What’s better than a smart speaker? A smart speaker with a screen, of course. Smart displays offer the best of both worlds, allowing you to interact with your voice just like you do with a smart speaker, or listen to your favorite music. However, with a smart display, you can also watch movies, make video calls, or just display your family photos on a loop.
Smart displays also make excellent smart home hubs, allowing you to control smart home devices, but also add useful features, such as the ability to see a live feed from your smart video doorbell when someone rings the bell. Amazon was the company that brought the smart speaker into the mainstream, so it’s no surprise that the company has an excellent range of smart displays, too.
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There are four different size options to choose from; the Echo Show 5, Echo Show 8, Echo Show 10, and Echo Show 15. As you can probably guess, the numbers refer to the approximate sizes of the screens, in inches. With so many options to choose from, which Echo Show is the right choice for your needs? We took a closer look at each of the models to find the ultimate winner of the title of Best Echo Show.
Best Echo Show devices: Our top choices
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, 2023)
1. Best Echo Show overall
Fresh design and the latest connectivity
The latest Echo Show 8 boosts connectivity to make it even better as a smart home hub, while the new design makes it more attractive and it even offers improved audio quality.
- Great design
- Boosted audio performance
- Fully connected
- Same overall experience as other devices
The latest generation of the Echo Show 8 shifts up the design with a mesh-covered rear that’s nicely sculpted, with spatial audio and adaptive sound that will adjust based on the room it’s placed in. The sound quality is a definite improvement, with the device offering robust performance.
Amazon Echo Show 8: Fresh new looks, same Alexa experience
Hitting that sweet spot between size and functionality, the Echo Show 8 is a tempting choice for those with an Alexa smart home.
There’s also an adaptive display feature that will detect how far away the user is and adjust the information density on the display to make it easier to read from across the room. For smart homes, Amazon has added Zigbee support, allowing you to control Zigbee devices from the Echo Show 8 without the need for any additional dongles.
There’s also support for Matter, Sidewalk, and Bluetooth, so the Echo Show 8 makes a good smart home hub, allowing you to control the vast majority of your smart home gadgets using Alexa. In terms of overall sizing, price, and performance, the latest Echo Show 8 is the model we’d recommend for most people.
Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen)
2. Best Echo Show for big rooms
The sound quality is robust
The Echo Show 10 offers great sound quality, while the motion-controlled display makes for a great video-calling experience. It’s accomplished, but it’s expensive, and a little odd looking.
- Best sound quality
- Motion-controlled display
- Display resolution
- Expensive
The Echo Show 10 is slightly quirky, with a rounded base upon which a display is mounted. The screen can rotate, so it’s ideal for placing it in the center of a room, like your kitchen. The advantage here is that when used for video calling, it can track you around the room, so you’re not limited to staying in one place.
Amazon Echo Show 10: Spin doctor
This Echo Show features a rotating base feature so it can follow you during calls. But it’s far pricier than other Show devices, so is it worth it?
As you walk around, the screen, and the camera, will follow you, so you’re always in shot. We’ve found this excellent for video calling, meaning you can make that call while doing something else without being limited to staying in one spot. The Echo Show 10 also has the best speaker performance of all the Echo Show models. This will make music and video sound better, but also brings the price up.
The large base and screen also take up a fair amount of worktop space, and you’ll need to leave a bit of headroom for the screen to rotate. The Echo Show 10 (3rd generation) also comes with Zigbee built in, so it’s another great smart home hub option.
Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen)
3. Best Echo Show for bedrooms
This compact Show is great for smaller spaces
Fully updated, the new Echo Show 5 offers a refined design and boosted sound over the 2021 model, but it’s still compact and affordable.
- Compact display
- Great for the bedside
The Echo Show 5 is the smallest of the Echo Show models, and this means it’s also the most affordable. Now in its third generation, with the most recent model featuring a refined design and improved audio quality, so it’s a little better looking and sounding than it was before. The display is small, so you don’t get the advantages you do from larger Echo Show models.
Amazon Echo Show 5 (2021): Alexa for your bedside
Amazon’s smallest smart display gets an update, but who should buy the Echo Show 5?
It’s not a device that you’re likely to want to watch an entire movie on, with a screen that’s smaller than some phones. It’s just about big enough for video calling, although the experience isn’t as good as on the larger models. As an Echo device for a desk or small room, the Echo Show 5 is a decent choice.
It’s also a good option for your nightstand, although it doesn’t offer a huge number of useful features for nighttime use. Still, it’s an affordable route into Echo Show ownership and, despite the lack of Zigbee support, can still be an effective hub for controlling many smart home devices.
Amazon Echo Show 15
4. Best Echo Show for wall-mounting
Slimline for minimal intrusion
The biggest Echo Show is designed for wall mounting and offers Fire TV functions — but it’s expensive, and the sound quality isn’t very good.
- Flat for wall mounting
- Fire TV functions
- Poor sound quality
- Expensive
The Echo Show 15 is unique in Amazon’s lineup. It has the largest display of all Echo Show models at 15.6 inches and was designed to be wall-mounted, freeing your surfaces. There’s also a camera that will track you, as well as recognize family members to customize the display experience based on who is looking at the screen.
Amazon Echo Show 15: Untapped potential
Amazon’s biggest Echo Show boosts the screen size and begs to be wall-mounted. But is it actually any good?
Fire TV is built-in, so it makes a decent small TV for somewhere like a kitchen. However, the sound quality is not great, especially compared to the Echo Show 8 and Show 10. The flat design is also a little less user-friendly than the other models.
It’s fine for mounting onto walls, but it’s not that great for interacting with. And while you might expect it to make an excellent control panel for your smart home, it’s surprisingly limited in this role. If you’re looking for a wall-mounted hub for your smart home, you’re probably better off waiting for the upcoming Echo Hub. For the price, the Echo Show 15 doesn’t make the most of its promise.
Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen)
5. Best Echo Show for less
Older model means lower prices
The Echo Show 8 offers a great compromise between size and price. You get a decent display and good sound quality, but it’s not too large. This model has now been replaced.
- Pan and zoom camera
- Good sound quality
- Some Alexa Skills could be better
- It’s been replaced by a newer model
If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to dip your toes in the waters of the Echo Show, then you might want to consider looking at one of the older models. The second-generation Echo Show 8 is still available to buy, and since it’s been superseded by the third-generation Echo Show 8, it can be found at significantly lower prices.
Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen): Follow you, follow me
The second-generation Echo Show 8 is the best bang for your buck Alexa device with a display. It’s got a much improved camera this time too.
The Echo Show 8 sits in the middle of the Echo Show family, offering a decent-sized display and good sound quality, so it makes a solid choice if the newest Echo Show models feel a little too expensive. There are some significant differences between the second- and third-generation Echo Show 8 models.
You can read an in-depth comparison of the Echo Show 8 (3rd gen) vs Echo Show 8 (2nd gen) but the big takeaways are that the third-gen model has better sound, built-in Zigbee support, and a faster processor. However, the 2nd gen model is still a good smart display for the price.
The bottom line: Which is the best Echo Show?
The third-generation Echo Show 8 is our pick for the best option for most people. It hits the sweet spot in terms of price and features, makes a great smart home hub thanks to Zigbee support, and has decent sound and performance. What’s more, it combines everything in a package that’s not so large that it will dominate a room or eat up worktop space, but can still fill a room with music.
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, 2023)
Editor’s Choice
$105 $150 Save $45
The best Echo Show for most people, the Show 8 combines performance, value for money, and functions in a compact package.
If you’re looking for something a little larger, the Echo Show 10 is a great choice, although you’ll need a reasonable amount of room for it. The even larger Echo Show 15 may take up less space, but it’s let down by its sound quality. For a work desk or nightstand, the Echo Show 5 is a solid performer.
What functions and software do Echo Show models have in common?
All the Echo Show models offer the same basic set of skills. They take the Alexa experience and make it visual. For example, when you ask for the weather, you’ll be able to see that on the display, or when you ask about something, you’ll get supporting imagery. It’s more useful for things like recipes as you can have them displayed for you, while the ability to view things like home security cameras is an added benefit.
All the Echo Show models allow you to stream movies, but the Echo Show 15 goes a step further, offering a Fire TV experience and allowing you to pair the Alexa Voice Remote to control it. All the Echo Show models also offer Alexa Calling and related functions, such as Drop In while supporting some other video calling apps, too.
The Echo Show 15 offers a little more flexibility with the larger display, but the Show 10 and Show 8 aren’t too different. The Show 10 provides an integrated Zigbee hub, while the old Show 8, 10 and 5 are all Matter compatible. The latest Echo Show 8 (3 gen) also has Zigbee support, making it a great smart home controller.
Echo Show smart displays — specifications compared
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Amazon Echo Show 15 Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, 2023) Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) Chipset Amlogic Pop1 with AZ2 Neural Edge MediaTek 8183 with AZ1 Neural Edge Octa-Core SoC with Amazon AZ2 Neural Network Engine MediaTek MT 8169 B MediaTek MT 8183 Display 15.6in touchscreen 10.1in rotating touchscreen 8in 1280 x 800 5.5in touchscreen 8in, 1280 x 800 Sound 2x 1.6in speakers 2x 2in tweeter, 1x 3in woofer 2 x 2in driver with passive bass radiator 1.75in speaker 2 x 2.0in driver with passive bass radiator Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Matter Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Matter Bluetooth, Zigbee, Matter, BLE Mesh, Sidewalk Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Matter Bluetooth, Matter, BLE Mesh Dimensions 402 x 252 x 35mm, 2215g 251 x 230 x 172mm, 2560g 200 x 139 x 106mm, 1034g 147 x 91 x 82mm, 456g 200.4 x 135.9 x 99.1mm, 1037g Camera 5MP with physical shutter 13MP 13MP with privacy shutter 2MP camera with built-in shutter 13MP with privacy shutter Integrations Amazon Alexa Amazon Alexa Amazon Alexa Amazon Alexa Amazon Alexa
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