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Does your home really need a “smart speaker” that can answer questions, call you an Uber, turn off the lights, or play music when you ask? You may be about to find out.

“I’ve never used Cortana [Microsoft’s personal assistant]. I don’t use Google, and my wife doesn’t use Siri. But everybody talks to Alexa,” Bishop from Texas said. “I couldn’t really tell you why. That was the only way to communicate, so we all got in the habit.”

Buck Wise, an advertising executive in Portland, Oregon, tried several variants of smart home systems, but said the Echo worked best for him because of the hands-free speaker. He has lights, blinds, and his garage door synced with the Echo.

“Alexa truly is the brain of our home, and it would feel like 100 steps backwards to get through a day without her,” Wise said.

What won him over? Commanding the device just by speaking — and without having to fire up an app — basically did the trick, he said.

Amazon has also launched two other Echo-like devices, the smaller $50 Dot — which it now sells in six-packs so people can have one in every room — and the portable $100 Tap, to give Alexa even broader reach.

Dave Limp, Amazon’s senior vice president for devices, says the goal is for Alexa to keep getting smarter as it continues to build new “skills” over the coming years. “The hope is you can ask Alexa anything, and it will be able to respond correctly, quickly and be able to be there,” he said.