Amazon.co.uk:Customer reviews: Echo Show 8 (1st Gen, 2019 release) – Smart Display with Alexa – Stay in touch with the help of Alexa

Top positive review

This is the one! Buy it now!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2019

I uploaded some videos to youtube a few days ago, just search for beemandev
Comparing to Show5:- Show 8 doesn’t have any clock selections or full screen clock + is brighter than Show 5, so may not be as suited to bedroom. I have a fix for this on a youtube video. Uses about 5 watts vs 3w with dim screen+music, double that for max brightness & volume. 10w stereo speaker with sound coming out sides vs 4w mono with sound coming from below front on the 5. Neither can play higher than 480p on Youtube (via Firefox) without stutter.

Plex works but transcodes h265 and ALAC, though the MT8163 chip (same as latest fire tablet 9th gen) can natively decode h265 so probably needs Plex TLC... Plays h264@1080p and flac audio native. Using Plex web interface on touch screen via Firefox is awkward, a bit buggy and a little bit sluggish. Worked a bit better on Silk Browser, but very usable. Use http;//192.168.etc for local plex access (needs http prefix).

I’d buy Show8 over 5, even for bedroom as currently only £10 difference (Black Friday) cos of better speaker BUT if 5 was 2/3 price of 8 then would probably get 5 for bedroom, 8 for kitchen, especially if audio quality in bedroom no biggie. Was already using Echo Dots but Show 8 = great upgrade. Show 5 audio quality similar to dot, maybe marginally lower. Amazon low stock now, try Argos.

In summary, definitely buy one (or three), the more I use it the more I like it. I’d like to see o/s tweaks to align 8 with 5, much lower minimum brightness on Show 8 and large power jack sticking out back makes wall placement more awkward. But 10/10 from me. Good enough audio, good enough screen for kitchen & bedrooms at great price. In lounge you likely use tv+speakers so could just use an echo input or dot unless you want camera or a convenient touchscreen jukebox.

Show8 = Fire OS 6.5.3.5 (NS6535/2348)
Show5 = Fire OS 6.5.3.5 (NS6535/2348)
Same versions but menus are slightly different.

483 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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C. Smith

Not the Echo Show we deserve (Amazon please listen to your customers!)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 November 2019

After over 2 years since the first Echo Show was released we get a new device with a shiny new exterior and a bigger and better screen. And that unfortunately is as much new and exciting about this product as I can say. The software, and all of the frustrations that have fallen on deaf ears, remains the same. The home screen is still mostly just a big useless empty space, unless you want to switch on the news and updates that are hand-picked by Amazon to remind you constantly to ask Alexa to try something you either already know about or have no interest in. The so called ‘news’ items bear no resemblance to real world news and why can’t we have the date on the screen – they added it to the Show 5 – why not this? The option to display weather, reminders and upcoming calendar events is quite useful but like everything else on this device it is presented in a very basic way – in fact as the screen constantly scrolls through these sections you are left wondering why can’t I just have it all on the one home page, along with other questions such as why doesn’t my calendar display the location of the event or the end time and why can’t I link my Big Sky Skill to the home page?
I’ll admit that some people will love this device for its ability to connect to security cameras and to make video calls but I think for most people its quicker just to get up and answer the door and the phone is sufficient for calling friends and family (also for my kids at least Skype has been replaced by either Face Time or WhatsApp). Music has always been the Echo’s biggest plus point across all devices, but here again it’s a very hit and miss experience in terms of the screen application. I used to be an Amazon music subscriber but switched to Apple as I found Amazon’s library limited – they also have a habit of removing tracks and albums from playlists and they decided to remove the best feature of being able to upload tracks not available in their library. That aside the price I pay for not being loyal to Amazon’s music service is that the Echo Show won’t show me my Apple playlists and it won’t display lyrics. Same restrictions for Video also – I do have a Prime account but I don’t really want to watch films and boxsets while pottering about in my kitchen – I want to have background TV on. It is possible to watch BBC iplayer on the browser but none of it is well executed and it offers no voice control. I have tried streaming freeview TV from other web sites and I can watch the likes of ITV and Channel 4 but only for 5 minutes, after which time the browser times-out and returns to the home screen. I can restart the browser but that’s not really ideal. I logged this issue 2 years ago and was told it was being looked into - I logged it again this week and got told the same thing – I am not holding my breadth and I can only assume Amazon are deliberately choosing when the screen times out and when it doesn’t to help increase their Prime subscribers. Netflix and Sky Q would be nice but I think we can assume that will never happen but some kind of Freeview skill is surely possible – they have a Freeview skill on the Fire TV stick so why not on the Show? We do get You Tube but despite Amazon and Google apparently patching up their difference we still have a basic looking version that sits in the browser. It is possible to open You Tube with voice and you can search with voice by clicking on the search option first and then clicking on ‘Return’ to action the search – all very clunky and half-baked.
Some functions I do like which take advantage of the screen are the ability to view and display my photos (via my Amazon Prime account), I can also search images online but unfortunately it uses Bing (despite setting the browser search engine as Google) – it doesn’t always work (try ‘show images of Ellen Page’ and you get images of pages). This is also frustrating as Amazon signed a major deal with Getty Images but these only appear occasionally which feels like a missed opportunity. The online video recipes and how-to’s is also good but you quickly find limitations with what it has to offer – a decent cooking skill is needed although a proper YouTube skill would fix that. I do also like the ability to search and watch music videos (but again You Tube skill could do that and better). I also like being able to view movie times and trailers and the TV Guide skill is probably one of my most and only used skills (but of course you can’t link that to any ability to watch the current TV programme – in fact 99.99% of all skills are useless – Amazon used to promote skills enhanced for the Show – they don’t do that anymore which tells you everything you need to know. And that is the main issue here - for a device that is supposed to be all about the screen there is just so little it does well. Here is just a few other examples of things I feel are missed opportunities:-
- Most radio players on Show wont disaply the track that is playing (but it will tell you if you ask)
- There is no enhanced skill to browse and play Podcasts
- Amazon Music will show your playlists but it doesn’t understand “show me new albums” or “show me the most popular albums” or “show me <genre> albums”
- Most people use screens to interact with e-mail or Social Media but other than the flaky browser there is zero voice activated skills linked to social media or e-mail accounts
- Online banking skills are non-existent
- IMDB is owned by Amazon and doesn’t feature as a fully-fledged skill
-Twitch is owned by Amazon but is not available for UK customers
-You can view and buy products on Amazon but you cannot read reviews of those products
-You can get an address of a hotel or restaurant but you cannot view it on a map, you can’t get detailed directions and you can’t read reviews
This is not a small device and for me to have such a large screen doing so little seems a waste of space on my kitchen counter - I also didn’t appreciate the power cable taking up almost an inch of extra depth at the back which limits placement against a wall – how hard would it have been to make it angled or flush? I have returned it for the Show 5 which has a decent speaker, gives me today's date and shows me my timers or album artwork – that’s all I need because that’s pretty much all the Show offers me that is useful. Maybe one day Amazon will get it right and make a Show the majority of customers want and need but at the moment there seems to be very little desire from Amazon to do that and judging by the instant price drop on the 8 they are only really interested in signing up new Prime subscribers.

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From United Kingdom

Rob

No Clock Choice?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 November 2019

Colour Name: Charcoal FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

I bought the Echo 8, as an alarm, and wanted a bigger screen to see the time during the night, but the clock face is only available on the smaller Echo 5. I got it in the Black Friday sale for £59. I’m in a dilemma, i don’t know whether to send it back, or hope Amazon updates the Echo with new software that would mirror the Echo 5.

836 people found this helpful

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Shane Farringdon

Ok device but not same as show 5

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2019

Colour Name: Charcoal FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

I pre ordered this device after asking on Amazon forum and getting a reply from an Amazon rep that the show 8 will do the same as the show 5 only bigger screen, i wanted the large face clock with date and ideally the day. but as the show 5 i would settle for a large clock and date in middle of the screen .. But after paying double the BF price i found it was a lie the show 8 is not the same as the show 5 far from it.. So if you are looking for a large clock face then don't buy this ..

388 people found this helpful

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Tomas Nagy

Let down so far - definitely capable of more

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 November 2019

Colour Name: Charcoal FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

I ordered the Show8 as i wanted a second Show device (after owning a Show5 already) - but it's a definite let down so far... on the Show5 you can have the clock full screen - with date & current temperature, but on the Show8 (with the waay bigger screen) you only get a small clock at the bottom - no customization, no extra info... unbelievable - but unfortunately true... not sure if Amazon was in a rush to release this product, but there is a lot of space for improvements :-( as is now - would recommend to go for the Show5 instead

22 people found this helpful

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Kevin

Alexa "Tips" can not be turned off.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 December 2019

Colour Name: Charcoal FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

Has potential but held back by the current software. One rather annoying feature is that tips from Alexa can not be switched off, which ends up taking up a lot of the screen. Essentially making it a pointless endeavour to use the echo show as a picture frame. At least be transparent and show in the pictures on the website, how the screen actually looks when using the echo as a photo frame. It is not just the photo on the screen as is being reflected in the photo's of the product.

Speaker are though a good step up from the echo dot though.

16 people found this helpful

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Angie Mee

Disappointed with the device

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 December 2019

Colour Name: Charcoal FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

I’m so far disappointed with this device . I can’t really understand what you do with it . I talk to it the same as with Alexa but expect it to show more . I asked it to ‘show’ amazon prime and nothing happened it’s difficult to get to home and there’s no real instructions of the skills . Purchased in Black Friday sale and glad didn’t pay full price but will reserve further judgement until used more if of course anything works!

17 people found this helpful

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Very disappointing functionality.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 December 2019

Colour Name: Charcoal FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

I bought this following my very good experience of the Echo 5, used by my bedside. The 8 seemed perfect for adding to my study for immediate access to both information and video. What I did not expect was the decrease in functionality by comparison with the 5. In particular, I have significantly fewer options for the home display and seem to have to put up with continually changing "Alexa, try..." recommendations at the bottom of the screen. The absence of a facility to show the date or change the clock display is a huge step backwards. I'm hoping that when Amazon relise that they've blundered in this way, focusing on display and sound quality, whilst losing sight of functionality, that the ywill rapidly upload software updates.

11 people found this helpful

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Forestwalker

Dispointing. Sent back as don't see the point.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2020

Colour Name: Sandstone FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

Finally received my Echo Show 8 after ordering a month ago. Out of the box it looked bulky and heavy (1.5Kg). On powering it up I was confused at how limited it was. I was expecting something like an Amazon Fire with speakers on the back ie a full tablet you could do anything you can with an android device. It has certain features you would expect, Spotify, Amazon Prime, a browser, YouTube (a very manual affair) even some streaming channels, very few of which work in the UK, apart from Sky and BBC news but it isn't a complete 21st century hands free display device. It doesn't forinstance have Netflix or Spotify videos that accompany a song these days. Listening to a radio station or music just puts up a logo or album cover.
In short this does not give you anything more than your existing Amazon's Echoes do, and a phone or better still a Tablet. I have sent mine back as I just couldn't see the poin of it. I have 4 Echoes, a phone, an Amazon Fire and a tablet. Why would I want a device that isn't as good as any of these?

8 people found this helpful

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R. Law

Can't recommend this for Audible books.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 August 2021

Colour Name: Charcoal FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

tl;dr Audible software is very buggy, crashes quite often. Controls are hidden with echo suggestions, timeouts occur far too quickly, controls present on android app version are absent. This makes the echo show 8 sub-par as an audible device.

We have a few standard echos in the house, and a show 5 which is used to listen to the radio. I wanted an echo mostly to play audible, and hoped that like the PC or android app, a screen echo would allow functionality akin to the app. I found this not to be the case.

To start with, the play/pause button is hidden behind the stupid pointless echo suggestions that needs an extra tap to remove, with no option to turn them off (suggestions return 3 seconds later). Pause only leaves the audible page up for one minute before reverting to home page or miscellaneous adverts, requiring a vocal command to return the book. This vocal command can usually be 'play' but sometimes if the delay has been too long, requires "play book' as it can't remember what was playing.

There are no visual speed controls on the show 8 audible screen, and voice commands only allow 25% adjustments. The android app allows me to adjust speed 5% at a time, which is very useful for fine tuning.

The software has a few really annoying bugs. There are 'back/forward 30 second' buttons, but I have to hesitate each time I press one to make sure it has adjusted and continued, as pressing again too quickly just crashes the playback, typically also forgetting my place and returning a few minutes behind. Vocal commands to jump back or forward by a set time do still work.

A few times near a chapter change, pause will register as a 'chapter forward' instead. I have no clue why, as i don't belive there is any chapter skip button. I find pausing at the end/start of a chapter is something I do quite often, and hearing it jumping to the next chapter instead of pausing is very annoying.

Occasionally it will forget that a book is playing, even with the screen up. Asking it to pause or play will answer with denials there is anything playing. Sometimes requesting it play the book again will sort this, sometimes playing something else will correct this, sometimes I have to power it down to reset.

Often it will drop the audible page even while playing, so I have to vocalise it to play what it's already playing to show me the screen. The arrow down doesn't show me what's playing unless it is within one minute of the pause, when the screen is still up anyway.

Syncing with other devices is patchy at best. This is often a feature of audible between devices. it does seem worse with echo show than my pc <-> phone is.

Trying to play some audible content is impossible, such as free podcast stories. This is a problem sometimes with PC or android versions too, but again is worse on the echo show. It is more noticeable with temporarily free content, I think because audible doesn't add these properly to the library.

The few great features are the chapter bar, which allows clicking back and forth for time jumps, and being able to view your audible library visually, which is much better than trying vocalise a book title or author. Sound quality seems fine, and loud enough.

In short, I wish I had bought a basic android tablet, perhaps with a bluetooth speaker. This is utter rubbish, and there doesn't seem to be any focus on improving it. Perhaps thats why they bring out new devices every year or two, to sort out these bugs. I won't buy another to find out.

2 people found this helpful

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Stevews

Not as good as the first generation

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2020

Colour Name: Charcoal FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

I had the first generation which has a much superior speaker, sound and better recognition.

The 4 microphones on this version are placed on top of the device whereas the microphones on my previous version are placed at the front. This makes a really big difference in picking up the wake word, in my case it’s still “Alexa”. My previous version picked up the wake word easily and from a further distance with background noise whereas this version struggles to pick up the wake word even without background noise.

The speakers on this version are poor quality compared to the first generation, especially when the volume is turned up.

The only reason I kept this 8” version was because it looked more discrete next to the bed and the screen isn’t as bright at night, which I prefer.

I just wish they wouldn’t drop the quality of new products. It’s misleading too because you believe they improve the specifications with new releases but in this case they haven’t. It’s like going backwards.

5 people found this helpful

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Pab272

Rubbish

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 March 2020

Colour Name: Sandstone FabricStyle Name: Echo Show 8Verified Purchase

Very disappointing. I have two Echo Show 5's and several of the Echo Dots 3rd gen and none of them. Not one of them miss hears me as much as the Echo Show 8. I wouldn't mind even with a raised voice it still gets things wrong. Just now I asked it to turn The Den light off... I said this as I was in a room I call the den. Anyway the reply came. Sorry but lamp isn't responding.... What?!?!? How can you confuse "The Den Light" with "Lamp?"
Oh and this happens frequently and with other family members too so its not just me with a weird accent of anything.

The screen colours are bland and argh it's just so mediocre. Frustrating at times too. Save your pennies and go for the show 5 instead.

Ive had Echos since they first launched and in varies forms. But this is the worst by a country mile.

6 people found this helpful

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