The perky voice of Amazon's digital assistant Alexa can now be heard across millions of homes. The company's Echo smart speaker range and other Alexa devices have expanded rapidly in just a few years, spawning countless fans.
While Alexa is useful alone — if you need urgent questions answered or want to place an Amazon order — there's a whole world of opportunities if you pair it with a compatible device or two.
We've rounded up the best Alexa-compatible devices on the market, including add-on products and those that come with the digital assistant built-in. Here's our top 10.
Best Alexa-compatible devices:
Editor's note: We'll be updating this list of the best Alexa-compatible devices regularly as new ones launch.
1. Amazon Smart Plug
The first place many people start with Alexa compatible devices is a smart plug. They're inexpensive and give you instant control over your gadgets. Amazon's smart plug is one of the best because it's affordable, guaranteed to work, and, well, just look at how cute it is!
You can tell Alexa to turn something on or off as you please, but the virtual assistant also supports routines, allowing you to give your electronics a schedule. If you want your TV to power off while you're asleep, Amazon's Smart Plug can help.
2. Philips Hue A19 Starter Kit (Hub + 2 bulbs)
The Philips Hue low-energy bulbs are the standard when it comes to smart lighting. These bulbs are easy to set up and can be controlled using Alexa or through a smartphone app.
The Philips Hue bulbs support routines just as the Amazon's smart plug does, and adjusting the brightness settings is just a matter of yelling: "Alexa, dim the bedroom lights," or something similar.
We recommend the starter kit as your first purchase, which comes with two white bulbs as well as the hub for voice control. The colored bulbs are more expensive and may not suit all households, but you can add them later if you like — the hub supports up to 50 lightbulbs.
It's a great Alexa smart home product, but you should also check out our complete list of best smart light bulbs if these ones aren't for you.
3. Fitbit Versa 2
You might already own a smartwatch or fitness tracker, but hopefully you're due for an upgrade. That's because there have been so many new smartwatches and trackers released over the past few months that there's never been a better time to buy a smart wearable.
We recommend getting the Fitbit Versa 2, the best Fitbit smartwatch currently available (read our full review of the device to find out more). It has all the basic fitness tracking features you would expect while also offering many different smartwatch features that will make your life easier. It also is an Alexa-certified device with all the usual functions.
4. Nest Thermostat E
Nest introduced its Thermostat E back in August 2017, and it's still one of the best smart thermostats on a budget out there. This slimmed-down version of the third generation Nest delivers all of the critical functions of its more expensive sibling, with few compromises.
Like the standard Nest, the Nest E learns from your usage patterns to automatically raise or lower the temperature in your home based on your habits. Over time, you may find you don't need to manually adjust the thermostat at all, though this is always possible with your voice thanks to Alexa.
The Nest Thermostat E isn't quite as premium-looking as some of its more expensive counterparts. It also isn't compatible with quite as many HVAC systems as the third-generation model. But it is cheaper — check the price via the button below.
5. Ring Video Doorbell
Ring's smart doorbells pair with other Alexa devices to let you see or hear who's outside your home. Stick one of these on your doorstep and they'll alert your Alexa products when pressed or when they detect motion.
The Ring doesn't require any specific wires or extras to install, just the wires a regular doorbell needs. In that sense, it's a product for everyone, but you'll get most out of it if you have an Echo Spot or Echo Show, so you can use its camera.
The original Ring Video Doorbell comes with almost all of the features of the Ring 2 and saves you $100. If you're okay trading 1080p video streaming for 720p and giving up a couple of other minor features, it's probably the better deal.
6. Blink Indoor Camera System
If indoor security is more your thing, this solution from Blink is the best you'll find. Blink's battery-powered security camera has motion detection, can be controlled with your voice, and supports live streaming. This feed can be viewed with an Android or iOS smartphone, as well as video-enabled Alexa devices.
It starts at $80 for one camera, but you can purchase up to five at once to save money on each one. Find out more via the button below.
7. Samsung SmartThings hub V3
Samsung's SmartThings hub is the unifying product that brings a smart home together. It's compatible with many major smart home device manufacturers including Bose, Honeywell, and Philips (yes, the bulbs on this list are compatible), and helps you monitor as well as control your household electronics.
If you'd instead prefer to keep your smart lights, locks, cameras, and more all under one brand, Samsung has you covered there too. You can buy the SmartThings hub with all kinds of dedicated sensors to suit your smart home needs — find everything at the button below.
8. Insignia 4K HDR Fire TVs
If you don't want to buy an Echo, a growing number of products ship with Alexa built-in. The Insignia Fire TV 4K range is among them, coming in 43-inch, 50-inch, and 55-inch versions.
These TVs boast more than eight million pixels, voice-control with an Alexa voice remote, and multiple inputs and outputs, including three HDMI ports (one with ARC). Best of all, a few models are currently on sale — you can save as much as 17 percent. It's a bargain!
9. Acer Spin 5 laptop
This convertible laptop is full of great features, like an eight-generation Intel Core i7-8550U processor, dedicated Nvidia GTX 1050 GPU, and a 15.6-inch Full HD display. It's capped off by dedicated Alexa integration, meaning you can control your smart home products, create lists, check your calendar, and more, all from your computer.
The Acer Spin 5 has four built-in microphones to help Alexa understand you. It also looks impressive with its slimline, steel gray frame. You can find it here for a little less in a smaller, 13.3-inch version if that's more your thing. Otherwise, the 15.6-inch model with all the trimmings is currently on sale for $.
10. Caavo Universal Remote Control
If you look at your living room coffee table, do you see a ton of different remote controls? Kind of an eyesore, right? Luckily, you can simplify things by getting the Caavo Universal Remote Control, which will replace pretty much every remote you currently use.
Not only will this make it much easier for you to start up your TV, gaming system, Blu-Ray player, etc., but you'll also be able to do all that without even touching the remote, thanks to Alexa integration. Just ask Alexa to turn on Netflix and Caavo will take care of everything for you.
To get the full use of Caavo, you'll need to pay monthly for a Caavo service account. However, you don't need this if you're just going to use the universal remote features of Caavo.
That's all, folks — these are the best Alexa-compatible devices you can get your hands on in our opinion. We'll be sure to update this post with new products once they are launched.
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