Amazon Echo Show Review: Alexa's New Touchscreen Needs More Time
Amazon Echo Show Review: Alexa's New Touchscreen Needs More Time
2017-06-26
the Amazon echo show is the online
retail giant's newest Alexa gadget at
230 dollars it's basically an Amazon
echo with a 7-inch touchscreen that
gives Alexa an extra visual layer and it
lets her pull up YouTube clips or video
chats with your friends and family upon
request
now as Alexa gadgets go the echo show is
nowhere near as sleek or polished
looking as the echo and echo dot smart
speakers or the echo look selfie camera
there aren't any curves or rings of
light instead you get this blocky
angular design it's sturdy enough but
the bulk and the bezel around the screen
both make it feel dated our intern
quipped that it looks like a mini sized
rear projection TV set for your kitchen
counter and don't disagree another
complaint it can't adjust the angle of
the screen or of the camera that's not
ideal for a video calling device still
those voice activated hands-free video
calls or the new marquee feature here
and if you're a fan of FaceTime then you
might like this product quite a bit here
check it out Alexa called David car
noise okay
hey David good to see you all right
how's that echo show review coming you
can also ask Alexa to pull up YouTube
clips and movies from Amazon Prime video
more video services are likely to follow
thanks to Amazon's open software
development tools the same goes for
smart home controls you can view the
feed from major smart home cameras from
names like nest and ring and August with
more likely to jump on board outside of
those video skills this is the same old
Alexa you can pull up weather forecasts
she can stream music she can turn your
lights on and off she can tell you bad
jokes everything you come to expect
I just wish Amazon had done more to put
that touch screen to use lyrics are a
nice addition when you're playing music
and she'll animate the ends of your
timers but in too many cases the display
feels superfluous it doesn't do enough
to make a Lexus better now there's a lot
of room for improvement here and Amazon
is banking on outside developers to make
new touchscreen optimized skills for the
echo show but most of those weren't
ready in time for us to test them out so
for now I'm getting the echo show an
incomplete grade it's a great device for
grandparents to video chat with their
grandkids
but as Amazon's new Alexa flagship I'm
holding my recommendation until they
show me a little more
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