Key Takeaways
- Your phone is great for streaming music with headphones, but for playing music out loud, use an Amazon Echo as a Bluetooth speaker.
- Pair your phone with an Echo over Bluetooth by turning on Bluetooth, adding the Echo device through Bluetooth settings, and saying “Alexa, pair.”
- You can also connect an Echo to another Bluetooth speaker by turning on pairing mode, using the Alexa app to select the Echo device and connect to the Bluetooth speaker.
Your phone is a great device for streaming music if you’re using headphones. You can get high-quality audio beamed directly into your ears from your phone or using wireless headphones, or you can go old-school and use a pair of wired headphones if you wish.
However, the small size of your phone means that it’s not really much use if you want to play music out loud. Obviously, those annoying kids on the train will still play their terrible music through their phones because apparently they’re unaware that headphones exist, but the sound quality is as awful as those kids’ musical taste.
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If you want to listen to music at home, however, then you may already have a pretty decent Bluetooth speaker without even realising it. That’s because you can use an Amazon Echo device as a Bluetooth speaker for your phone, or for any other Bluetooth device for that matter. Depending on which model of Amazon Echo you have, the sound quality can go from a little better (with an Echo Pop, say) to a whole world of better (with an Echo Studio).
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If your Echo doesn’t have the best quality sound, but you love the convenience of being able to ask Alexa to play music, then you can always use your Echo to stream music to another Bluetooth speaker, if you have one. This gives you all the convenience of Alexa with the sound quality that a dedicated Bluetooth speaker can bring.
If you’re ready to get your Bluetooth on, then here’s how to use your Amazon Echo as a Bluetooth speaker
How to use Echo as a Bluetooth speaker
Before doing anything with the Echo speaker itself, you’ll need to turn on Bluetooth on your phone, and ensure you’re in the Bluetooth settings so that you can pair your Echo device.
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The steps are a little different depending on whether you’re using an iPhone or an Android phone.
Pair your iPhone with an Echo over Bluetooth
To pair your iPhone with your Echo over Bluetooth, you’ll need to ensure that Bluetooth is on. You can then add the Echo device through the Bluetooth settings.
- Open Settings.
- Select Bluetooth.
- Ensure that Bluetooth is toggled on and leave the Bluetooth Settings page open.
- Say ‘Alexa, pair’ to the Echo device that you want to pair.
- Alexa will enter pairing mode, and you should see your Echo device appear in the Other Devices section.
- Tap the device and it will pair.
- You should hear confirmation from your Echo device that it has successfully paired.
- To disconnect your iPhone from Bluetooth, just say ‘Alexa, disconnect from my phone’.
- Once you’ve paired your Echo device for the first time, all you need to do is say ‘Alexa, connect to my phone’ to use your Echo as a Bluetooth speaker for your iPhone.
Pair your Android phone with an Echo over Bluetooth
The method for pairing an Android phone with an Echo over Bluetooth will differ slightly depending on the OS that you’re running, but the following steps should be similar for most Android devices.
- Open Settings.
- Select Connections.
- Tap Bluetooth.
- Ensure that Bluetooth is toggled on.
- Select Scan or Pair new device or similar, depending on your OS.
- Leave the screen open.
- Say ‘Alexa, pair’ to the Echo you want to use.
- You should see the Echo device appear as a Bluetooth device on your phone.
- Select the Echo device, and it should pair. Alexa will confirm when pairing has taken place.
- You can now use your Echo as a Bluetooth speaker for your phone.
- When you want to disconnect, just say ‘Alexa, disconnect from my phone.’
- If you want to connect again at any time, just say ‘Alexa, connect to my phone.’
How to connect an Amazon Echo to another speaker via Bluetooth
One issue with smaller Echo devices, such as an Echo Dot, is that they don’t have the same sound quality as the larger Echo devices, since there’s not much room for powerful speakers. You can get great quality sound if you have an Echo Studio, but you may already have good-quality Bluetooth speakers in your home. If this is the case, you can get your Echo to stream to a Bluetooth speaker, which gives you better-quality sound with the convenience of Alexa voice control.
Turn on the pairing mode for your Bluetooth speaker. You may need to refer to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Open the Alexa app on your phone.
- Tap Devices at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the Device Type drop-down.
- Select Echo & Alexa and tap Apply.
- Choose the Echo device you want to pair.
- Tap the Settings icon in the top-right of the screen.
- Under Connected Devices tap Speaker.
- Select Bluetooth and tap Next.
- At the bottom of the screen, tap Pair a New Device.
- Alexa will search for nearby devices.
- Select your Bluetooth speaker from the results.
- You should hear Alexa confirm that she has paired, but her voice will now come from your Bluetooth speaker.
- Any audio that you play from your Echo device will now come through the Bluetooth speaker, including music as well as Alexa’s responses.
- To disconnect your Bluetooth speaker, just say ‘Alexa, disconnect my speaker.’
- To reconnect your Bluetooth speaker once you’ve paired it the first time, just say ‘Alexa, connect my speaker.’
Can I use my Echo as a Bluetooth speaker for my phone without Wi-Fi?
It is possible to use your Echo as a Bluetooth speaker for your phone, even if you don’t have a Wi-Fi connection. You can stream music from your phone to your Echo device, as long as you have the music saved to your phone for offline listening.
However, in order to pair your phone with your Echo device, you’ll need a Wi-Fi connection to set it up. Once your phone is paired, you can use your Echo as a Bluetooth device even if you don’t have a Wi-Fi connection.
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Which Echo devices can be used as Bluetooth speakers?
The vast majority of Echo devices have Bluetooth connectivity and can work well as Bluetooth speakers. You’ll also be able to use the upcoming Amazon Echo Hub as a Bluetooth speaker, although the sound quality is unlikely to be great.
Echo devices that can be used as Bluetooth speakers include:
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