We connected Alexa up to our British Gas Hive system and immediately it became the go-to remote control for everything from the lights to the heating.

Commands can be as simple as: “Alexa turn the bedside lamp on”, or “Alexa it’s cold, turn the heating up”

For those of you worried about privacy Echo won’t be recording all your conversations, just the requests. A glowing ring of light indicates when it’s recording as well.

If that’s still not enough comfort then there’s a mute button on top which Amazon claims will physically sever the power to the mics, a drastic but necessary approach which means that even if Amazon isn’t listening, no-one else can either.

Who should buy Amazon Echo?

Echo works best when you have other gadgets that it can utilise such as Hive, Nest or Philips Hue. On its own its an incredibly smart speaker, paired with these other gadgets though and it becomes the fully fledged conduit to your home. It’s also really good at doing homework. Alexa really is the first gadget we actually felt comfortable talking to.

Who shouldn’t buy Amazon Echo?

Echo isn’t a necessity. It’s not like your lights won’t turn on without it. Instead it’s a glue that can bind multiple smart home products together and create one unified system. It’s important to consider if Echo and Alexa on its own is enough to justify having it, for some it won’t be. For others Echo Dot might be the solution.

Amazon Echo is available now to buy for £149.99, Echo Dot is available for £49.99

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