I got early access to pre-order (can't remember why) at $99 and almost didn't do it. I'm SO glad I did. It gets used all day every day. I grab the last two eggs

I got early access to pre-order (can't remember why) at $99 and almost didn't do it. I'm SO glad I did. It gets used all day every day. I grab the last two eggs and say "Alexa, add eggs to the grocery list", hands are full of mess while cooking, "Alexa, set a timer for 5 minutes", etc. The fact that it works with my home automation hub is also nice, when I'm across the room and want the lights off, or want the garage door closed. I could live without it for sure, but it just makes things easier. The voice recognition, especially from far away is incredible. I don't have to yell, or say things exactly right (like in my car). Knowing what I know now, I'd pay full price- especially with the new functionality and apps that get released every week it seems. I've even written a few of my own. The speaker itself is just okay, we play music on it all the time for the kids, but there are way better Bluetooth speaker setups, so if that's your primary goal you won't be that excited. If you can afford it and have a routine of any sort throughout the day where checking the weather, traffic, maintaining a grocery list (especially when you might not be the person going), getting a news briefing or listening to a podcast are part of it, then you'll find it useful immediately. If you don't, to get your money's worth, you'd want to start a routine of sorts.