Alexa Built-in Phones: What's the difference between Hands-Free and Push-to-Talk?

Best answer: Alexa Built-in Phones with Hands-Free Alexa allow you to access the assistant at any time by just saying "Alexa." With Push-to-Talk phones, Alexa is accessed by double-pressing the power button.

• Hands-Free: OnePlus 8 (opens in new tab) ($700 at Amazon)
• Push-to-Talk: Moto One Action (opens in new tab) ($200 at Amazon)

Hands-Free phones are the easiest way to use Alexa

If you go to buy an Alexa Built-in Phone, you'll notice that there are two types available — Hands-Free and Push-to-Talk. Both make it easy to access Alexa on your phone, but how you do so is a little different.

The first of those does just what you'd expect. If you want to talk to Alexa on a Hands-Free Alexa Built-in Phone, just say "Alexa" similar to how you would with an Echo. The phone will hear your command, whether the screen is on or off, and Alexa will start listening to whatever you have to say.

There are a few different Hands-Free phones available, including:

• OnePlus 8 (opens in new tab)
• OnePlus 8 Pro (opens in new tab)
• LG G8 (opens in new tab)
• LG V35 (opens in new tab)
• Moto G7 (opens in new tab)
• Moto G6 (opens in new tab)
• Moto Z4 (opens in new tab)
• Sony Xperia 1 (opens in new tab)

Push-to-Talk is like an Alexa walkie-talkie

Alternatively, Alexa Built-in Phones also come with a Push-to-Talk option. Rather than accessing Alexa by just saying the "Alexa" hot word, you'll need to double-press the power button.

This isn't quite as cool as the Hands-Free method and means you'll need to be holding your phone to use Alexa, but even so, it's still faster than unlocking your device and tapping the Alexa app like you'd have to do on a non-Alexa phone.

Push-to-Talk phones are cheaper than the Hands-Free ones, and consist of the following:

• LG Stylo 5 (opens in new tab)
• Moto G7 Power (opens in new tab)
• Moto G7 Play (opens in new tab)
• Motorola One Action (opens in new tab)