Amazon's Alexa platform is no longer confined to the home -- Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen have all announced integration of the voice assistant into their vehicles. That's great if you're a die-hard Amazon customer and in the market for a new car. For the rest of us, Logitech's aftermarket ZeroTouch mounts and companion app bring the same dash-based Alexa experience, but to the car you already own.
The Logitech Zero Touch app-and-dock system already offers a hands-free solution to most smartphone tasks while driving. But starting today, it comes with added support for Alexa. This means that in addition to controlling music, sending texts and setting destinations on the move, the voice-controlled application will listen for Alexa commands (once the feature has been activated).
I tried out the updated ZeroTouch system, and other than a few minor setup issues with the flash briefing skill (which delivers quick news hits from various sources like NPR, Fox news and BBC), it really did feel just like using Alexa at home. There is one big difference though, which is ZeroTouch doesn't have a wake word. Instead, you either hold or wave your hand over your smartphone to activate it. Once the app is primed, Amazon's voice assistant responds just like it does at home, which opens up a world of possibilities.
Any IoT devices you own that are linked to Amazon's assistant are now available from within the car. This means you can control lights, thermometers and door locks while driving down the road, if you wish. Oh and of course, because this is Amazon, you can order items from the online retailer and partners -- like Pizza Hut (gross) and Starbucks -- right from the driver's seat, if you must.
What Logitech's Alexa integration won't do is tell you about the car itself. That's a feature the automakers have that the ZeroTouch doesn't. Understandably, that requires deep integration into the vehicle, so it's not something we expected.
The voice-activated system uses the Bluetooth hardware dock like a key. Drivers add a slim piece of metal (either via adhesive or underneath a case) to their Android phone. The phone then attaches to magnetic dock and when that happens, the app launches. It's a slick way of securing your device in the car and getting it ready for the road without forcing the driver to waste time trying to launch anything.
The experience isn't without its issues, at least in my time with it. For some reason, my flash briefing would only tell me the weather. I added an additional skill to my flash briefing but I was still stuck listening to just the weather. On my Echo and Dot at home, I've had no problems hearing about the state of the world via Alexa's debrief.
There's also an issue when it comes to navigation. If you try to interact with the system and Google Maps has a voice notification at the same time, it overrides what you're doing 80 percent of the time. The other 20 percent, the system just seems to get confused. While it doesn't happen very often during highway driving, on city streets, it can be a pain.
Overall, the core ZeroTouch system and its two available mounts make in-vehicle messaging and app interactions seamless and safer, but pricey at $60 for the air vent mount and $80 for the sturdy windshield/dash mount. But now that Logitech has added Alexa support and all that entails, it's clearly better value than before.
The key benefit of course is that ZeroTouch brings Alexa to any car in an incredibly simple way. It might not feel exactly like the home experience without the familiar wake word, but it's close enough. Plus, it's cheaper than buying a new car -- and for Amazon users, it brings just enough Alexa to the driver's seat to make it worth the price tag. Best of all, it's available right now.