I simply use an USB conference speaker/microphone plus the Assist Microphone add-on. (in my case this one from Microsoft, it works great with my RasPi.)
I actually prefer that over the Echo or other embedded devices, as it is able to pick up my voice from further away and the output audio quality is much better. (My use case is something similar to commercial proprietary systems like from Amazon/Google.)
The M5Stack Echo I use on my night stand with push to talk for quick actions, for that it is enough.
Someone on a pogo stick in the backyard? Vertically.
Your pet running around in the backyard? Probably horizontally.
Your friend planking in the backyard? Definitely horizontally. Not at all, get new friends.
Also me: Not sleeping but consuming memes in the middle of the night about a guy not sleeping because he thinks of a fictional guy not sleeping in order to fight crime.