Once you have paired your phone with the Echo, you can reconnect to it by voice by saying “Alexa, connect to my phone”. And then disconnect the same way — “Alexa, disconnect from my phone”.
I do this all the time, also mostly for listening to Overcast over the Echo.
You must first pair it manually to your iPhone using the options in the Alexa app, then in your iPhone system preferences. Now I can just ask it to pair Bluetooth and it automatically connects to my iPhone.
I’m not sure how this changes if you have multiple devices paired to your Echo device, so far I have only my iPhone paired and it works great.
I’ve had the opportunity to perform a sound test from a Sonos One and and an Apple HomePod in my home office. For me, there was utterly no competition. The HomePod won hands down. Because of this, I sold the Sonos One and kept the HomePod. I would guess this is hard to tell without trying them out side by side in a quiet environment. A more even competition would be the Sonos Play:5 or a pair of Sonos Play:1s which would have better stereo separation. Don’t get me wrong: I love my Sonos gear and have a slew of of them around the house, but for a single unit, the Apple HomePod sounds really, really good and is in a different class than the Sonos One.
I’ve got several Sonos Play:1s (which have basically the same audio hardware as the Sonos One) and several HomePods. I’d definitely say that a single HomePod is a much better speaker than a single Play:1, and a pair of HomePods sounds better than a pair of Play:1s.
There are circumstances where a stereo pair of Play:1s would be a better choice than a single HomePod, and at the HomePod’s list price of $349 that’s a fair comparison. With all of the $249 HomePod sales this Christmas that becomes increasingly hard to justify though. I took advantage of these prices to replace a pair of Play:1s on my desk with a pair of HomePods, and it’s definitely a big upgrade.
Man this is hard. 
Perhaps what I need to do is bite the bullet and get a pair of HomePods and then scatter a few Echos or Echos dots throughout the house and in my study. I definitely want stero in the family room. Other rooms I’m not as concerned about. It is just money after all.
Yup, that would be the best setup based on what you’ve described… 
@SpivR You seem to have a good background with audio. Based on your comments it sounds like you would recommend the Sonos. I’m wanting stereo in my family room, good sound in my study, and decent sound in the kitchen for my wife. Im also impressed with Alexa. I’m an Apple Music subscriber. I want good sound in the family room and perhaps to study but I’m no audiophile. I have one echo dot in the house and Bluetooth portable speaker. I’m vacillating between the HomePod and the Sonos. All things considered, the Sonos seem like a wiser choice. My only hesitation is I get the impression, but not them first hand experience, that the HomePod may provide better over all audio. In the scheme of things, the difference may not be enough for my purposes. I’d appreciate any additional thoughts you may have.
I have several Sonos speakers, one Echo, and one Dot but no Home Pods so this is based on experience with the Sonos and reading Home Pod reviews.
I get the impression that a single Home Pod will attempt to emulate stereo sound whereas a single Sonos speaker (excluding perhaps any of the sound bar models) is just a single, mono speaker.
A pair of Sonos speakers set up as a stereo pair may likely be better (louder, better stereo separation, etc.) than a single Home Pod. I could only speculate that 2 Home Pods in a stereo pair (is that now supported) may provide better sound than the Sonos pair but have not listened to that setup.
That’s cool. That seals the deal for me!
Well, I just changed my mind. I was able to get two HomePods for a total of $200 off, per this post. I think/hope I will now have the best of both worlds.
I saw that same sale here locally, but I still can’t pull the trigger on it lol. I’ve been enjoying my Echo Dot + speaker set up quite a bit, and imagine that I will get a full-size Echo in the near-future.
Edit: pulling too many triggers lol
I sold back my Dot to Amazon, got $10 for it plus 25% off any new Echo. Not really interested, as I replaced it with a HomePod. (But if you want to get a new Echo, consider selling back your dot to get a discounted new model!)
I was intrigued by Amazon’s Echo-enabled microwave and really liked the idea of being able to set multiple timers in the kitchen … then I learned that it (like that new clock they’re selling) actually requires a separate Echo device from which it gets info via Bluetooth. A shame - I’d probably have gone for a microwave with an Echo built-in.
I snagged a 3rd-gen Dot at Target a few days ago, and I’m really shocked with how well it responds. So far, it’s beats Siri in terms of speed and accuracy of response. As much as I think HomePod is a superior product, I can’t rationalize buying just one unit (HomePod) when I can have many Echos or Echo Dots for less $$$ spread throughout my home. Especially now with Apple Music availability.
Having owned a Dot, and my girlfriend owning an Echo, I can say that if you really are talking about using Apple Music, and care about how your music sounds, the Echo is comparative garbage. Seriously. It responds a half second faster than Siri but that’s the main advantage aside from price. My girlfriend now wants to dump her Echo, and she covets a HomePod (and who knows, she may get one for Christmas! Shh!)
HomePods are on sale at Best Buy for $100 off. I just bought two.
I have it connected to a set of Bose speakers, so crisis averted I guess? Anyway, from a financial standpoint and for my uses, the Echo products are fine.
It’s not bad, it just ended up not being great from my perspective. I’ve got Audioengine monitors connected to my iMac and I have powered studio monitors connected to my music gear, and there’s a big delineation between what comes out of the Echo compared to with what I listed to music. If you’re going to pipe Apple Music from an Echo to Bose (or any) speakers you’re going to have a downgraded signal regardless.
Very true, it’s an okay simple setup for background whilst getting things done around the house. Bose speakers tend to be a bit bass heavy, so I just adjusted the output settings on the Dot (very limited variability, but that’s what you get for $30 
) and it seems to take out the thud.
And if they would only export the Alexa feature to more countries this would be useful 
We still don’t get Alexa on the sonos, nor can we buy a homepod for that matter, in our country. Why not just release it here with the mention that English is the only supported language? Everyone now buys their Homepods or Alexa devices in Germany (Amazon.de / Apple.de) have it shipped to NL and then use the English Siri or Alexa options anyway.
Who needs a wireless doorbell when you have these guys??
