Amazon Tap is a $129 portable smart speaker in the Amazon Echo product line that offers many of the original Amazon Echo device features in a more portable, battery-operated form factor. The Amazon Tap offers up to nine hours of playback and includes a wireless charging cradle for recharging the battery.
As with the $179 Amazon Echo and $49 Echo Dot devices, the Amazon Tap is a cylindrical audio device that can control smart home devices and also offers the ability to connect to Amazon s Alexa intelligent assistant to play music, provide responses to questions, report on weather, news and sports scores, and more.
Physical Tapping and Voice Controlling Alexa with the Amazon Tap
While the Echo and Echo Dot utilize voice commands to access Alexa, the Tap gets its name from its default mode of needing to physically touch, or tap, the device to access Alexa.
And although the Amazon Tap originally required tapping to use Alexa, a software update released in February 2017 made it possible to also use voice commands to access Alexa. The new hands-free, voice-controlled mode requires the Bluetooth-equipped Tap to be connected to WiFi and can be enabled through the Alexa mobile app.
While the Tap is only available in a black color, Amazon does offers an Amazon Tap Sling cover in five different colors for protecting the device and enabling users to personalize the Tap a bit.
