Echo Show 8 (1st Gen, 2019 release) -- HD smart display with Alexa – stay connected with video calling - Sandstone

This is my first Echo device. Had already set up several skills on the Alexa app before the Echo Show 8 arrived, so I was ready for it; and had my expectations already set as to the quality of the response to the voice commands. If you are considering entering the Echo 'echo-system' and are on the fence about getting one of these, try downloading the Alexa app to your phone or tablet and try it out. On the phone app (iPhone and iPad in my case), a button push activates Alexa; with the Show 8, just say her name and she starts listening.Some of the Alexa skills still need some work, and your satisfaction with them may vary. But for the Show 8, it's great! The speakers sound better than I expected (actually are pretty awesome compared to the Show's size) and will fill the room with sound. The Show 8 has an external speaker jack on the back, but I don't see ever using it - the internal speakers are THAT good - can feel the bass from the speakers vibrating the kitchen countertop. With the speakers in the rear, having it backed up close to a wall provides the best sound projection and quality. A similar concept to some higher end Bose speakers, which have rear-firing elements that are designed to reflect the sound off of a wall and provide more ambience.When music is played, the lyrics scroll on the screen, so you can sing along (if your housemates and dog can stand it). Even when playing at a higher volume level, I can still get Alexa's attention but it may take more than one attempt. The microphones are quite sensitive and will pick me up from another room as long as there is not much background noise. The Show 8 also has Bluetooth, so you can pair it with a phone, laptop or other device and play music through the Show 8's speakers. I do this frequently since the Show 8's speakers sound much better than the internal phone or laptop speakers. I did notice a bit of a delay in watching a video on the laptop, and then the audio coming out of the Show 8. It just may be an artifact of using Bluetooth to send the audio.Rather than the recommended stand (or no stand), I purchased the "Echo Show 8 Adjustable Aluminum Swivel Stand" also sold on Amazon (you can see my review of the stand on that page). A stand is recommended to allow you to position the Show 8 at an optimum viewing angle.I also purchased several of the Meross Wifi smart plugs (also sold on Amazon). Have them programmed to link with Alexa so I can give one command (such as "Alexa, turn on Christmas Lights") and ALL the plugs in the Christmas group turn on at the same time. Pretty cool! Once Christmas is over, the plugs will be assigned other duties.The Show 8 can browse the web. There is a Firefox skill that will allow you to open a web browser. And if you don't like tapping letters on the screen, you can pair a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse (see photo). If you have an HP printer, it can be linked to the Show 8 to print grocery lists or stuff you find on the internet.Not a deal-killer for me, but can't seem to be able to disable the "Try Alexa <blah blah blah>" on the bottom of the home screen. You CAN disable the skills cycling with other topics in the center of the screen as another reviewer noted. I have the Show 8 in my kitchen; so the display is not "in my face" and I am not looking at it all the time, so it is not THAT big of a deal.Have to admit I was skeptical and wasn't sure if I would find it useful....but I'm liking this device more every day. Now an Echo Dot has found its place in our household as well. Along with some Echo Buttons....Like the Echo Show 8 so much that I ordered another one to give to my daughter and son-in-law!

This is by far the best amazon product I've owned. It's easy set up, all items show up very clear and bright on the screen and the sound is perfect from low to loud settings. I use the bluetooth capability and listen to playlist from my phone. It volume is perfect. I can clean anywhere in my house and still heat the music playing. It has an automatic time set up if unplugged and place in another location. Well worth the money.

**🌟🌟🌟🌟 A Smart Display That Fits Perfectly into My Daily Life!**When I first got the Echo Show 8 (1st Gen), I was excited to see how it could make things easier for me, and it didn’t disappoint! The 8-inch screen is the perfect size—not too big and not too small—and it adds a modern touch to my kitchen. I use it to create shopping lists, check my calendar, and even pull up recipes hands-free while cooking (which has been a lifesaver).One of my favorite features is the unlimited cloud photo storage; it feels so personal to see family photos displayed while I go about my day. Whether I’m streaming music on Spotify, catching up on Netflix, or asking Alexa for weather updates, the Echo Show 8 makes everything smoother and more enjoyable. It's definitely become an essential part of my routine!

We love these, the set up very easy and quick, I set it up for my daughters alarm for school, play the music she likes and after the alarm goes off it’s programmed to tell her the weather. The sound is clear and if you announce the name you programmed it answers very quickly. This was purchased for my 11yr old room. I highly recommend it

after an update to the device yesterday it appears the buffering issue has been resolved for all wyze devices with one exception being the wyze cam pan. otherwise for the first time in months the echo show is not constantly buffering the image. also a first, where before the wyze image on the show would time out after a few minutes and go back to the home screen. now it keeps showing the wyze cam vid feed until you change things. for those who would use this as a baby monitor this is a very good development.the biggest reason we purchased this was to use along with our various wyze cam devices. unfortunately as i found out only after the fact, there has been an ongoing buffering issue between the two devices now for several months. sometimes you can watch a live stream from a wyze cam just fine. however more often than not you can't as every two seconds the screen freezes and buffers.of all our wyze devices only the new wyze cam outdoor does not do this. for some reason that model does just fine viewing on the echo. but the v1, v2, pan units all buffer to the point it is unusable. i like the show for the most part but the reason for the purchase didn't pan out and nobody at either end has a solution to date.original review - we started out years ago with the first echo and since have several generations of dots, echo plus, show 5 and this the 8" show. as with its smaller cousin this unit works the same, does the same things.you can watch prime vids. you can use it as a clock. easy vid calls or even intercom within your home. you can manually block the camera if you don't want that aspect. if running a timer you'll not only hear it when its done but in the upper right corner of your home screen you'll see it counting down.if you ask it a question it'll not only give you an audible response but also pull up pertinent videos, information, etc. on screen for you to use. you can either tap on the screen or just stick to telling alexa what it is you want. you'll also get on screen weather, upcoming reminders, etc. fyi within the settings you can have it show you more or less depending on your personal preferences.settings can be accessed from the touch screen or using the alexa app. ours is set to auto dim. as evening approaches the screen dims and then when the lights are out it will go dark except for the on screen clock. you can however set it to go totally dark it comes down to your preferences.the audio quality is about on par with the echo plus. obviously not near the bass response but still a lot better than i had expected. it also has a 3.5mm audio jack at the rear which is nice to have.you can ask it to 'show' you just about anything. ask it what is an olde english bulldog and you'll get the audio response and imagery on screen. if you want more information just tap on one of those images or ask. we have both the show5 and this model. if you plan to watch vids frequently i definately would go with this size and not the smaller. related the screen resolution on this size is much better than the smaller show5.everything you need to get going is in the box. setup has somehow been made simpler than in other amazon devices. personally i do not see how they could have made getting started any easier. it really does walk you through each and every step with most of those being entirely automated.the two things i don't like about the device are listening and cam time out. as to the listening to begin with i had frequent issues getting it to hear what i say correctly. the speed and how i speak where the other units do just fine this one misses words, gets the wrong ones or just sits there silent requiring multiple tries to acknowledge it heard 'alexa.' i have no accent to speak of. my speech sounds much like that you get from tv newscasters if that makes sense in regards to no accent. so i do not understand why the microphones have such a hard time hearing me compared to the others? so now i've learned to slow down my speaking and enunciate words as clearly as i can. when i do that problems listening are rare.the only other gripe has to do with the main reason i purchased this, for our Wyze Cams. once the Wyze app is enabled you can just say for example, "alexa show me the front door." it loads and then you are streaming to your echo with both video and audio. the image looks great but the gripe comes down to the built in 'time-out.' the video stream will only hold for a few minutes then it reverts back to the home screen. i hope this fix this soon, it should just be a coding issue.overall having the additional abilities the other echo units do not have. the combination of both audible and visual information. it is just a great design and even with the mic's not picking up as well as our other devices i'd still purchase it again.all said i would recommend this to most but due to the microphones for some it could be problematic. at least when you say something you also can see what it heard you on screen. otherwise i'd say this is a really good device and if considering say a regular echo unit or even a dot i would seriously consider this or its smaller cousin the 5" model instead.