Amazon.com is now officially selling its Dash Button for $4.99. For now, the Dash Buttons are in limited stocks and are only available to Amazon Prime members.

If you’re not familiar with Dash Button, it is a device that has a single button that allows consumers to order their favorite product with a push of a button.

What you need to know

How it works

To set it up, you need the Amazon app on your smartphone so the Dash Button can connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network. It should be noted that each button represents a specific brand. If you like a particular product of a certain brand, using the smartphone app, you can set the Dash Button to order that particular product every time the button is pushed.

After setup, a single push of the button will automatically place your order. Amazon then sends you a notification on your phone to confirm your order. This step prevents accidental ordering of supplies.

Another thing to note is that the Dash Button only responds to the first press until the order has been delivered, unless the user takes action so that succeeding presses will also be placed and ordered.

How to set up

First, make sure your smartphone and Dash Button are in close proximity, as it uses ultrasonic tones to sync with your iPhone and Wi-Fi to sync with your Android phone.

You can set up your Dash Button using the web by going to www.amazon.com/dashbuttonsetup on your mobile browser or with the use of the Amazon app on your iOS, Android or Fire smartphone. Run the app and tap on the Menu icon, tap Your Account, and then under Dash Devices select Manage devices > Set up a new Dash Button.

Sign in to your Amazon account and enter your password. If you’re using an iPhone and Touch ID is enabled, you can use this to quickly sign in to your Amazon account. After signing in, tap Get started. To connect it your home’s Wi-Fi, press the button until the LED blinks blue, and then release the button. Your phone will disconnect to the Wi-Fi network and connect to the Dash Button.  Select the available Wi-Fi network, enter the password if your network is password protected or select No if no password is required. Then tap Continue. You have the option to save your Wi-Fi’s password so that you don’t have to enter it again when you need to set up a new or replacement Dash Button. Tap Continue.

If using an iPhone, place the Dash Button near the bottom of the device so the button can receive the ultrasonic tone needed to complete the setup process. For Android, you may be prompted to disable the Avoid poor connections setting on your Android phone before you can continue. Some Android phones may call this setting Smart Network Switch or Auto Network Switch.

The next step will be choosing the product that you want to re-order when you press the Dash Button and then confirming your 1-click shipping and payment information. You can see the full set up tutorial here.

After set up is complete, you can now stick the Dash Button where it will be easily accessible to you. The Dash Button has a reusable sticky backside that can be easily mounted and pealed. When it gets dirty, you can refresh its stickiness by peeling off the adhesive, washing with soapy water, rinsing and then letting it air dry. It should be noted that frequent washing could lead to loss of adhesiveness.

You could also hang the Dash Button, but the accessory for this is not yet available.

Available buttons

Currently, there are 18 Dash Buttons to choose from:

1. Tide
2. Bounty
3. Cottonelle
4. Glad Bags
5. Gatorade
6. Huggies
7. Smartwater
8. Larabar
9. Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
10. Amazon Elements Baby Wipes
11. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
12. Wellness Petfood
13. Izze
14. Maxwell House Coffee
15. Olay
16. Gerber Formula
17. L’Oreal Youth Code
18. Gillette

One button can only order one specific product from the brand. For instance, if you order the L’Oreal Youth Code, you need to choose your favorite cream, serum or lotion from the list so that when you hit that button, it will automatically place the order for that specific item.

Do you need one?

Do you need a button that orders things off the Internet for you? This all comes down to whether you need to order something frequently and you’re so busy that pushing a button is what you need to make your life easier. This may apply to parents with a newborn baby who need an unlimited supply of diapers, or if you have a toddler and feel you can’t have enough disinfecting wipes. Otherwise, you could do without it, but you can’t deny that having a button that does some of the shopping for you is a quite cool.

If you think Dash Button is limiting, as you can only set it to order one product, then you might be interested in the Amazon Dash, a product Amazon is working on that works similar to the Dash Button but on more products.

Image source: Amazon.com