Articles by Jeramy Johnson

Echo Studio

It’s the Echo Plus PLUS

$170 at Amazon

Pros

Physical mic mute switch
Booming room-filling sound
Built-in Zigbee smart home hub
Can be paired for surround sound

Cons

First-gen product
Most expensive Echo device

The Echo Studio is Amazon’s shot across the bow to Apple’s Homepod, Google’s Home Max, and Sonos’ collection of high-end speakers. It offers amazing sound and smarts for a great price. This device just might be the successor to the Echo Plus.

Echo Plus (2nd Gen)

Smaller speaker smart hub

$75 at Amazon

Pros

Great sound in a smaller package
Also has built-in Zigbee smart home hub
Can get with a free smart bulb

Cons

Same sound architecture as cheaper, newer Echo
Priced a little high at this point

The Echo Plus was Amazon’s first stab at better Echo audio, and with its Zigbee integration, it was the first Echo device that could serve as a smart home hub. The device is on its 2nd generation, but it hasn’t been updated in over a year.

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One of the silver linings of being stuck in the house, whether you’re social distancing or working from home is that you can save on your cellular data by learning how to enable Wi-Fi calling on your Samsung Galaxy phone. Wi-Fi will bring you better speeds and a more reliable connection. You might just have to toggle a few switches and settings to ensure that you’re able to use Wi-Fi calling on your phone and with your carrier. We’ll show you how this is done in the steps below.

How to enable Wi-Fi calling on a Samsung Galaxy phone

Open the Phone dialer app from your home screen or app drawer.
Tap on the three dots in the middle top section of the screen.
Tap on Settings.
Toggle on Wi-Fi Calling.
Tap on Click here to register your emergency address.

A screen from your carrier should pop up. Enter your telephone number to confirm availability.
Enter the code that was texted to your mobile number.
Confirm your emergency or 911 address.
Press finish.

Now you can take advantage …

A little bit of care can go a long way.

In addition to my smartphone, I want to be sure that I keep my headphones working for when I need them, whether I’m at home or traveling. It’s a huge pain to reach for a favorite pair of headphones or earbuds only to find that they’re broken or no longer in the condition that you expected them to be in. You want your headphones to be reliable and ready to go whenever and wherever you may be. Plus, a quality pair of headphones or earbuds can cost a pretty penny, and nobody wants to be dropping a ton of cash every year or so to replace a good set of cans. That’s why it’s essential to take good care of them so that they don’t wear out or break prematurely. Here are a few tips we’ve collected to help you do just that.

Keep your headphones working: Don’t just throw them anywhere

A good pair of headphones or true wireless earbuds are a significant investment and are often delicate pieces of technology. As such, why would you just toss them aside…

Whether you’re trying to save a bit of information for later or want to share something you came across, it’s hard to find a more useful feature on our smartphone these days than the ability to take a screenshot. Thankfully, most Android manufacturers have standardized this process, so learning how to take a screenshot on a Samsung Galaxy phone should be a piece of cake. Don’t believe me? I’ll show you how below!

How to take a screenshot on a Samsung Galaxy S or Note phone

There are a bunch of ways to take a screenshot with a Samsung phone, one pretty obvious and two… a little less so. We’ll walk you through all three of these methods below.

Note: These methods apply to most Samsung Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy S and Note lines, along with most modern Galaxy A models from the last three years. If your phone is over three years old, it may only support the below key combination screenshot method and not the other two.

How to screenshot a Samsung phone using a key com…

I started researching the best smart doorbells that were compatible with Alexa because I’m an introvert by nature. Indeed, one of the things I love most about smart doorbells is the ability for me not to have to get off of my keister and answer every knock or ring at the front door. We’ve compiled a great here, but my favorite is the Ring Video Doorbell 3. There are plenty of good devices on this list, so be sure to check them out and see what might be the best fit for your situation.

Best Overall For Alexa: Ring Video Doorbell 3

It may seem a cop-out to pick a Ring product as my top choice, but the fact is that since Amazon purchased the smart home products company, it has been churning out quality products that work well with Alexa. Once again, the company took what was popular and successful from the previous generation device (the Ring Video Doorbell 2), and made some tweaks to make it even better.

The Ring Video Doorbell 3 brings 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi support, advanced motion detec…

The Amazon Echo and the Alexa smart assistant can provide virtually unlimited utility and fun for the whole family. However, there are certainly times when parents want to be able to control what their kids can and cannot do with these connected devices. We’ll show you how you can kid-proof your Amazon Echos and protect your youngsters from potential pitfalls.

Products used in this guide

Kid-Friendly Echo: Echo Dot Kids Edition (2019) ($70 at Amazon)
Parental Controls: Amazon FreeTime Unlimited ($3/month at Amazon)

How to kid-proof your Echo

The trouble with locking down your Echo is that there are a lot of different ways your kids can use them. The Alexa app has several tools to help you exert some parental control over your Echo devices. Here are some of the most common ones you’ll want to consider investigating, broken down into three main categories: voice purchasing, Echo device settings, and entertainment settings. Let’s break it down.

Voice purchasing

Open the Alexa …

Best answer: It depends on the size of your house, but three or four well-placed Echo speakers should give you decent coverage with Alexa throughout most homes. The choice then comes down to where you think you’ll best use Alexa. The most popular areas would be in the bedroom, the living room, and the kitchen.

The Original, Upgraded: Amazon Echo (3rd Gen) ($100 at Best Buy)
Just in Time: Amazon Echo Dot with Clock ($60 at Amazon)
Hang it Up: Amazon Echo Flex ($25 at Amazon)

Finding the right Echo products for the rooms in your home

Deciding on the best Alexa speaker to get, along with how many, are very tough questions to answer since every house is different, and everyone has a unique preference. There are a lot of Alexa-compatible devices that you can choose to make your home a truly smart home. An Amazon Echo (3rd Gen) is a great place to start because it’s Amazon’s best-sounding speaker for the price. From there, either an Echo Dot with Clock or an Echo Flex will be your be…

New Show in Town

Echo Show 8

$100 at Amazon

Pros

The Goldilocks of Echo Show devices
Disable camera and mics with one switch/cover
Significantly cheaper than larger Echo Show (2nd Gen)
Uses “Certified with Humans”

Cons

Can’t adjust viewing angles without a stand
No Dolby processing built-in

Fast on the heels of the popular Echo Show 5, the Echo Show 8 fits right in the middle of this expanding product line. It brings a higher resolution screen than the Echo Show 5 and welcomes more media integrations like an exclusive partnership with the Food Network.

Show Me More

Echo Show (2nd Gen)

$230 at Amazon

Pros

Stunning display
Available with a free Echo Flex and smart bulb
Dolby processing built-in
Zigbee smart hub built-in

Cons

Most expensive Echo device
No physical camera cover
Might be too big for some

With its softened corners and fabric covering, the Echo Show (2nd Gen) marked a significant design shift for the Echo line. Its large HD display and Alexa…

Hello, again

Nest Hello

$230 at Best Buy

Pros

Better HDR video camera
Person recognition
Official IPX4 weather resistance
Pre-recorded responses
Package delivery alerts

Cons

Doesn’t work with Amazon Alexa
Nest’s subscription service is more expensive

Even though this device is nearly two years old at this point, we still think it’s one of the best all-around video doorbells. Not only does it integrate seamlessly with Google Assistant, but it also has a ton of cool features like person identification and package delivery alerts.

Third time charm

Ring Video Doorbell 3

$150 at Amazon

Pros

Works on both 2.4GHz and 5Ghz Wi-Fi bands
Advanced Motion Detection
Audio and video privacy zones
Wired and battery power options
Customizable faceplates

Cons

Doesn’t work with Google Assistant
No pre-roll video or other advanced features as in the Plus version

The Ring Video Doorbell 3 has a series of valuable, incremental improvements over the second generation, such …

Echo Dot with Clock

It’s about time

$60 at Amazon

Pros

Subtle LED clock display
Snooze functionality at a tap
Retains all of what’s good about the Echo Dot (3rd Gen)

Cons

Only currently available in one color
Display can’t show notifications

Amazon knows what time it is! It took our favorite little smart speaker and incorporated an LED display to show the time, your timers, and the temperature.

Echo Dot (3rd Gen)

Fan favorite

$50 at Amazon

Pros

The cheapest Echo speaker you can get
Great sound for a small speaker
Now available in a fun Plum color

Cons

No visual display
Previous Dots were more customizable

The Echo Dot (3rd Gen) is one of the best-selling smart speakers available, and for good reason. It’s affordable, has good sound quality for its size, and is relatively unobtrusive.

In late 2019 Amazon added several new Echo devices to its smart home lineup, including an updated version of its extremely popular Echo Dot, which features an LED di…