This is a We Own it review of the Kiwi Design Alex – an Echo Dot battery base.
What does Alex do?!
Alex is a is a battery base for a second-generation Echo dot. It is only for the second generation because the Amazon Echo Dot fits perfectly inside Alex.
Alex has an impressive 10,000 mA/h battery – this means it can power the Echo Dot for 12 hours play time and 24 hours standby time. Standby is when it is just listening and waiting for you to invoke her.
Alexa is the super smart home assistant by Amazon, our favourite voice assistant in fact.
Until now Alexa has been stuck to where you have power as the Echo Dot requires mains power. Kiwi Design have just released Alex to fix that problem with their portable Alexa battery base.
It has four LED’s on the front to show how charged it is:
- LED 1 – Low
- LED 2 – Medium
- LED 3 – High
- LED 4 – Full
When empty it takes 8 hours to fully charge.
Once the Echo Dot is turned on the functionality of Alexa is the same, surprisingly music plays the same with no ‘muffling’ or distortion from the case. This is probably as the case is solid and doesn’t vibrate to the music.
To charge Alex you use the original Echo Dot cable and it can be on charge when in use.
The case does not cover the 3.5M audio jack so you can still use that when using Alex.
Dot 2 Battery Base, Charger for Dot 2nd Gen. 10000mah 17 Hours Continues Playing Music by Kiwi Design
How easy is it to setup?
Very easy, you place your dot into Alex – making sure they are aligned.
Connect the power connector.
Press power button and done. It comes partially charged, LED 2 lit, so it can be uses straight away.
How much does Alex cost?
The RRP is £59.99 and can be purchased via Amazon, we have an exclusive Amazon Discount code to save 20% SJLG4TQO
What’s it like living with Alex?
Alex is handy as you now have a portable Alexa you can easily take from room to room without worrying about wires.
It was also handy to take to the garden to use as a voice control for the garden tech. However, neither Amazon Echo Dot or Alex are waterproof or at all IP rated so it cannot be left outside or used in the wet.
What are our final thoughts?
Alex is a well-designed bit of kit, care has been taken with the build and the design. Its handy now being able to take Alexa with you.
