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Amazon’s Echo Show smart displays have come a long way since the first generation models. I still remember unboxing the very first Echo Show and thinking that this was some mini-kiosk that you might find at the mall. Once Amazon decided to offer different sizes (there’s now 5-, 8-, 10- and 15-inch Echo Show smart displays), they changed up the design a bit, and it’s mostly stayed the same ever since. Until this year. Amazon has decided to change up the design once again. It’s not a huge design change, to be quite honest, but it is noticeable.
But is a new design enough to get you to buy a new Echo Show this year? Amazon hopes so. But that’s not all that’s new this time around. Amazon has also upped the audio game, including Spatial Audio, added an improved high-resolution display and much more. So let’s see if it is worth the price, in our full review of the Echo Show 8.
Amazon Echo Show 8 Review: Design
As mentioned, the Echo Show 8 looks identical to the previous model, when you look at it straight on. But when you look around the back, that is where you’ll see a few differences from the older model. One of the differences you’ll notice is that the backside is actually smaller than the display. It’s also rounder, so the display kind of sticks out, especially around the corners. It’s an interesting look for the Echo Show 8, and I still can’t decide if I like it not. Mostly because I don’t really see it.
While I’ve been using the new Echo Show 8, it has sat on my desk, so most of the time that I’ve used it, it’s been looking at the display, and not the backside. But the backside is still wrapped in fabric like most of Amazon’s Echo speakers too. Which provides for a really great audio experience here.
There’s a single port on the back for power, which is the same barrel connector that Amazon has used since the beginning. So no USB-C here, unfortunately. On the top of the display, there’s an array of buttons that you can use to control your Echo Show 8. This includes a microphone button so you can turn on or off the always-listening Alexa. There’s a camera shutter in the center, above the camera. So it is physically covering the camera. And then there’s the volume buttons on the right side. Amazon kept it simple here, that’s really all you need as physical buttons.
This is a stunning display
The Display on the new Echo Show third-generation is absolutely stunning. Amazon doesn’t mention the resolution here other than it being “HD”, but it does look better than HD, perhaps it is full HD at 1080p. Either way, this display looks much better than some of the older Echo Show devices. It’s also brighter with better color accuracy, so watching YouTube and Prime Video on this aren’t as bad as it used to be.
Of course, part of this could be the fact that the Echo Show 8 is now edge-to-edge glass, which was not the case before. Amazon has included a camera in the center, which is a 13-megapixel camera. Great for doing video calls with your loved ones and friends, without having to hold your phone the whole time.
With the display looking so great, I just can’t stop looking at my photos and album art from Spotify on it. It looks incredible, and this would be a great photo frame, if you do use Amazon Photos (remember, it is unlimited, unlike Google Photos now).
Improved performance and faster Alexa
One of the big improvements that Amazon made on the Echo Show 8 (third-generation) is a newer processor, that results in faster results from Alexa, as well as a faster experience throughout the smart display. Amazon is not mentioning what processor this is, nor how many cores it is, other than just “improved”. It’s likely still a MediaTek processor, and the performance here is better, but it can still be a bit on the slow side.
Typically, smart displays are quite slow on the performance side, and that’s still the case with the Echo Show 8. Sometimes, tapping through the operating system, like jumping from audio to the smart home section, can take a few more seconds than it should. But the thing here is that you’ll likely very rarely be actually interacting with the display, and mostly just seeing the display.
It would be good to see performance not be a problem on smart displays – as this is not unique to Echo Show. But a lot of the time with these devices, companies believe we’ll use the assistant that’s included more than actually interacting with the display. And companies are trying to cut costs, and put more money into the actual display. It reminds me of Smart TVs actually. With many Smart TVs running operating systems like Android TV, Google TV, Fire TV and even Roku to an extent. They focus more on the display, sound, etc, but don’t put a powerful enough processor inside, so a lot of time the software built-in runs very slowly. But the difference here is that you can’t just plug in a Fire TV Stick 4K Max into the HDMI port (because there isn’t one). So you have to deal with this slower performance.
I still feel like this performance is not a dealbreaker for most people, however. Because, again, most of the time you’ll be interacting with Alexa. And Alexa is indeed much faster than before. Rather than swiping through pages yourself here.
Amazon Echo Show 8 Review: Audio Experience
Surprisingly, the audio experience on this Echo Show 8 has been pretty incredible. Since it is Techtober, I went from using the Sonos Move 2 on my desk for music, to the Echo Show 8, and honestly, I did not notice a huge difference in terms of audio quality. Which is pretty impressive. Now, I will note that I do not typically have music up very loud while I’m working, it’s mostly here for background noise. So that could contribute to it not being a huge difference.
However, I did turn up the volume here on the Echo Show 8, and the audio still sounded really good. You can turn up to about 70% before the audio really starts to suffer. The mids and highs still sound crystal clear, with plenty of bass, below 70% volume. That’s pretty much on par with most other speakers, that aren’t made specifically for audiophiles. So that is good to see.
Want to know how much bass is in this speaker? Well, play a nice bassy song, and put your hand on the back of the Echo Show 8, you can literally feel the bass. So while a lack of bass was a problem with older Echo Show devices, that is not the case here, thankfully.
Finally, Amazon does give you a nice equalizer in the settings that you can use to adjust the bass, mid and treble for the music playing on the Echo Show 8. I’ve kept it at the default levels for most of this review, as I found them to be pretty decent. But I have turned up the bass a tiny bit, since I listen to a lot of bass-heavy music.
Amazon Echo Show 8 Review: Alexa & Software
So the software on the Echo Show 8 is mostly the same. But the home screen has been improved here. Amazon calls it the “all-new home screen experience with Adaptive Content”. This is a new home screen that uses on-device computer vision technology to adjust the on-screen content based on a customer’s proximity to the device.
What does this mean? Well, here’s a good example. Say you asked Alexa for the weather, and you’re across the room? The Echo Show 8 will show (and read) you the weather, but it will be shown larger, so you can read it from across the room. And once you get closer to the Echo Show 8, the weather will change to a smaller look and be more detailed. Since you are now close enough to read all the details now. This is one of those features that just makes so much sense, and it’s one that you don’t even think about.
The Home screen here is mostly the same as on previous Echo Show devices, but one change that Amazon made here that I really like are the shortcuts in the upper-right hand corner. There are now shortcuts for media, smart home, shopping, connecting to another display (like a TV) and the Widget Gallery (to add widgets to your gallery). The shortcuts I use the most are the media and smart home, as that’s mostly what I use a smart display for. It’s just so much faster than swiping down from the top and then tapping on media or smart home. Again, it’s the little things here that make the Echo Show 8 so much nicer to use.
I (and most reviewers) often say not to buy a product today based on promises of features coming later on. But there is a really cool feature coming to the Echo Show 8 later this Fall. Amazon is calling it the “Echo Show 8 Photos Edition” which will unlock a photo-forward mode on Echo Show 8’s high-resolution screen. This new experience will make customer-selected personal photos the primary rotating content on this ambient screen. Users will be able to have photos rotating every 30-seconds and customers also get 25GB of storage from Amazon Photos. Don’t forget that Prime members do already receive free, unlimited high-resolution photo storage, which can be used for this feature.
It definitely sounds like a cool feature, but again we can’t use it just yet because it’s not out yet. We will be updating this review once it is out, and after we’ve had some time to test it out. But it definitely sounds like it could be a killer feature for the Echo Show 8 (third-generation) especially when compared to the competition.
Alexa got a huge upgrade
With the Echo Show 8, Alexa actually got a really nice upgrade this year. The overall experience of Alexa here isn’t really any different. But Alexa can now respond much faster than on the previous Echo Show 8. Amazon says that Alexa can respond about 40% faster for common requests. Amazon lists these as things like turning on a smart light, smart switch or a smart plug. Now while we don’t really have a way to test that out, in our testing this does seem to be accurate. Alexa is now blazing fast when it comes to flipping on the smart lights in my basement or the smart plug used to charge my EV.
Alexa also seems to be a bit faster with other responses, like asking about the weather. Which is really good to see. Especially for those that use Alexa all of the time.
Echo Show 8 can still do the basics
While we talked a lot about the new things that the Echo Show 8 can do, it can still do the basics. Like letting you know when someone is at your door if you have a Ring Video Doorbell. Or alerting you to when your Amazon package(s) have been delivered. You can also watch video on the smart display here, which looks incredible on this high-resolution display. Though, unfortunately, YouTube and YouTube TV are still not supported – they are on Fire TV, so it’s still rather odd. When you open YouTube, it will go to the Amazon Silk browser. And the same goes for YouTube TV. But mostly everything else have their own apps on the Echo Show 8.
Should you buy the Amazon Echo Show 8?
Now for the $149 question, should you buy the Echo Show 8? This depends on a number of things. If you have the second-generation model, definitely not. While there are some nice upgrades here, it’s likely not worth the $149 price. Now if you have the first-generation model, which came out in 2019, it’s very much worth upgrading. After four years, that smart display is likely showing its age, both in the looks and the performance.
Of course, if you wait until the holiday season, Amazon will likely be bundling the new Echo Show 8 with different products. This is something Amazon does quite often, bundling their smart displays with things like an Echo smart speaker, or a smart bulb, or even the Ring Alarm kit. So if you can get the Echo Show 8 for lower than its regular price, it’s definitely worth getting. Especially if you are already invested in the Alexa ecosystem and use it for many things around the house.