My Invoke experience so far

[Stephen Smith13]

I bought 2 on black Friday because that was a steal of a deal. I put one in the kitchen and one in the living room (next to my Sonos 3). The sound quality is great. I got home today and music was playing, I foolishly assumed it was from the Sonos but they were listening on the Invoke. I have Philip Hue bulbs and a Nest thermostat so it controls my 'smart houses as it currently stands. If they add multi-room support, Xbox control, and multi-user support...oooh!

 

[gamo62]

True. But I still have issues with our PC and two other Invokes. Would be nice to have a way to change the command like the Echo has.

 

[mtf1380]

Just ordered 2 more, one for upstairs, one for the barn

 

[newEDB]

I finally got the calendar access issue figured out.

I have my Office365 and Outlook connected with Cortana on my phone 950xl. Obviously, when one asks Invoke for calendar related things, it first tries Office365. Then there problem begins. As a university faculty member, I got free Office365 through my school email address. But my school use Google service for email and calendar, so my Office365 is not a complete service. It allows me download Office suite, and offers Outlook for Business, but does not provide email or calendar. So when Invoke accesses my Office365, it hits a wall.

After I experimented removing Office 365 connection in my phone Cortana, all my calendar related requests receive correct responses from Invoke.

I also noticed that after I connected Office365 back to Cortana, if I specifically ask Invoke to access my personal calendar or Outlook calendar, it will correctly do that.

 

[newEDB]

It appears that Invoke Cortana and phone Cortana work differently.

On my phone 950xl, when I ask "what's on my calendar", it pulls results from my Outlook calendar, Outlook family calendar, personal gmail calendar and Googled sponsored work domain calendar. If I ask results from one specific calendar, it still shows me results from all.

However, on Invoke, it can access my Outlook and personal gmail calendar, and I can ask results from one calendar at a time, but not my Outlook family calendar nor my work calendar.

This probably suggests that the implementation of Cortana on the server side is fragmented, probably due to some technical challenges Microsoft hasn't figured out. Microsoft, shape up.

 

[newEDB]

For the privacy shock Invoke gave me a few days back, I did more digging. If I had any very slim doubt that the voices I heard were actually mine, I simply forgot them and microphone distortion made them sound not like mine. I don't now.

I compare the voice history in my Microsoft Account privacy setting, and the Invoke voice history in my phone Cortana app. All my own voices are recorded in both places, but those not-mine voices are only in my Microsoft Account. Again, Microsoft screwed up.

If Microsoft let me hear someone else's voice, it probably let them hear mine as well. I hope there is an easy way I can download those voices and put it here, probably they belong to some of our forum members. That will be fun.

 

[unmorphed]

I finally got the calendar access issue figured out.

I have my Office365 and Outlook connected with Cortana on my phone 950xl. Obviously, when one asks Invoke for calendar related things, it first tries Office365. Then there problem begins. As a university faculty member, I got free Office365 through my school email address. But my school use Google service for email and calendar, so my Office365 is not a complete service. It allows me download Office suite, and offers Outlook for Business, but does not provide email or calendar. So when Invoke accesses my Office365, it hits a wall.

After I experimented removing Office 365 connection in my phone Cortana, all my calendar related requests receive correct responses from Invoke.

I also noticed that after I connected Office365 back to Cortana, if I specifically ask Invoke to access my personal calendar or Outlook calendar, it will correctly do that.

You don't have to remove your Office 365, you can just connect your Google calendars to Outlook.

 

[Chubbynaga]

Just picked up a Invoke from the Bellevue store. Really loved the sound quality but still trying to figure out how to control my Nest and Smartthings. Too bad, it won't work with free Spotify, so I had to enroll in Premium to try it out.

 

[MarineDawg]

Mine arrived yesterday but I just finished setting up 20 minutes ago and this is my new favorite device. The sound quality is superb. I took the plunge to Spotify premium ($3.18 for three months how could you not?) I haven't turned on the Surface yet, that may be the only "Hey Cortana" conflict I would have. Skype calling should be interesting once the email comes through enabling it. I normally don't buy for myself this time of the year but I couldn't pass the deal up... instant gratification.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

I'm really enjoying playing Spotify on my PC and sending it to my Invoke. Sound is really good.

 

[Kavu2]

My Invoke experience....

Nothing but good things. First, some background: bought one at Best Buy (for ease of local pickup/return) at $99 discount pricepoint....a steal for the quality it turns out). After home install and initial usage, went back for another the next day. Now have one in Living and 2nd in bedroom. Yes, it's that good. Installed thru W10 PC, easy breezzy.

Review:
Pros
- Sound quality is superb, not home stereo quality mind you....but pretty damn close. More than enough volume for any home space.
- Great looks. Quality and upscale visually. (graphic black versions)
- Phillips Hue integration usage to control lights thru W10 app - Huetro app, no direct Phillips Hue app for Windows(only Apple/Android). Huetro works well with many options. Am controlling thru Cortana from PC/Invoke/W8.1 phone.
- Cortana experience is same as on PC at this point...still growing, learning, changing. Natural interaction tho.
- Music: Choice of iHeartMusic/Spotifiy/TuneIn Radio for preferred music app. I use iHeartMusic. Able to ask(and play) music by Artist or Genre(pulls up an auto-created Artist station/existing genre station or existing physical radio station). Does not play by song title(unless artist is specified). No experience with Spotify. Asking for News/Headlines brings up an NPR radio staion via TuneIn Radio app). No commercials of Artist stations, but some on physical radio station. All sound quality from various sources is excellent. No static, no cutouts.
- Bluetooth music from W8.1 phone works seamlessly...and sounds great. My W8.1 phone is now a remote at bedside or Living rm armchair. I can specify Living or Bedroom for Bluetooth music play. Bluetooth from PC was hit/miss due to weak range of BT adapter on PC(my bad).
- Cortana interface: No conflicts between Living rm and Bedrm Invoke Cortana interfaces. Note: main W10 PC(with Cortana) is in between those 2 locations. No conflicts. So Cortana voice command recognition is fairly location specific in my experience. Voice recognition easily responds to variety of volume levels of voice in quiet as well as music playing environments. Cortana responds to other Users easily as well(if enabled on PC settings). No random wakeups here.
Cons
- Skill set of Cortana is limited at this time(but I assume will grow over time)
- ummm, that's it

Overall
If nothing else than a Bluetooth speaker, the Invoke is more than worth its value and excels in sound quality and usability. It beats (hands down, by a long shot) anything Amazon or Google has yet to produce sound-wise for a music experience. Add the Cortana/smart speaker/Connected Home abilities and you are living on the cutting edge. The Invoke is NOT just another bookshelf speaker. I bought it for the music but am now expanding for the Connected Home experience. Needless to say I am VERY happy with my Invoke(s).