New 3rd-party Alexa-enabled devices are constantly being released, but one thing that holds true for all of them is that they don’t support all of the features that Amazon’s own line of Echo speakers. The one feature that has been exclusive to Amazon’s own Alexa devices is calling and messaging capabilities. That has finally changed because the Eufy Genie smart speaker has just become the first non-Amazon device that supports Alexa calling and messaging.
The Eufy Genie is among the most popular 3rd-party Alexa smart speakers. I reviewed it when it came out and found that its only real issue was its lack of a few Alexa capabilities that were only available on Echo devices. Eufy has been slowly filling those holes, first by being one of the first 3rd-party Alexa devices to support Echo Spatial Perception and now by being the first to support Alexa calling.
An announcement email, seen above, was sent by Amazon to Eufy Genie owners to inform them of the device’s new capabilities. This seems to indicate that Amazon worked closely with Eufy to add support for the feature. This wouldn’t be the first time Amazon worked with an Alexa device manufacturer on new capabilities. Sonos worked with Amazon to release the Alexa-enabled Sonos One smart speaker and Sonos Beam soundbar, and Garmin worked with Amazon to release the Garmin Speak Alexa-enabled car navigation device.
The Eufy Genie has not only gained the ability to make and receive both phone calls and messages, but it also supports Alexa’s Drop-In feature that lets it serve as a home intercom system. Additionally, the Eufy genie now supports Alexa Announcements which means it will relay messages across your home, along with Echo devices.
These new features are available immediately on the Eufy Genie. The device may need to be updated first, which can be done through the Eufy app.
