Amazon Echo Show Review: 5 Pros and 3 Cons

Amazon’s latest Echo Show smart displays have arrived, designed specifically for the new AI-driven Alexa Plus experience available in the United States. After spending a few days testing them, it’s clear these models bring meaningful upgrades over their predecessors, with sleeker designs, more responsive screens, and faster performance thanks to the new AZ3 Pro processor. They are positioned as central hubs for any modern smart home setup, though the continued presence of full-screen ads may temper enthusiasm for some users.

Both the Echo Show 8, priced at $179.99, and the Echo Show 11, at $219.99, share many core features. The main difference lies in screen size: the Show 8 has an 8.7-inch HD display, while the Show 11 offers a larger 10.95-inch full HD touchscreen. If you frequently view Ring camera feeds, stream Prime Video, or rely on the calendar, the extra screen real estate of the Show 11 is worth the investment. For simpler tasks like music control, smart home management, or checking the weather, the Show 8 is perfectly adequate.

Internally, both devices are equipped with the same oblong speaker base, wrapped in 3D knit fabric and housing a 2.8-inch woofer and dual full-range drivers, delivering identical audio quality. They run Amazon’s new Vega OS and include a 13MP camera. Connectivity options are robust, with support for Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth, Thread, Matter, and Zigbee. Enhanced presence detection is provided through Wi-Fi sensing, ultrasound sensors, and built-in temperature sensors, which can activate Alexa Routines automatically.

Better hardware

The new Echo Shows feature a clear, crisp display and a much more refined physical design. The fabric-wrapped speaker and thin, floating screen mark a noticeable departure from the bulkier earlier models like the third-gen Show 8 or the bezel-heavy Show 15. Amazon has successfully combined a responsive touch interface with improved audio, making these devices excellent for both voice commands and touch interaction.

Touch responsiveness has been significantly improved, not quite matching a smartphone or tablet, but coming much closer. This makes navigating music, smart home controls, and other content far smoother. The color-matched fabric-wrapped cables are another nice touch, lying flat against surfaces and lending a more polished look compared to the mismatched cables of older models.

Better listeners

Previous Echo Show models sometimes struggled with voice recognition, responding from the wrong room or device. The new Shows, however, consistently recognized my voice commands even with other Alexa devices nearby. This is a major step forward for usability.

During setup in the US, users can opt into Alexa Plus, which offers a more conversational and capable assistant. One standout feature is the ability to issue multiple commands without repeating the wake word, especially useful in the kitchen. While it’s convenient, I did notice the listening window between commands is still fairly short, cutting out after about 15 seconds.

Better software

Echo Shows have historically emphasized voice control, but the new interface, also rolling out to older devices, makes touch interaction far more intuitive, almost tablet-like. A small menu button in the top left corner replaces the old swipe-down gesture, providing easier access to brightness, camera, Do Not Disturb, and other settings.

The updated music interface is a welcome change, with five scrollable tabs for music, ambient sounds, podcasts, and audiobooks. Controlling audio across multiple speakers is now simpler, and the calendar layout is more readable, offering day, week, and month views. The Alexa Plus import feature lets you email events or upload flyers through the app to automatically populate your calendar, similar to a feature found on the Skylight Calendar. Note that this only works with personal Google accounts.

Smarter smart home dashboard

Accessing the smart home dashboard is now easier, just two taps or a voice command. It smoothly navigates between rooms, cameras, and device groups like lights and locks. While I’d prefer a full-screen option, the home screen does offer a limited smart home widget. Widgets still feel somewhat large and clunky, but Amazon has announced a new customizable widget that will display Ring camera feeds, device statuses, and contextual updates, something I look forward to testing.

Better video integration

For Ring camera owners, the new Shows deliver enhanced video features. You can view multiple live streams at once, access any camera feed directly, and see all feeds together in the Smart Home dashboard. Video quality is sharper on the Show 11 thanks to its higher resolution.

Ring Premium subscribers can use AI-powered video search, asking Alexa to show specific moments, like every time the cat appeared on the porch today. Amazon is also developing custom alerts and a Home Highlights feature, which will summarize home activity and notify you of “Missed Habits,” such as forgetting to take out the trash. These sound incredibly useful, though they are not yet available.

Three things I don’t like

Neither model includes a physical camera shutter. Instead, a mute button above the volume controls disables both the camera and microphone. While the slim bezel is a plus, the lack of a physical shutter is a privacy concern for some.

The new TV & Video screen looks appealing but is quite limited. Only Prime Video and Fire TV channels are native apps; other services like YouTube or HBO open in a web browser. It’s disappointing that Amazon didn’t make the Show 8 and Show 11 full Fire TV devices like the Show 15 and 21.

Finally, Amazon confirmed that both new models will display full-screen ads between content. This detracts from the premium feel of the hardware and may frustrate users looking for a seamless smart display experience.

Overall, these new Echo Shows are the most capable, and most conflicted, devices in the lineup so far. A full review will follow, but early impressions highlight both impressive upgrades and a few notable drawbacks.

(Source: The Verge)