Amazon Tap: Alexa-Enabled BT Speaker

***Updates are located at the bottom of this review.*** ***Original Review*** Last year when the Amazon Echo came out, I was almost ready to purchase one because I love to listen to music throughout the day and my husband and I splurge once in a while on electronic gadgets that we both can enjoy. I loved the idea of the Echo but didn’t really know how much I would use it so I decided not to purchase a Bluetooth speaker until I saw that the Amazon Tap was being released. Once I saw that it was basically a portable, smaller version of the Echo, I told my husband we had to purchase it, not that he had any objections! As soon as it was delivered by the nice people in the brown trucks, I excitedly tore open the box so I could start playing with it. After a fairly easy setup, I’ve been playing with it daily and am always finding fun things to ask Alexa, the digital assistant for Amazon’s products. I am mostly interested in using the Tap for music and asking questions about the weather and sports, along with any random questions I can think of. So far it’s been a lot of fun to use the Tap and figure out the best way to ask questions. What’s Included: The box for the Tap includes the Tap itself, a power adapter with a micro-USB cable (a lot of cell phones charge with the micro-USB so you could also use your cell phone charger), a charging cradle, and a guide with basic information about how to set up the Tap. Setup: We found it fairly easy to set up our Tap. You will need to download the free Amazon Alexa app on your phone or tablet and then follow the instructions that Alexa gives you. This device requires your Wi-Fi password and my husband wasn’t too keen on that but it really is the only option unless you can set up a guest Wi-Fi network. After you get that set up, you can play with the Tap and add the features you want to use like alarms, shopping lists, etc. General Information: The Tap measures 6 1/4 inches tall and 2 1/2 inches in diameter. It looks like a tall soda can. It only weighs about a pound and is very easy to carry around. I have fairly small hands for a woman and I can easily carry it around in one hand. I’ve included a picture of the Tap next to a 20 ounce Diet Coke bottle so you can see the size reference. Because of the Tap’s design, it offers 360 degrees of sound and it’s nice to be able to set it on our kitchen table and hear it from every room in the house. The battery life lasts about 9 hours and takes a few hours to charge completely. To find out what the battery life percentage is left on it, you can either ask Alexa or look in the app under the Settings category. The Tap has a microphone button on the front which you push to ask Alexa for help. On the top are volume controls, a play/pause button, and previous and next buttons. The back has the power button, an audio input for headphones, the micro-USB port, and the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth button. Please note that in order to use the Tap, you must first press the microphone button to talk to Alexa, unlike the Echo which, from what I gather, you can talk to across a room without pressing a button. Charging: The Tap is easy to charge and you can continue to use it while it charges, just like a cell phone, tablet, or laptop. You can either connect the charging cable directly to the Tap or to the charging cradle and set the Tap on it. Personally, I never use the charging cradle since I have Sling cover on my Tap and the cover doesn’t allow you to use the charging cradle but it is easy enough to remove the cover if you’d prefer to use the charging cradle. Tips: I’ve been experimenting with the Tap ever since I got it to figure out how to best ask Alexa questions so she can understand. You will need to enunciate and sometimes using fewer words works better, which is tough for me since I am a wordy person. For instance, instead of asking “Alexa, what was the score for the Brewers game on Monday, April 4th, 2016?” ask “Alexa, what was the score for the Brewers game today?” I tried this out and Alexa gave me the score plus the date of the next game. The bottom line is, using fewer words seems to work better and I’m still testing it to see the best way to get the information I’m looking for. The main reason we purchased the Tap is to listen to music and I love the ease of speaking into this speaker and having access to a lot of music. The Tap can access music using Prime Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeart Radio, and tunein. So far we haven’t found a way to use it with iTunes so that may not be an option with the Tap. I have found it very easy to ask Alexa to play specific artists, songs, and genres. If you have Amazon Prime, you also have access to Prime Music and all of the music available through that program even if you haven’t yet purchased it. The Tap doesn’t offer a lot of bass which is okay with me. I’ve found at higher volumes, the music doesn’t sound the best and almost sounds tinny but I usually have it at a medium volume anyway. I also love the fact that Alexa has access to so much information about geography and weather and feel this will come in handy as my three-year-old twins get older. Overall, I’m extremely happy that we purchased the Tap and I am having so much fun playing with it and seeing what it can do! I also love to walk so this will be great to take with us. I usually am hesitant on purchasing electronic gadgets since I wonder how often I will end up using them but I am glad we bought the Tap and don’t regret spending the money on it one bit. As with all electronic devices, there are issues but the Tap is exactly what I was looking for and I can’t wait to see what else it can do. As I continue to use the Tap, I will periodically update this review with any new information or if my opinion changes. I definitely recommend purchasing the Tap if you are looking for a good, easy way to listen to music, order pizza, or ask about the score of your favorite football team! ***Update 05/07/2016 - I've now had the Tap for over a month and still love it. I use it pretty much every day on and off throughout the day and the battery life still seems great. I've never had the Tap run out of battery life since I charge it every so often and you can either look at your Amazon Alexa app to see the battery life or ask "Alexa, what is your battery life?" and she will tell you what the percentage is. I mainly use the Tap to listen to music and I still like the sound quality for my uses. I've played around with the Tap and discovered a few things which others may find helpful. If you are listening to one specific song, you can ask Alexa to replay it by saying "Alexa, replay this song" and she will. You can ask this either after the song has ended or during it. If it's during the song, she will say "I'll repeat this song" and then continue playing the song and after it's finished, she will repeat it. If you are listening to a playlist or several songs, simply ask Alexa to replay the song while it's playing and she will repeat it one time then continue on with her original playlist. You can also press the "back" button and the song will repeat. I find this feature useful in case I love a song and want to listen to it again. You could also use this feature if you are playing a game and using a certain song for it. I just have fun playing with the Tap and seeing what it can do! ***Update 07/22/2016 - I've had the Tap for almost four months now and use it pretty much every day to listen to music. I occasionally ask Alexa random questions to find out information but otherwise I only use the Tap to listen to music. I often use it for a couple hours a day and I've found it's great to use while washing dishes, making dinner, cleaning, or just sitting and listening to music. If I use it for a couple hours a day, I can usually use it for a few days before I have to charge it again. I've discovered when the battery level reaches 5%, Alexa will interrupt the music and say the battery is running low. It's sometimes hard to hear this if I am in another room of the house so I've had the Tap shut off on me but it's easy enough to fix by charging it for a bit and then I can continue to use it while it's charging. During the four months I've had this speaker, I've had no major problems with it and just a few minor issues, mostly with our wireless connection, which were easy for my techie husband and me to figure out. I still feel the Tap is worth the money if you regularly listen to music and like the idea of carrying it around or using it while walking.