Amazon Echo Show The Latest Addition to The Alexa Showcase

Introduction

The Echo range of Amazon has finally got its first device that is equipped with a screen and aids video calling facilities- Amazon Echo Show. It has a 7-inch touchscreen display and also a 5-megapixel front camera which aids in making video calls. This is another new feature for the Echo range of products.

The addition of the display screen in Echo show opens up new avenues for it. You can make audio and video calls to other Echo Show owners or audio calls to anyone who has the Alexa app. The Amazon Echo show is more about the software rather than the hardware.

The name “Echo” itself indicates a device that includes voice control interface of Amazon named Alexa. The launch of the all new Amazon Echo Show was announced on Tuesday, 9th May 2017 and it is scheduled to start shipping towards the end of June.

The Amazon Echo Show looks a little bigger in size as compared to other Echo products. The conventional size of the device means that you have to be more careful about where you place it at your home.

In this article, we are going to review the Amazon Echo Show with everything you wanted to know.

Features

Voice assistance from Alexa that has more than 12000 skills

The display offers real-time song lyrics, album art, custom station, curated playlist and much more

Music display feature that connects to apps like TuneIn, Spotify, IHeartRadio, Pandora etc.

More on-screen information that can be used to play various cooking recipes and other videos, along with weather reports, timers and much more

It aids in conversations between different devices of the same house

Free voice call feature for all those who have the Alexa app or own any of the Echo products

Free video calls to everyone who own the Echo Show

You can sync all your information with the help of Alexa app

You can listen to Amazon music and you will be able to see the lyrics of the song on the screen as it plays on the device. This can be really helpful for karaoke.

News brief from Alexa can be accompanied with a video footage

You can also use this to monitor your kid’s room if you have a compatible camera or device

Technical Specifications

7-inch touchscreen display

Dual stereo speakers of 2 inch each powered by Dolby

5-megapixel front facing camera

Intel Atom X5-Z 8350 processor

8 individual microphones that support voice recognition

Bluetooth-equipped

Wireless connectivity compatible

Alexa app compatible on all Fire, Android and IOS devices

Wi-Fi connectivity with dual-band support

1-year warranty

Weight: 1.17 kg

Dimensions: 7.4*7.4*3.5 inches

Available in two colors: White and Black

Pros:

You can command Alexa to book you a taxi with Uber, order a pizza with Dominos and a lot third party commands like these.

A lot of organizational features are available

Compatible with smart home devices like fans, lights, cameras, sprinklers and more

You can command Alexa to turn off the light, switch on the fan and more without having to get out of the couch

Alexa can also manage calendars, start timers, create a to-do-list and a lot more things

You can request video tutorial from YouTube and it will be displayed on the display screen.

Cons:

Since the display screen is only 7 inches wide, you will have to be near the device if you want to see displayed information properly.

The video calling feature of this device comes as a bonus but again the screen is smaller as compared to its competitors

The Echo Show is a little less subtle in comparison with other Echo products. The basic Echo could be placed in every room where ever you want and it would perfectly fit in at any place. But Echo Show is comparatively a larger device that will need proper placement.

Competitors

Google Home stands as a competition to the Amazon Echo Show. While we compare their functionalities, Google Home is found to be a little richer in its language comprehension. And although it can perform a lot of tasks and serve as a digital assistant, it is not compatible with a lot of Google services.

Save $20 on Google Home Voice-Activated Speaker

Though Amazon Echo Show and Google Home have a lot of identical functions and perform them upright, Echo Show wins the race since it has a display screen, a camera as well as it is Bluetooth compatible. While Google Home is highly capable in a lot of ways but it is not as smooth and functional as Echo Show.

Google Home is better with its media playback facilities but it has to work a long way to get as functional as Echo Show. Right now, Google Home is more of a novelty that can access YouTube, music and cast Chrome for you along with performing all the tasks of a digital personal assistant.

Why Amazon Echo Show

The Echo Show is different from other Amazon products as it is the first product that includes a display screen. The 7-inch display screen makes the device perfect for playing various videos while you are in the kitchen or sitting the baby.

The Amazon Echo Show is a powerful device that is intelligent and versatile in the ways it can be used. It is a smart digital assistant that can help you keep a check on your kids, tell guests your Wi-Fi password, order pizza, make shopping lists, set alarms, answer search queries and so much more.

The number of skills that can be performed by the Alexa app is increasing with each new Echo product being launched. The Echo Show is also equipped with Bluetooth, which was a long awaited feature. This means that if your favorite music app is not supported on the device, you can still stream it via the Bluetooth.

Conclusion

Overall, the Amazon Echo Show seems to be an interesting invention to the Echo range. The combination of the microphones, display screen, and the front facing camera may work quite well for a lot of tasks. Let’s see if it survives the competition among all of the multi-purpose digital assistance products out there. As for the consumers, the competition proves good as the companies strive to improvise their devices.



