What does it do?
- Stay connected to family and social networks, and keep up to date with what’s happening in your are
- Enjoy meaningful activities tailored to your like listening to audio books and music playlists, or challenge Alexa to a game
- Control smart home devices just by speaking. Say things like:
- "Alexa, what time is is?"
- "Alexa, what's the weather like in Glasgow?"
- "Alexa, read my book."
- "Alexa, play radio 4."
- "Alexa, tell me a joke."
- Drop in on trusted family and friends to have a conversation, just by saying, for example, "Alexa, drop in on Jennifer."
- Create shopping lists and reminders to help you keep on top of things
This version of the Echo has a screen so that you can also see content. You can watch things like music videos, TV shows, the news headlines and view recipes.
What’s the problem?
- You want an easy way to find information, but don't want to, or don't know how to use a computer or tablet
- You want to stay connected to your family but find using the phone difficult
- You want an easy way to listen to the radio, music or audiobooks
- You want to be able to set timer and reminders
- You want to see things on screen to reinforce what you hear
- You want to be able to keep in touch with friends and family, and see as well as speak to them
Manufacturer: Amazon
Approximate cost: £220
What to search for to buy online: amazon echo show
What I liked
**This review is from A. Kirkwood
The voice recognition is very intuitive and easy to use, the screen provides a visual aid and the sound quality is great. Alexa always brings a smile with her witty answers.
What I disliked
When you set it up, you have to enter a mobile phone number. Dad doesn't have one, and I put in mine. Alexa then imported all my contacts automatically and I had no option to delete contacts. All my contacts are irrelevant to my dad.
What is interesting
Dad first question for Alexa was 'who invented quantum mechanics?' He was impressed Alexa knew the answer and although he never really warmed to her, he found the Echo Show a useful device.
We set up reminders to switch the gas fire off every evening, and we used the video calling feature a few times.
What I thought about it overall
We only used the Echo Show marginally as dad is already feeling slightly overwhelmed with products we installed in his house in the last year, but it's an incredibly useful product.
We set reminders, we created calendar events which would appear and remind him of his appointments. We used it as a conversation starter and as a entertaining tool.
It's relatively easy to set up, but to get the most out of it, it requires a little reading and setting up eg, linking it with various apps etc.
Having a small Echo dot too, we can see that the visual aid given by the Echo Show is very helpful. Furthermore, the sound quality is much clearer and deeper so easier to understand. If you take advantage of all its functionalities, it's definitely worth its cost.