you can buy to augment your voice-controlled nirvana.
In this guide for Amazon Echo owners we’re looking at the best Alexa accessory devices you can buy to augment your system – in addition to getting more Echo devices for other rooms of course!
The goal here is to make your Amazon Echo into a device that’s more than just a Bluetooth speaker that you can also ask for the weather from. And to do that you need compatible products in your home, your work or even your car.
Here’s a list of the most useful stuff out there. And check out our guide to the best Alexa Easter Eggs, too.
The best Amazon Echo accessories to buy today
1. Philips Hue white and colour ambience starter kit
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Philips has an impressive portfolio of smart, connected lighting solutions to kit your house out with. In fact, it’s arguably the most complete lighting system available.
The white and colour starter kit comes with the latest Hue Bridge, and can be programmed to offer all kinds of colours for setting the mood, or just for changing white temperature to suit morning or evening. The bulbs come with either a bayonet B22 fitting or E27 screw fitting. It’s a great place to start if you don’t have any smart lighting yet.
Being Hue there are, of course, other bulb types to choose from. They offer spotlights, separate mood lamps, even designer lamps with built-in Hue support and LED light-strips. You even get the option of connected dimmer switches and motion sensors. All of which can be controlled by Alexa.
2. Logitech Harmony Home Hub
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Logitech Harmony Home Hub is regarded as one of the best hubs for controlling your home entertainment system. Plug it into your existing TV, Blu-ray player, set-top box and then plug an Echo into the back of it, then have it control your TV and a host of other smart home products without having to pick up a remote.
3. ZeroTouch Air Vent car mount
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ZeroTouch Air is a smartphone mount that not only lets you control your Android smartphone just using your voice, but also now has Alexa support built in. That means you can tell Alexa to turn on your heating, lights or any other connected product while you’re on your way home from work.
4. Neato Botvac Connected
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“Alexa, tell Neato to start cleaning.” There’s nothing more satisfying in life than being able to have clean, dust and debris-free floors without having to lift a finger. Neato’s Botvac Connected offers this, and has Alexa support so you can tell it to start, stop, pause or resume cleaning whenever you like.
Read the full review: Neato Botvac Connected review
5. Nest Learning Thermostat, 3rd generation
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There’s a whole host of smart connected thermostats on the market and, undoubtedly one of the better ones with Alexa compatibility is the third generation Nest learning thermostat. It has a big, colourful display, and is very easy to control thanks to a rotating frame and intuitive smartphone app.
Read the full review: Nest 3.0 review
6. Netatmo Weather Station
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Perhaps not one for everyone, but the Netatmo Weather Station gives you accurate weather and air quality measurements in real-time. It can measure temperature, CO2 concentration, air pressure, humidity, noise polution and more; inside and outside your home. All you need is a smartphone.
With Alexa support, you can ask your Echo for the current outdoor temperature by saying “Alexa, ask Netatmo to get the temperature from the Outdoor module”.
Read the hands-on review: Netatmo Wireless Weather Station
7. Blink home security camera system
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In years gone by, home security was hideously expensive. Now, thanks to the rise of internet connected cameras, anyone can install their own camera system without shelling out too much of their hard-earned money.
There are many cameras out there, including the indoor security camera from Blink. You can buy kits with one, two or three cameras, and you can arm them by speaking to your Echo.
8. Honeywell Lyric T6R smart thermostat
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As smart thermostats go, the new Lyric T6R from Honeywell is a compelling option. It’s easy to use, Apple HomeKit enables and has location-based services for multiple members of the family. Geofencing lets you define a perimeter for your home, and any time one of the users enters that zone, the thermostat treats your heating like you’re at home and kicks back on.
Read the full review: Honeywell Lyric T6R review
9. Fitbit Charge 2
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With Alexa’s Fitbit skills, you can ask your Echo to give you a run down on your performance, how well you slept last night, how many calories you’ve burned or flights of stairs you’ve climbed, among many others. To really make the most of that, you’re going to need one of Fitbit’s fitness trackers, and the Charge 2 is comfortably the best available at the moment. It’s accurate, has a large display and lasts a long time on one charge.
Read the full review: Fitbit Charge 2 review
10. Hive Active Heating and Hot Water
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Hive was one of the earliest smart thermostats available in the UK, and with the latest version, you get more control than ever. You can use it to control your hot water, protect your pipes from frost and even send a command to it by SMS. And, if you want to, you can get it installed by a British Gas engineer, regardless of who actually supplies your energy.
Read the full review: Hive Active Heating 2.0 review
11. TP-Link Wi-Fi Smart Plug
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For all those non-smart products you have lying around, there’s a simply solution: a Wi-Fi Plug. Simply plug your regular lamp, kettle, coffee machine or whatever in to one of these, and have it switch on as soon as you give the command to Alexa. As long as it’s a simple on/off device, you’ll just need to tell your Echo to switch on that specific plug.
