Table of Contents
amazon Amazon Echo Show 8 reviews
Amazon’s Echo Show 8 smart display offers a near-perfect balance of price, performance, and size.
Amazon has impressed us with its line of smart displays. The $229.99 second-generation Echo Show has surprisingly powerful sound in a reasonably sized package with a 10-inch display, while Echo Show 5 is less than $89.99. The new Echo Show 8 falls between these models in terms of price, power, and size, and for many, it will be just right. The Show 8 has an 8-inch display and stereo speakers that easily eclipse the Show 5 and come close to the full-size Echo Show. At $129.99, it’s a good deal.
Same performance style
Echo Show 8 looks almost like a smaller form of the standard Echo Show or just a little bigger than an Echo Show 5. All three devices have the same general shape, ebony bezels, and all. The display sits slightly backward, while the back part with a fabric cover has an elegant trapezoidal shape that veils the speaker drivers. The difference lies in size and a few smaller details, such as camera placement (top right corner of Echo Show 5 and 8, center top of Echo Show).
On the top edge of the Echo Show 8, two pinhole microphones are present, with Volume Up/Down and Microphone Mute buttons around them. Above the camera, a mechanical switch slides a cap over the lens for privacy. In the back, the device has a power connector, a micro USB port for service, and a 3.5mm domain screech output.
The Echo Show 8 has an 8-inch touchscreen LCD that’s 1,280 x 800, equal to the larger variant and ten times better than an Echo Show 5’s 5-inch display measured 960 by 480. This display is bright and colorful and is rewarded with two 2.0-inch drivers producing a maximum of 10 watts of power each. Thus, it sounds much closer to the 10-inch Echo Show (two 2.2-inch drivers, 10 watts each) than the Echo Show 5 (one 1.7-inch, 4 watts).
Features of Alexa
Since it is an Amazon Alexa smart display, it shares basic features and functions with all other Echo devices. You simply have to say “Alexa,” follow it with a question or command. Alexa will answer general questions about anything, tell you if it is raining outside, if there is any traffic on your way, what appointments you have for the day, or do your to-do list for you. Alexa can also sing songs for you from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, and Spotify; read audiobooks from Audible; or stream videos from Amazon Video and Hulu.
In case the voice-controlled music services are not your cup of tea, you could use Bluetooth to connect your phone to the Echo Show 8, or you may use the 3.5mm connection to play the music of your preference (no cable included). If there is something else that Alexa cannot help you with, then Show 8 becomes handy by giving you access to your preferred browser, be that Amazon Silk or Firefox.
Alexa also controls smart-home tech of just about any big brand, from Philips Hue lighting to Nest temperature controls and TP-Link smart plugs. Your own recorded security camera or video doorbell live feed can be watched on display, too, with some two-way Mics coming through the speaker.
For other forms of communication, the Echo Show 8 can make calls to most North American phone numbers and make voice or video calls to other Echo devices and Alexa app users through Amazon’s Drop-In service.
Sound performance
The Echo Show 8’s 2.0-inch stereo speakers have a fair amount of power, though they don’t produce quite the same level of thunder as the Echo Show’s larger 2.2-inch drivers. The Show 8’s sound seems to be an inverse of the 10-inch Echo Show, emphasizing the mids rather than the lows and highs.
Our bass test, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” sounded pretty explosive on the Echo Show 8, although it didn’t reach the sub-bass frequencies that caused wall vibrations. Kick drum hits have some force behind them, and while they flirt with puffiness, they don’t distort even at maximum volume.
The opening acoustic guitar riff in Yes’ “Roundabout” sounded full and clear in Show 8, creating plenty of resonance and showing solid string texture. When the track fully starts, the electric bass is strong, and vocals can be heard clearly through the mix. The drivers show a slight weakness in high-frequency response, letting the guitar and hi-hat frequency bands settle further into the mix than is ideal, but it’s still a balanced sound. Flat, energetic can easily fill a small room.
The Crystal Method’s “Born Too Slow” sounded appealing to me on Echo Show 8, with a strong punch from below the lows to the high mids. The drums kept the track moving in mid low and low spectra, while the guitar riffs and vocals managed to cut through the mix. The steam traps sit at the backend of the mix, without that presence of higher frequency, but they remain a frenzy that is true to the track.
Show the time
The Echo Show 8 is in the Goldilocks area of the smart display. It’s much more powerful than the Echo Show 5, and it costs less than half the price of the 10-inch Echo Show. It offers all the smart display features you could ask for in an Echo device, with the sharpest display, and does all of this for a very reasonable $130. The full-size Echo Show is still the most powerful of the three, and the Echo Show 5 is still an ideal bedside alarm clock, but the Echo Show 8 strikes an almost perfect balance between the two.
Advantages
Good price
Powerful sound for its size
Sharp screen
Defect
Bass response and high frequencies need better.
where can you get a Amazon Echo Show 8 online
Echo Show 8 (1st Gen, 2019 release) — HD smart display with Alexa – Unlimited Cloud Photo Storage – Digital Photo Display – Charcoal: Buy it now
All-new Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen, 2021 release) | HD smart display with Alexa and 13 MP camera | Glacier White: Buy it now