Amazon Echo owners, rejoice! You can finally pair the Echo with any Bluetooth speaker to stream better quality audio.
The Amazon Echo hit the scene more than two years ago and proved to be widely popular, but the audio prowess of the smart speaker is not exactly stellar. It's great to have for various tasks and voice control, but for audiophiles craving a superior audio experience, the Echo was a bit disappointing.
Unlike the smaller Echo Dot, which has supported pairing with Bluetooth speakers from the get go, the original Amazon Echo did not support this option up until now. Alas, Amazon has quietly rolled out an update and the Echo can blast music to Bluetooth speakers at last.
Pairing the Amazon Echo with a Bluetooth speaker is fairly easy and hassle-free, so here's what you need to do.
Amazon Echo Pairing With Bluetooth Speakers: Prerequisites
Before proceeding with the actual pairing, there are a few things to take into account. First of all, it's recommended that your Amazon Echo and Bluetooth speaker are set at a distance of at least 3 feet from each other. Otherwise, it might be tough for Alexa to discern the wake word or other voice requests.
Secondly, while the Amazon Echo should play nice with virtually any Bluetooth speaker, to get the most out of the experience, it's advised to choose one certified for use with the Echo Dot. Make sure the Bluetooth speaker has no trouble connecting to other compatible devices such as a smartphone.
Lastly, before pairing it with the Echo, turn on your Bluetooth speaker, turn up the volume and disconnect other Bluetooth devices from the Amazon Echo since the smart speaker can only pair with one Bluetooth device at a time.
How To Pair The Amazon Echo To Bluetooth Speakers
With the prerequisites out of the way, proceed to the actual pairing. Turn on pairing mode on your Bluetooth speaker, then open the Alexa app and access Settings to select your device. From here on, select Bluetooth > Pair a New Device.
The Amazon Echo should now enter pairing mode and upon detecting your Bluetooth speaker, it will display it in the Alexa app on a list of devices available to pair. Once you find the desired Bluetooth speaker on this list, select it and voila! The Amazon Echo is paired with the Bluetooth speaker and Alexa notifies you that the connection was successful. All you have to do now is hit Continue in the Alexa app and start streaming audio from the Echo to your Bluetooth speaker. To end the pairing, simply say "Disconnect."
Amazon Echo Audio Streaming To Bluetooth Speakers: Tips And Tricks
When streaming audio from the Echo to a Bluetooth speaker, you can control the volume either via the Echo itself (through volume options on the Echo or through voice commands) or via the volume buttons on the external speaker.
If you say "Connect," the Amazon Echo will pair with the Bluetooth device it was last paired with. If you frequently stream audio to a Bluetooth speaker, this should make it significantly easier.
