Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Pros:__________ • Very compact and simple design. I like these designs because they can fit in all rooms. Bedroom, Kitchen, and the living room this echo can fit in any location. • It has a large rubber foot that keeps it from shaking around. • Big fan of the black mesh fabric that covers the back of the device. It doesn’t become a finger/dust print magnet. • Extremely simple setup as you do the setup right on the screen (you don’t need to download any app). All you need is Wi-Fi and you’re basically done. • You can set multiple alarms and have them repeat on various days of the week. Change the alarm tone, have the sound gradually increase to get you out of your sleep, and be able to play the music that you want. This a customized alarm system that fits anyone’s needs. • To add more customization, you can make this device a picture frame. You can set a single pic or a slideshow of pics as your background. • I love the privacy. To have a “physical” shutter, to block the camera, is an excellent choice. If I didn’t have this, I would, like every laptop, place some tape in order to block the viewing. It’s very quick to just slide on the shutter. In this day in age, you never know whose watching. It’s the little things, like these, that shows that Amazon knows what we want (sometimes). • There is a button (next to the volume controls) on the device that will allow you to mute the mic. • You can say to Alexa "delete everything I said today" to erase your recorded search history (The little things go a long way). • Even when I block the camera shutter, I can still take calls or talk to Alexa. • The light sensor goes into a nighttime display when the lights are off. Waking up at 3 to check the time was quick and painless to my eyes. The sensor is able to add the appropriate amount of light, depending on how much light is in the room. It’s similar to the auto-brightness we have on our smartphones. • Has a built-in 3.5 mm audio cable which means you can plug this in your home speaker system. I didn’t find the need to test this out because it’s just plugging into another speaker. • Two web browsing options, Firefox and Amazon Silk, but I recommend you stick with Firefox (Found it better in the use with this device). • Like all voice commands, asking Alexa for the weather, make a call, play music, turn on a light (a smart light), and so forth does its job, most of the time (will go into details in the Con section). • Software-wise, I do appreciate that on the screen, if you hit the smart home button, organizes what devices you use frequently. I found this very useful to see what smart devices I use the most (what a shocker that it was the smart lights in my house.) It is useful if you need to quickly turn a specific smart device off. • If you have a thermostat smart device, one cool feature is changing the temperature with the Show 8. I ask Alexa to change the temperature of my thermostat and a slider pops up on the screen, allowing me too automatically to tweak the temperature further. • There is also a button, on the device menu, to turn off everything connected to the Show. • The voice calls come through the Alexa app or through Skype. • Does have Bluetooth. As Sheldon Cooper wisely once said, “Everything is better with Bluetooth.” • The microphone picks up my voice very quickly. This is having the TV on average person volume level and, probably, 20 feet away. • The screen is actually viewable. Having seen the Echo 5 in the past, The Show 8 screen is a huge improvement in viewing videos or getting a glance for quick info (weather, news highlights, time, etc.). • With smart screen layout, I can see this fit for security cams and baby monitors. I have a Ring camera on my door, and this works like a charm if I need to see who at the door. • Saying “Alexa, start my day.” Is a pretty cool experience if you spend the time customizing what you want to see and hear, from Alexa, when getting out of bed, You can have a very modern morning cycle. • Taking and receiving phone calls is a real breeze. I here no static or break in communication when talking to my colleague. Note that I didn’t try WIFI calling international. • To summarize, you have 4 ways of communication: Message, Call, Drop-In, and Announce. • When playing Foo Fighters, the Show 8 does display the lyric alongside the song it’s playing, “The Pretenders.” One word for this, Karaoke! • Good speakers for music coming in the Show 5. It’s loud, which was a little surprising, given the size. Not enough for a house party, but enough for study or cooking time. Cons and Oks:__________ • You can’t watch YouTube videos by using Alexa’s voice command. You have to physically go and type it in the web browser. Google owns YouTube and as of 2019, Amazon and Google are not the best in merging software. A major buzzkill because learning how to do something is what YouTube is made for. • Instead of YouTube, Alexa will bring you to Wiki videos. They’re very basic, not a significant amount in video inventory, and I was only able to access the intro videos. I wanted to know how to bake cookies and I needed to go to the screen and touch the next video for it to play. Wiki videos don’t give you the opportunity to cook “Binging with Babish” videos. • Beware of the advertisement for watching movies and shows. Amazon loves cutting 30% of the screen with advertisements. You need to be prepared for this experience because this is not going away. • Unlike Google’s Nest Hub, when you speak to Alexa, the device will not show you what you said. Alexa has messed up in what I said, yet I don’t know which word that caused the miscommunication. • I want to mention this again, NO SUPPORT FOR ANY GOOGLE SERVICES. To be honest, Google owns the internet (Photos, Drives, Nest Cameras, YouTube, etc.) and with this device, all the basic searches/videos you want require additional steps. • Want mapping directions to go to a place around your city? Stick to google maps on your smartphone because Alexa doesn’t do this. • The camera isn’t anything to brag about. It doesn’t have any advance HDR features, but then again it’s only for video calls. • Web typing on this is miserable. I just stick to my phone if I need to search for something really quick. • The bezel around the screen makes everything look smaller than it is. Its screen size does help reduce the feeling. • No real apps are useful, given the size. • Alexa is no Google Assistant. You have to speak in a specific syntax in order for Alexa to do what you want it to do. With simple demands, Alexa works like a charm. It’s when you start asking random questions that Alexa will say “Sorry, I’m not sure about that,” or something similar. Example: I said "Alexa, show me dog videos" and nothing happens but saying “Alexa, open Prime Video,” it opens right away. Very specific on what you need to say. • No USB port to charge your phone. This Show, to me, is more for public viewing, the center of attention. A USB port would’ve been great not only to charge your phone, but to input pictures, videos, and even recipes into the Show. • When you start getting used to the Show 8, turn off Alexa tips. Having that feature on will clutter the screen by default. You have a small screen and yet the Show 8 wants to put as much as it can on it. • When streaming music from my iPhone to the Show 8 (using Bluetooth) the music isn’t clear as it’s plagued with Bluetooth artifacts. I have to assume this is a software issue, so it may be resolved in the near future updates. Still, I think you should know. • There is some lag on the touch screen. Tapping on a back button I have to wait 2-3 seconds before it follows with my request. • Want to move it around, you need to pay for the viewing angle attachment because you can’t adjust viewing angles without it. • The screen maybe a little too bright when it’s dark in the room. • The Show 8 doesn’t have any Dolby features, which makes the volume for music loud, but not clear. Playing acoustic songs are fine but playing anything other complex songs (Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga) distorts the quality of the song. • There are a lot of steps to just do a simple task. I wanted to pick my preferred source images and had to go through Settings, Home & Clock, Clock, and finally to Personal Photos. A lot of steps for such a simple task. Bottom Line:__________ Of the Echo Show and Echo Show 5, this is the best one out on the market. The two things that make this the best between the three is the screen and the privacy layout. The screen is large enough that watching videos wasn’t a hazel, and the manual buttons for privacy are a must in this day in age. It’s a very nice design and I see this as something you will have in the kitchen of all places. The Show 8 does a lot of decent work, but it also has numerous other features that it isn’t the best at due to software issues. The resolution isn’t mind-blowing, as it’s something to either play music, or even a movie, in the background while you work. This is no replacement for a screen to watch for 2 hours as it’s more for a quick 5 minutes here and there. This is why I see this for the kitchen as it’s a great place to follow cooking videos. Anywhere else I feel it would not be put into use enough to be worth the cost. Also, I advise everyone to take a look at the Google Nest Hub, Lenovo and the rest of the Echo Show smart system. The truth is, for a universal home smart system, this isn’t it. The Google Nest’s software is top of the line in communication and user interface. The Show 8’s main highlights are privacy, video calls, smart house function, and the price. With the price you’re getting it’s a nice system to screen ratio, but if you’re not fully on board in the Amazon world you’ll be restricted in so many ways that sometimes it’ll be quicker to just take out your smartphone. Overall: The best of the three Echo’s, but most useful in the kitchen or at your desk.