Amazon Echo Show 8
Is the third generation of the Echo Show 8 Amazon’s best smart display yet?
The Amazon Echo Show range consists of the best smart speakers and the best smart displays you can buy. Since its original launch in 2017, the collection has significantly expanded, with its latest addition, the 3rd generation Echo Show 8, being championed as the best Amazon Alexa smart display yet.
The new Echo Show 8 has a wide and clear 8-inch HD touchscreen. The display is crisp, attractive and is full of helpful icons, information and photos that make the device easier to use. The speakers are situated at the back and have a very rounded design to allow for clearer vocals, bass and audio.
There are a few major differences between the latest Echo Show 8 and previous generations. First, it has an Adaptive Content feature, which senses how close you are to the screen and gives you more useful and engaging content when you’re near it.
The newest Echo Show 8 also features redesigned audio technology that supports spatial audio and provides a wider soundstage. It also has tuning features that assess its surroundings and adjusts its sound depending on the room it’s in.
The 3rd-gen Echo Show 8 can be used in so many ways; as a speaker for music, for controlling your smart home, making shopping lists, looking up recipes, and much more. Not only can you use the Alexa voice control for easier searching and questions, but also scroll on the display’s screen to find other answers and add smart devices to it. The Echo Show 8 can also be used as a smart home hub, as you can pair and control compatible devices to the display with Zigbee, Matter and Thread. This puts all your security cameras, smart bulbs and other smart devices in one place for you to control and customise.
As the audio technology has been redesigned, we tested this by playing different types of music and asking Alexa questions from different parts of the room. When we tried calling to Alexa from another area in an open plan living room, we found it picked up our voices easily, responding at the same volume as our original requests.
As with most Amazon devices, Alexa is the standout feature. The Echo Show 8 is expected to get the new generative AI-driven version of Alexa in 2024, which improves Alexa to be more conversational and easier to talk to. But we found this Alexa to be smooth and chatty, without feeling disjointed or awkward. It rarely didn’t understand what we were asking and we didn’t need to overly explain what we wanted it to do.
The Echo Show 8 is easily the best Amazon smart display on the market to date. Its improved audio is powerful and adaptive, its design is more refined and the 8-inch touchscreen is as responsive and attractive as before. While it hasn’t had huge updates compared to its predecessor, the Echo Show 8 is still an impressive smart display that lets you take more control over your daily life.