Invite Alexa to your barbecue with this portable Echo Dot speaker

Is Alexa pretty nifty behind a barbecue, then?

I’ve asked, but she just says ‘‘cooking is beyond me at the moment’. Which, to be fair, is what I always say when I fancy a pub lunch. But this battery-powered Echo Dot accessory means she’s now much better at serving up barbecue music and marinade recipes. The Vaux swallows up your second-gen Dot, and plugs into it via microUSB and 3.5mm cables. You now have a portable Echo Dot with six hours of battery life.

Cool, so I can take Alexa to picnics and festivals too?

Er, not exactly. Your Dot-Vaux combo will still need Wi-Fi to work, so your only option will be setting up smartphone tethering. Or just sticking with your Alexa-less Bluetooth speaker. The Vaux doesn’t have waterproofing or water-resistance, you see, so it’s more for carrying around your house or using in the garden (if your Wi-Fi stretches that far).

Hmm, I thought Amazon already did a portable Alexa speaker anyway…

Ah yes, the Amazon Tap. It’s still not available in the UK, for some reason. So the Vaux is one of the few ways to get portable Alexa over here, unless you count talking to her on your phone. There are two colours to choose from: ‘carbon’ (black) and ‘ash’ (white). And it only costs £40, which is quite a lot less than the £150, tethered-to-a-plug-socket Echo, even when you include a £50 Dot.

The math checks out…

Maths. The maths check out. Anyway, yes you’re right, even taking into account the risk that the Vaux could sound like a potato. I’m pre-ordering one for delivery in early April, and you can too right here.