I have both the original Echo Plus and the newer 2nd Gen. I was happy to find some old stock of the original Echo Plus. The software capabilities of the two are the same. But, the audio quality of the original Echo Plus is bettermuch less distortion than in the newer 2nd Gen, which is a surprise given all the marketing hype about the new Echo having a Bose sound solution. Echo is not really all that intelligent, but its a lot of fun to work with for every day tasks (play radio station..., whats the weather forecast, turn on the lamp, etc.). There are some bugs to work out (it connects flawlessly to bluetooth devices, then refuses to drop the connection saying there is no device connected. Anyway, its a fun device and it is good to see the technology develop. If you want to try an Echo, get the original model if you want to listen to music. I moved the newer 2nd Gen to my home office, and it is now rarely plugged in.

I have two of these in my kitchen and you can split them so you have left and right speaker and the sound is very very good for what you are paying. of course you need to have an Amazon music account or Spotify Deezer or apple music to stream online.

But you can Bluetooth your phone or any other Bluetooth device to them.

There are lots of gimmicks on the Amazon echos but the sound is fantastic for what you're paying. please know that I don't think that the original Amazon echos can be made into stereo speakers but you can sync them so you can have music playing out of both of them at the same time from the same source. One other thing is that at the moment BBC Radio apps don't seem to be able to have music playing out of both speakers.

But probably due on TuneIn and other music apps music radio apps.

Amazon Echo Plus with Smart Home Hub " Love it and is Excellent!" I purchase an additional Philips Hue wireless Light bulb that is suppose to work with it and It was easy to set up and works great. I have not found anything bad to say about the Amazon Echo Plus with Smart Home Hub except sometimes it say things by it self for no reason. This does not matter to me though, I think is does this when it is updating. The sound is clear and when you play music on it, it sounds great. It is easy to program through the Amazon Alexa site. I wish there were more apps in Canada but there is enough that you can use it for home automation. Listening to musics and news plus control you door locks as long as you have the proper equipment. It also works great with the Nest thermostat . I would recommend this to everyone.

Good Points: This is an excellent item for music lovers, the sound is very good for the size of the item. It would be an excellent device for anyone with sight impairment, no changing cd's or looking through a collection for something depending on your mood. Voice activation very clear. I can wait to look for more apps to load to see what else it can do. I don't have any smart home products, but i will be introducing them gradually.

Improvement Points: I read somewhere that i needed premium spotify to play on Alexa but i haven't checked this out. I'm using Amazon free trials to start with, but continuing to look for other apps for preferably free music.
Another downside is that I would like another Alexa Echo to keep in my bedroom as i listen to meditation and relaxation apps at bed time.