Amazon’s latest Echo Show 5 Alexa smart display is smaller, cheaper and has improved privacy, but is a £79.99 5.5in screen with a camera ready to replace your alarm clock in the bedroom?

The Show 5 isn’t the first Alexa smart display aimed at being your bedside clock. The Echo Spot, with its pleasingly round screen and ball-like shape, was released in 2018 and is still available for £120.

While the Show 5 is not cute like the Spot, its rectangular shape makes it more practical for displaying content, even if it takes up a third more horizontal space on your bedside table.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Echo Show 5, on the right, next to the bigger 10.1 Echo Show and smaller Echo Spot. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The new Alexa display looks like Amazon’s 10.1in Echo Show hit with a shrink ray, replete with a fabric-covered back that is reminiscent of pre-flatscreen tube televisions. On the back, there’s a 3.5mm headphones socket for connecting an external speaker, a power socket and a microUSB socket. The 5.5in screen isn’t HD and has large bezels around the sides, but it is bright and crisp enough for across-the-room viewing.

Photos and information panels look great, but you won’t want to watch too much video because the screen is just a bit too small for anything serious. A quick instructional video is fine, but TV and movies are a hard watch. Most smartphones now have bigger screens than the Show 5.

Privacy shutter

Along the top there’s a mute button that turns off the mic and camera, volume buttons and, in a first for Amazon, there’s a physical slider that both covers and electrically disconnects the included 720p camera. Apart from testing video calls, I closed the shutter and forgot about it. In a place like the bedroom, having that physical shield across the lens gives you reassurance that no one can watch you without your knowledge – something the Spot lacked. Even with the camera covered there are still the privacy implications of having something that can listen to you in the bedroom, even if it’s only for the wakeword, which really comes down to how much you trust Amazon.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A white dot appears covering the camera when you slide the shutter across. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The speakers on the Show 5 are a vast improvement in volume, bass response and clarity compared with all of Amazon’s smallest Echoes. I was genuinely surprised by how good it sounded. It still can’t hold a candle to a good speaker, or even the much larger Echo Show, but Alexa sounds really good and I enjoyed listening to music on it.

Given it’s an Alexa smart display, the Show 5 can do all the things every other Amazon display or smart speaker can – set timers, answer questions, give you the weather, news and videos, display your calendar, and act as a digital photo frame, plus all the third-party skills such as listening to Guardian headlines.

New for the Show 5 are tweaks to how alarms work. You can set your usual alarms for anything, but for those for between 4am and 9am you can also get the display to gradually brighten to simulate a sunrise. Banging the top of the Show 5 when an alarm goes off snoozes it, but unfortunately you can’t dismiss an alarm entirely with your strikes.

I found the sunrise feature wasn’t bright enough to do anything useful for my particular routine. It was already lighter in my bedroom than the Show 5 was ever going to make it, but those who sleep in total darkness might appreciate it.

During the day you can set your choice from a variety of analogue and digital clock and background styles, including your selection of personal photos. At night the display can be set to switch to a dedicated “night mode” either on a schedule or when it’s dark, switching the screen to a dim red clock on a black background reminiscent of 90s alarm clocks.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Amazon’s recently added slide out quick access panel makes getting to commonly used functions faster, if you don’t want to use your voice. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Also included on the Show 5 is a pop-out panel that gives quick access to messaging, recently played music, Amazon Video, alarms, Alexa routines and your smart home devices, as well as a load of suggestions for things you can do with Alexa.

Swipe in from the right on any screen to access it, allowing you to quickly switch off lights in groups or individually, for example. Alexa routines allow you to perform several actions when you say a keyword, or using the panel, tap a button. The standard ones are “good night” to switch everything off, and “good morning” to announce what’s on your calendar, the news and other bits.

Observations

If you don’t quite manage to swipe upwards on the display far enough to dismiss an alarm you end up snoozing it, which is really irritating.

The quick access panel is responsive, but there’s a noticeable delay when you tap into one of the sections.

Swipe down from the top to access brightness control, activate the “do not disturb” mode, get to the settings app, go to the home screen or view the currently playing music .

You can choose from a few wakewords, including non-gendered ones such as “Echo”, but the voice is always female, which is a shame.

Price

The Amazon Echo Show 5 costs £79.99 in white or black.

For comparison, the Echo Show costs £219.99, the Echo Spot costs £119.99, the Google Nest Hub costs £119 and the Lenovo Smart Clock costs £79.99.

Verdict

The Echo Show 5 is the Echo Dot of smart displays. It’s smaller, cheaper and does most of the things you want from a smart display. But like the Echo Dot, when you try to use it more for entertainment it begins to fall down.

You can watch videos on it, but you won’t want to for long because of the tiny screen. If you stick to alarms, information and smart home control the Show 5 excels for £80, or likely less in one of Amazon’s frequent sales. And that’s the point of the Show 5 – the cheapest full smart display going that gets the best out of Alexa.

If you feel comfortable having an Alexa smart speaker in your bedroom, amid perceived privacy concerns, and you want a screen for a clock, then the £80 or less Show 5 is the logical choice.

The Echo Spot is smaller and cuter, but the Show 5’s camera cover and easier smart home control have earned it a place on my bedside table.

Pros: relatively compact, sounds good, Alexa, good smart home control, 3.5mm output, extra clock and alarm features, relatively low cost

Cons: too small to watch long videos, fairly big on your bedside table, large bezels around screen, screen isn’t HD, can’t stand vertically

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The camera shutter button on the left next to the line of volume and mute buttons. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

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