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Amazon Echo Show (2nd Generation)

 & Will Greenwald Principal Writer, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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The latest model of the Amazon Alexa-powered Echo Show smart display is a major upgrade over the original, with a larger, more functional touch screen and a much more powerful speaker system.

Front

The front of the 2018 Echo Show is dominated entirely by a 10-inch, 1,280-by-800 touch screen instead of the original's smaller 7-inch screen sharing space with a large speaker grille, and the corners are now rounded instead of harsh edges.

Side

The Echo Show is still a fairly big, chunky piece of plastic measuring 6.7 by 9.7 by 5.0 inches (HWD), with a vaguely triangular cross section and a front face tilted slightly upward.

Top

The top edge of the Show features volume up/down and mute buttons, and four pinholes for the mics.

Camera

The screen is framed with a half-inch glossy black border on the sides and bottom, with the border expanding to an inch on the top to accommodate the 5-megapixel camera and four pinholes for the far-field microphones.

Back

The Show is available in black or white versions (the border around the screen is black on both models), and the entire back of the speaker is covered in the same grille cloth as the Echo speakers.

Alexa

Alexa is still the primary method of controlling the Echo Show, but you can do more with the touch screen with this new version.

Recipes

You can ask Alexa for recipes and watch food preparation videos.

Shopping

Of course, you can shop for products on Amazon, like books, with the Echo Show.

About Our Expert

Will Greenwald

Will Greenwald

Principal Writer, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I’m PCMag’s home theater and AR/VR expert, and your go-to source of information and recommendations for game consoles and accessories, smart displays, smart glasses, smart speakers, soundbars, TVs, and VR headsets. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and THX-certified home theater technician, I've served as a CES Innovation Awards judge, and while Bandai hasn’t officially certified me, I’m also proficient at building Gundam plastic models up to MG-class. I also enjoy genre fiction writing, and my urban fantasy novel, Alex Norton, Paranormal Technical Support, is currently available on Amazon.

The Technology I Use

Where to start? I have a standard IT-issued Lenovo Thinkpad for writing and editing, supplemented with an iPad Air and an 8Bitdo Retro Keyboard when I want to write on the go. I also have a Lenovo Legion Go as a platform for running Portrait Displays’ Calman software and controlling the Klein K-10A colorimeter, Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Leo Bodnar 4K Video Signal Lag Tester I use for testing TVs. 

For gaming, I use a Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X, and a GeForce 5080-equipped MSI gaming laptop. I like collecting retro games as well, and have an Analogue Pocket and a ton of classic consoles and portables. Photography is another interest, and I use a Sony A7 IV when I’m shooting products and events, and a Fujifilm X-Pro3 for my own attempts at visual creativity. And for reading and writing, I’ve become partial to the Kobo Sage for books and the ReMarkable 2 with Type Folio.

When it comes to phones and tablets, I’m pretty platform-agnostic. I use a Google Pixel 8 for my phone and an iPad Air for a tablet. Android, iOS, and iPadOS are all totally fine, but I need a Windows PC. MacOS just isn’t for me.

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