One of the biggest complaints for the previous gen was the terrible microphone. So, to remedy this they placed another mic....on the back. Why not a forward facing mic? Considering it's a visual device, one would assume most people would be facing and looking directly at the show when speaking. Also, I really wish they would allow us to hide the Amazon Silk browser address bar. Considering how small the screen is, every little bit counts, especially when it takes up 1/8th of the screen.
I wish Apple would put out something like this. Of course it would be at least 600 dollars but it would sound good. All kidding aside, Amazon hasn’t impressed me in a long time and I am good with Apple and Google. Great review as always.
Great update, will put it on my Christmas list to replace my first gem Show 5 as its playing a bit these days, screen goes funny. Only lives on my bedside table for clock and alarm functions and I use Alexa for the smarthome stuff.
I've had this for a week, bought 2 of them for bedroom clocks for the wife and I. Cameras were a surprise, so, wasn't a fan of that right away. The software is buggy and organized in a way that feels completely disconnected from a user perspective. The alarm sounds can only be previewed by the app, which is a huge annoyance and the tap to snooze is non functional on both, even after multiple factory resets and restarts. Smart home features seem solid, but with the to many to list negatives I'm just not a fan, giving the Nest hub a whirl since we used the Lenovo clocks loaded with good a few years back. Solid review though.
@@AutomateYourLife I grabbed the Nest hubs and its night and day, everything just works. Amazon does very little these days that seems to work consistently. Already got automations setup and rolling across the house and best of all no issues.
Not interested in any Echo that does not have a line out jack to feed an amp and better speakers. Have tried using bluetooth and just can't depend on continuous connectivity with any Echo model. The volume based EQ changes are also quite concerning. Those plus no big advancement in the automation dashboard features makes this version an easy one to ignore.
@@AutomateYourLife I would be OK with that if Amazon would provide a reasonable alternative, such as a way to play through Sonos but still display lyrics and cover art on the controlling Echo Show. Or a version of the Echo Studio with both Hi-Fi and a screen for lyrics and Home Automation dashboards.
@@AutomateYourLife thank you so much. Echo show 8 gen 3 is costly 😊. On Amazon Uk , echo show 8 gen 2 is around 20 euros more than echo show 5 3rd gen. These two are in my budget. Thanks again
Echo show 5 is good for drop in calls on elderly family members since they don't hands to push any buttons on the screen. Literally the only reason I bought one
While you are testing, test it against the Wyze V3 camera. The 2nd gen is not as good as the 1st gen Show 5/8. When we send an action command to view the camera either with in the wild voice or an Alexa routine, it seldom comes up on the 2nd gen. As a matter of fact, very seldom. but try the same on the 1st gen 5 or 8, works 75% of the time. Let's see what 3rd gen does? Please....
That's a new method of bringing up those cameras that was supposed to have improved everything. I wonder if Wyze is experiencing overloading again. Interesting, but I can't test any differences Obi Juan! I don't have the old ones anymore. My Wyze cams do come up fine though...I did test that!
Hey there. Bought one of those but having problem access smart home. Everytime I press it it says "sorry I'm having trouble accessing your Smart home dashboard skill right now" literally tried everything from unregistered to hard reset. It's connect to the same network but still nothing happens. Any light on how to fix that please?
I would try just factory resetting the Echo Show 5. Start again because something seems off about your update. Then try to do a full update from the settings menu. Good luck!
Cheers! To be honest, I've tried and done it a couple of times and still nothing and even amazon support are able to help me. Instead they're just sending a new one but was still wondering how I could fix it
Amazon doesn't give much in terms of upgrades or improvements. There are always trade offs. They have enough time and money to make a decent show from the outset. A total rip off and disappointment all round.
It usually take a bit to find out the true upgrades tucked away inside, but I don't see a lot of opportunity for that in this one. The AZ2 will help going forward
Thanks, Brian. You did a good job reviewing another of Amazon"s "meh" products. How long has it been since they've had a truly interesting new product? A lot of us still have their stuff, though, as they help round out a HA or Homekit or SmartThings home with routines that tend to work rather well.
Thanks Hugh! The last product I liked was the Halo lineup but they just killed all of that! Don't get me wrong, this is still a great device and 5 years ago we would have been blown away. This is just what happens when we become spoiled! 🤣🤣🤣
@@CoverWunTBI was hoping it was portable as well. It fits the bill as my "alarm clock with bells and whistles" but I was hoping it was portable so I could use it in the kitchen. Not a deal breaker though. I get what the company wants consumers to do ...buy more devices for other areas of the house.b
Would you Mz help me get my echo show(5) to respond when I ask it a question? I have unplugged and restarted it and the clock and weather comes up on it and it’s connected to wifi???🙏🏾
My hope is maybe they improved the clock in night mode so that maybe I can read it with my glasses off. The second gen one is unreadable, so I need to have a second clock sitting there like an old console TV with a new one sitting on top of it. Ghetto!
The blue clock I show is pretty clear and nice Brad. Using that one could be what you're looking for. But I feel like that would be available on the older gen display too.
Too bad Alexa went from decent to borderline useless. Even my kids don't want to use it as most of the responses are now completely meaningless, and half the time it doesn't even understand what you are asking - even though before the same/similar questions resulted in decent responses. In my home office I have "Hey Siri", "Hey Google" and "Alexa/echo" sitting next to each other and have to balance between which one is useful for what task. Alexa nowadays is pretty much the "egg timer" ... and getting shipping notifications from Amazon.
I am not sure an Echo Show 5 is that good for the bedroom from a privacy perspective. Given Amazon have in the past released footage from cameras in ways we may not want them to, havign a camera in the bedroom is not that brilliant. Sure, it has a shutter, but then you are buying a device with a camera that is always disabled.... I use a Nest Hub in the bedroom for that reason. No camera. Setting that aside, considering everything, the echo show 5 appears to be something looking good, but with disappointing performance on release. I hope Amazon can fix the issues with firmware, but it seems like maybe they have an underpowered device.
You always have such a good read on this stuff Brendan! I agree, I like the lack of camera option so it might be nice for Amazon to provide that in an Echo Show at some point. I'd probably lean more into it personally then.
@@AutomateYourLife so not so good as a baby monitor then as you'd want to view the baby at night....ah the search continues. Maybe a Google cam and home hub
I still think all of the echo shows are good products, we are probably just a little bit spoiled these days so sometimes our reviews are expecting too much. So in general, yeah!
I am not happy with the way the screen is split into two halves on this device, it is very strange having one half blue and the other half green, I have tried to reset this many times to try to get rid of this, but not found a way to do it. Is anyone else having this problem? I think I will be sending mine back.
Now I'm not saying that story is fake, but honestly...one article and Louis saying it's real. All stuff that could be faked to Louis or even to the person writing the article. Let's wait for a bit more evidence or admission before damning the world hey?
Sounds like crap. too much distortion. Is it ad free? Amazon is not my type of product if I can't have my privacy. I will wait for a better device. To me, anything hand held should have wireless charging.
Ad-free is a tricky statement. It says "try this" every so often, but otherwise everything can be gotten rid of in terms of ads. I have a few ways up my sleeve to get rid of that last thing too, but I need to do some testing.
I do consultations, but they're paid! If you wanna do a paid consult then head to the automateyourlife.net site. But I still answer all questions here so it's probably not needed
Haha, been reading comments all day how people are throwing their echo shows in the bin. Ever since amazon made forced ads (echo ads turned off) a reality a few months ago. Goodluck when you find out you brought an ad server. 😅
The only thing stuck rotating on this is the "try this" function. Everything else goes away easily. And the photo frame feature gets rid of it all. I'll be able to make a video out of all that anger and unwillingness to play with settings.
@@AutomateYourLife These stories I read were pretty convincing. I will leave it up to you to prove their complaints otherwise. I hit 110 devices this week and over 300 scenes. Running smoothly on a 50/20 vdhl X20DSL with two Deco X20 voice nodes
@@AutomateYourLife Ads creep in two in particular, question of the day and Jeopardy. Even my Echo 10 is beginning to show Ads. Having photo frame is a choice but why should I give up rotating screen and lose the info it gives? I hate to agree with a Turd 😂
One of the biggest complaints for the previous gen was the terrible microphone. So, to remedy this they placed another mic....on the back. Why not a forward facing mic? Considering it's a visual device, one would assume most people would be facing and looking directly at the show when speaking.
Also, I really wish they would allow us to hide the Amazon Silk browser address bar. Considering how small the screen is, every little bit counts, especially when it takes up 1/8th of the screen.
I like both of those suggestions!
Totally agree on silk integrating an autohide tab bar, I have a 4kfirestick, and Silk and its giant tab is a total pia.
Condenser mics typically pick up too much sound so their placement isn't likely the issue, it's the quality of the noise filtration or lack of.
Picked up a couple of these to replace the clocks in the bedroom. They were only something like $40 and came with a smart bulb as well.
If you're happy, I'm happy!
Where did you find them at that price ?
@@vee8599 Amazon. It was some special they had with the bulb.
I wish Apple would put out something like this. Of course it would be at least 600 dollars but it would sound good. All kidding aside, Amazon hasn’t impressed me in a long time and I am good with Apple and Google. Great review as always.
Thanks! Also, it would be $3500...US! 🤣
@@AutomateYourLife So true. Price means nothing to Apple after that price drop.
Great Review!
Looking forward to use this as my new smart alarm lock 👍
Enjoy it so much!
Great update, will put it on my Christmas list to replace my first gem Show 5 as its playing a bit these days, screen goes funny. Only lives on my bedside table for clock and alarm functions and I use Alexa for the smarthome stuff.
Hope you enjoy it!
I've had this for a week, bought 2 of them for bedroom clocks for the wife and I. Cameras were a surprise, so, wasn't a fan of that right away. The software is buggy and organized in a way that feels completely disconnected from a user perspective. The alarm sounds can only be previewed by the app, which is a huge annoyance and the tap to snooze is non functional on both, even after multiple factory resets and restarts. Smart home features seem solid, but with the to many to list negatives I'm just not a fan, giving the Nest hub a whirl since we used the Lenovo clocks loaded with good a few years back. Solid review though.
You'll probably like a lot of the Nest Hub 👍
@@AutomateYourLife I grabbed the Nest hubs and its night and day, everything just works. Amazon does very little these days that seems to work consistently. Already got automations setup and rolling across the house and best of all no issues.
Not interested in any Echo that does not have a line out jack to feed an amp and better speakers. Have tried using bluetooth and just can't depend on continuous connectivity with any Echo model. The volume based EQ changes are also quite concerning. Those plus no big advancement in the automation dashboard features makes this version an easy one to ignore.
Sadly, I'm not sure the 3.5mm is coming back again... :(
@@AutomateYourLife I would be OK with that if Amazon would provide a reasonable alternative, such as a way to play through Sonos but still display lyrics and cover art on the controlling Echo Show. Or a version of the Echo Studio with both Hi-Fi and a screen for lyrics and Home Automation dashboards.
Audio input in output is needed.
Thanks for great video😊. Which one do you suggest echo show 5 3rd generation OR echo show 8 2nd generation. Thank you again
Get the new 8 3rd gen now :)
@@AutomateYourLife thank you so much. Echo show 8 gen 3 is costly 😊. On Amazon Uk , echo show 8 gen 2 is around 20 euros more than echo show 5 3rd gen. These two are in my budget. Thanks again
Echo show 5 is good for drop in calls on elderly family members since they don't hands to push any buttons on the screen. Literally the only reason I bought one
Yep! And all the shows let you do that. :)
While you are testing, test it against the Wyze V3 camera. The 2nd gen is not as good as the 1st gen Show 5/8. When we send an action command to view the camera either with in the wild voice or an Alexa routine, it seldom comes up on the 2nd gen. As a matter of fact, very seldom. but try the same on the 1st gen 5 or 8, works 75% of the time.
Let's see what 3rd gen does? Please....
That's a new method of bringing up those cameras that was supposed to have improved everything. I wonder if Wyze is experiencing overloading again. Interesting, but I can't test any differences Obi Juan! I don't have the old ones anymore.
My Wyze cams do come up fine though...I did test that!
adding to wish list... waiting for prime day...
Enjoy!
For someone who’s never had an echo am I doing wrong bu getting this as my first one? Or should I look into a better device?
There’s nothing wrong with it! I like the 8 a little better, but if you need a bedside clock with some smarts, this is great
I just got this device and it's awful. Definitely get something better
Hey there. Bought one of those but having problem access smart home. Everytime I press it it says "sorry I'm having trouble accessing your Smart home dashboard skill right now" literally tried everything from unregistered to hard reset. It's connect to the same network but still nothing happens. Any light on how to fix that please?
I would try just factory resetting the Echo Show 5. Start again because something seems off about your update. Then try to do a full update from the settings menu. Good luck!
Cheers! To be honest, I've tried and done it a couple of times and still nothing and even amazon support are able to help me. Instead they're just sending a new one but was still wondering how I could fix it
Amazon doesn't give much in terms of upgrades or improvements. There are always trade offs. They have enough time and money to make a decent show from the outset. A total rip off and disappointment all round.
It usually take a bit to find out the true upgrades tucked away inside, but I don't see a lot of opportunity for that in this one. The AZ2 will help going forward
Thanks, Brian. You did a good job reviewing another of Amazon"s "meh" products. How long has it been since they've had a truly interesting new product? A lot of us still have their stuff, though, as they help round out a HA or Homekit or SmartThings home with routines that tend to work rather well.
Thanks Hugh! The last product I liked was the Halo lineup but they just killed all of that!
Don't get me wrong, this is still a great device and 5 years ago we would have been blown away. This is just what happens when we become spoiled! 🤣🤣🤣
Idk why they wouldn’t come out with more updates for the echo show 8 as I haven’t had any new updates for awhile
We can all dream together Zach. I get the feeling Amazon is cooking up a few things for us on that front.
This might be a dumb question. But does the show 5 have to remain plugged in all the time for it to work?
Yep it does!
@@AutomateYourLife that sucks. It feels like it’s something portable. 😂
@@CoverWunTBI was hoping it was portable as well. It fits the bill as my "alarm clock with bells and whistles" but I was hoping it was portable so I could use it in the kitchen. Not a deal breaker though. I get what the company wants consumers to do ...buy more devices for other areas of the house.b
I'm trading in all my echos to put towards a Vision Pro!
You'll need about 100! 🤣🤣🤣
Would you Mz help me get my echo show(5) to respond when I ask it a question? I have unplugged and restarted it and the clock and weather comes up on it and it’s connected to wifi???🙏🏾
I think you should talk to Amazon support. Just make sure the microphone isn't muted
My hope is maybe they improved the clock in night mode so that maybe I can read it with my glasses off. The second gen one is unreadable, so I need to have a second clock sitting there like an old console TV with a new one sitting on top of it. Ghetto!
The blue clock I show is pretty clear and nice Brad. Using that one could be what you're looking for. But I feel like that would be available on the older gen display too.
Do you have any thoughts on Amazon locking people out of their homes with no proof of wrong doing?
I think they'll ruin their whole brand if they do it again. Dumb move
The amount of ads Amazon pushes in these echo show devices is insane.
You can really tone it down with settings.
Too bad Alexa went from decent to borderline useless.
Even my kids don't want to use it as most of the responses are now completely meaningless, and half the time it doesn't even understand what you are asking - even though before the same/similar questions resulted in decent responses.
In my home office I have "Hey Siri", "Hey Google" and "Alexa/echo" sitting next to each other and have to balance between which one is useful for what task.
Alexa nowadays is pretty much the "egg timer" ... and getting shipping notifications from Amazon.
They all have to make some improvements, and fast
Just ask Alexa to fart. That’s all she’s consistently good at 😂💚
Thanks Brian.👍🏻
Thank you sir!😃
I am not sure an Echo Show 5 is that good for the bedroom from a privacy perspective. Given Amazon have in the past released footage from cameras in ways we may not want them to, havign a camera in the bedroom is not that brilliant. Sure, it has a shutter, but then you are buying a device with a camera that is always disabled.... I use a Nest Hub in the bedroom for that reason. No camera.
Setting that aside, considering everything, the echo show 5 appears to be something looking good, but with disappointing performance on release. I hope Amazon can fix the issues with firmware, but it seems like maybe they have an underpowered device.
You always have such a good read on this stuff Brendan! I agree, I like the lack of camera option so it might be nice for Amazon to provide that in an Echo Show at some point. I'd probably lean more into it personally then.
Your paranoid, nobody is taking hidden pics of yourself. Because If you use a smartphone, then they already know everything about you!
My brother in-law is looking for a baby monitor and camera. I would really like to get him the latest test would you suggest this and a camera?
Just get 2 Echo Show 8's. Big enough screen to look, and good enough camera to see things in the baby's room.
@@AutomateYourLife Should note that the room has to be lit to use camera as there is no infrared illumination. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this.)
@@fyom true! There's no infrared!
Here you go ruclips.net/video/xKJPlS8IihU/видео.html
@@AutomateYourLife so not so good as a baby monitor then as you'd want to view the baby at night....ah the search continues. Maybe a Google cam and home hub
I had the first generation a while back but sold it. I’m wondering if I should jump back in and get one for the kitchen….🤔
I still think all of the echo shows are good products, we are probably just a little bit spoiled these days so sometimes our reviews are expecting too much. So in general, yeah!
Thank you
Thank you for watching!
I am not happy with the way the screen is split into two halves on this device, it is very strange having one half blue and the other half green,
I have tried to reset this many times to try to get rid of this, but not found a way to do it. Is anyone else having this problem?
I think I will be sending mine back.
It sounds broken!
No Zoom? No point in upgrading as far as I am concerned!
Nothing announced specifically around that, but it's been so back and forth with zoom anyways
No netflix on the 3rd gen, correct?
Correct. It’s trash I’m returning mine
Can I watch Spotify podcasts on this and connect Bluetooth headphones?
I don't believe so actually. That's a tougher one.
Won't upgrade just because of one reason, the 3.5mm audio output is gone.
Sad that those have gone :(
i like the new buttons so you can feel them in the dark . everything else is meh
So you bought 6?
Use headphones. ... is echo 5 screen a little small ... bedside echo 8 still a better size. ?????
I'd almost always take an Echo Show 8, but...bedside the Echo Show 5 is probably the right size.
amazon is crap after Louis Rossmann's detail of the services cancelation after a lying employee.
Now I'm not saying that story is fake, but honestly...one article and Louis saying it's real. All stuff that could be faked to Louis or even to the person writing the article. Let's wait for a bit more evidence or admission before damning the world hey?
From the reviews (which aren't very good) i wouldn't buy the 3rd version. I'm ok with my 1st gen echo 5.
There are some minor upgrades going from 1 - 3, but if you're happy...I'm happy!
@@AutomateYourLife Yes i'm ok with mine. I have a google max 10" 1st gen which i also use. Plus my laptop lol
You’re too cool. Subscribed.
I am not super cool 😎🤣
Too bad playing video doesn't work. It just crashes and closes the video
This thing is so disappointing
That's a weird bug. Maybe talk to Amazon. They play videos just fine normally
Sounds like crap. too much distortion. Is it ad free? Amazon is not my type of product if I can't have my privacy. I will wait for a better device. To me, anything hand held should have wireless charging.
Ad-free is a tricky statement. It says "try this" every so often, but otherwise everything can be gotten rid of in terms of ads. I have a few ways up my sleeve to get rid of that last thing too, but I need to do some testing.
I get it, don't buy!
You do you!
Brian I need your help for my smart home. Can you please give me a way to contact you and not here? Somewhere private.
I do consultations, but they're paid! If you wanna do a paid consult then head to the automateyourlife.net site. But I still answer all questions here so it's probably not needed
Haha, been reading comments all day how people are throwing their echo shows in the bin. Ever since amazon made forced ads (echo ads turned off) a reality a few months ago. Goodluck when you find out you brought an ad server. 😅
The only thing stuck rotating on this is the "try this" function. Everything else goes away easily.
And the photo frame feature gets rid of it all. I'll be able to make a video out of all that anger and unwillingness to play with settings.
@@AutomateYourLife These stories I read were pretty convincing. I will leave it up to you to prove their complaints otherwise. I hit 110 devices this week and over 300 scenes. Running smoothly on a 50/20 vdhl X20DSL with two Deco X20 voice nodes
@@AutomateYourLife Ads creep in two in particular, question of the day and Jeopardy. Even my Echo 10 is beginning to show Ads. Having photo frame is a choice but why should I give up rotating screen and lose the info it gives? I hate to agree with a Turd 😂
@@turboturd7954 woof! That's a lot man! Good job!
@@ThanksForTheLaugh that's exactly the trade off I've found too. I'm gonna try and break it all though. I have an idea for that
I’m contemplating buying my son one for his birthday. He’s been asking for one, so I appreciate your review. Very USEFUL 🫶🏻👌🏻👍🏻💚
Thanks Angela! Good luck!