I've owned an Amazon Echo for over a year now - here are my 19 favorite features

I activated my Amazon Echo for the first time last December. It's quickly become one of my favorite tech gadgets ever.

Amazon's family of Echo speakers were some of the hottest gifts this holiday season - the smaller $50 Echo Dot has been the top-selling item on Amazon.com since November 1 - so right now, many people are activating their Echo units for the first time.

Here's what you need to know: These speakers, which can respond to either "Alexa" or "Amazon," are extremely quick to respond and understand your commands way better than any other device I've used.

Thanks to its excellent audio system, with seven microphones for listening and a 360º omni-directional audio grille for speaking, Amazon Echo works exceedingly well wherever I am in my home. I can hear it - and it can hear me - almost perfectly.

Amazon Echo has completely transformed the way I live in my apartment. There's just so much you can do with Echo. Take a look.

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.