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How to Buy an Amazon Echo Dot without an Amazon Echo
Amazon recently announced the Amazon Echo Dot, which is a smaller version of its wildly popular Amazon Echo virtual assistant. Here’s how to buy one without the Amazon Echo, effectively bypassing the necessary requirement.
The Amazon Echo is arguably one of Amazon’s most successful hardware products ever. Of course, the Fire TV and the Kindle lineup of ereaders have been successful as well, but the Echo is somewhat of a unique device.
It’s essentially a Siri competitor, but instead of the virtual assistant living in your smartphone, it lives in its own separate box of sorts that comes with a built-in speaker and an array of microphones. It connects to your smartphone, but you don’t need it in order to use the Echo.
In any case, Amazon announced the Echo Dot, which is almost the same thing as the Echo, but it’s a lot smaller since it doesn’t boast the large speaker that the Echo has. It still has a built-in speaker, but it’s simply not as powerful. Luckily, you can connect third-party Bluetooth speakers to it if you want to play music at a decent volume.
The Amazon Echo Dot is priced at $89 (over half the cost of the Echo) and it will release on March 31. You can pre-order the device right now, but you need to be an Amazon Prime member, as well as already have an Amazon Echo or a Fire TV, since the company is requiring that you order the Echo Dot through Amazon’s Alexa Voice Shopping.
This means that if you don’t have an Amazon Echo or a Fire TV, then you’re out of luck, but there’s actually a workaround that will allow you to buy the Echo Dot without needing an original Echo or a Fire TV device.
The workaround simply involves going to a specific link. Going to this URL will allow you to click on a pre-order button and buy the Echo Dot just like with any other item on Amazon.
You can also go through the Amazon mobile app in order to pre-order it. On the iOS app, search for “Echo Dot” and then swipe to the right to add the item to your cart. From there, you can go through the checkout process and you’ll be good to go.
This specific method won’t work on Android devices, but there is a different workaround that you can try. In the Amazon app on your Android device, tap the microphone button and say, “Add Echo Dot to cart.” If successful, the Echo Dot will be waiting for you in your shopping cart when you go to checkout.
If this doesn’t work in the Amazon app on your Android device, other users have said that it works in the Amazon Underground app.
Unfortunately, you’ll still need to be an Amazon Prime member in order to buy the Echo Dot or the new Amazon Tap, no matter what method you use. However, it’s likely that the company will open up orders for everyone at some point in the future.
Komrad
03/03/2016 at 3:39 pm
There is no reason to buy an Echo dot, the Amazon Echo was exactly what people wanted .
Heath Thompson
03/03/2016 at 8:09 pm
No. This is actually closer to what a lot of us wanted. I don’t need something with speakers that can’t talk to the other speakers in my house. I need something that can talk to the speakers in my house… enter the Echo Dot.
I’ve already pre-ordered my limit.
sandra
03/03/2016 at 7:01 pm
23=1my best friend’s half-sister makes $87 /hr on the laptop . She has been out of a job for eight months but last month her check was $16467 just working on the laptop for a few hours.
find more info… See More
Zero State Technologies, LLC Burns Prosperity, LP
03/04/2016 at 6:47 am
If its powered by a mini usb cable, then you can turn your phone into a hotspot and put it in your vehicle – I have a usb port in my suburban – the dot broadcasts too blue tooth devices, echo does not
Sam
03/05/2016 at 11:15 am
Doesn’t work, it says see more info. and the other side says see related.
booboomissy
03/06/2016 at 9:23 pm
where is that pre-order button on that link?