Echo Show – Black

I know that many media folks have stated that the “Drop-in” feature of the Echos is “creepy” and can see their point. Here’s a different perspective. Mom is now almost 95 and she has short term memory dementia, she’s in great spirits but I really can’t teach her anything technical, like dialing a phone or even pressing a memory dial button. She lives near my sister and is 2 hours away so visiting is always a bit of a project.

I thought I’d try setting a Show next to her rocking chair. I can now “Drop-in” on her every day and share some face time with her, visit with her grand daughter, see the dog whom she LOVES, and just make her smile. The beauty is that there is no interaction needed on her end, the Caregivers and my Mom love this setup. The fact that I can use my phone from anywhere and actually see and talk to Mom, and show her things is hugely entertaining and comforting for Mom, and everyone in the family.

So I say with extreme gratitude, Thank You Amazon for creating an amazingly personally helpful tool for the elderly.

Personally I am enjoying all of the other great features of an Alexa with a screen, using her with my Arlo Cameras, etc. It truly is quite an amazing platform! In my office I added a small Pioneer bookshelf stereo, I can be listening to Spotify, Pandora etc and say “Alexa, connect Bluetooth”, the Pioneer stereo is Bluetooth enabled, it can be OFF and with that single voice command, the Show will wake up the Pioneer, and begin playing the sound over its speakers with no other intervention from me! This is magical stuff!

The only bug I have at the moment, “Alexa, turn off the screen”, the screen turns off, then immediately turns back on. Tell her again and the screen stays off, pretty consistent bug. Edit- Seems fixed now!

1/06/2018 Still enjoying my Echo Shows very much, I don’t expect this to replace a tablet, it does many things very well, besides being indispensable with visiting Mom. Currently there is one in the Kitchen and it is used by the family to play lots of music, having the screen is really nice to be able to see what’s playing etc. We are trying Amazon Music and so far it’s pretty sweet as well, “Alexa show me all albums from Keith Urban”, up comes pictures of all of his 12 or so album covers, touch one and play the album. Alexa, “Connect Bluetooth” and the Show connects to a Bluetooth receiver I have on our whole house stereo. Alexa “Turn on the Stereo”, Alexa controls the Logitech Harmony remote to power up the stereo and now we are hearing music everywhere, nice.

We’ve also added some Ring cameras and doorbell, “Alexa, show me the front door”, now I’m looking out front.

Oh, and our doggie monitor/treat shooter, Furbo, “Alexa, ask Furbo to toss a treat” is our dog “Cookie” ‘s favorite skill!

Bottom line, this is a very powerful system, don’t get me wrong we love our Apple products (Phones, iPads, and Macs) but I prefer this Amazon ecosystem for my home music, automation, and general questions etc. as it’s a fairly open system that plays well with 3rd parties when compared to the likes of Apple.

I would never have imagined all that is possible with these units!

So first off, let me start by saying, my family and I are all Apple everything. MacBook’s, Apple TVs, Watches, all iPhones, etc. You name it. We use it. But once I saw that the Echo Show had a screen I was so GAME, this was also after the HomePod from Apple was released (no screen). I wanted to try it out so badly, I have a few regular speakers but never bought a home smart speaker before, so this was entirely and completely new for me, and let me tell you, so far so GOOD.
Just like Apple, the packaging was very nice, lots to open and unwrap, all clean and dust free. The set up was okay, it took a while but my Wi-Fi is not the best so It could have just been personal reasons. And once it turned on I was like, “uhhhh what do I do now”. It was just a screen and nothing really happened besides a little video beforehand on what it can do. I started to ask it questions and downloaded different skills and what not and it became easier to use.
The quality of the audio is amazing, it gets very loud stays very clear. The 7in screen is also very high definition, as well as the 5MP front camera. I then downloaded the Alexa app and video chatted some people which was so awesome to do so in the kitchen as I was just cooking and cleaning, etc. It felt very futuristic.
Now if you’re looking for something mind-blowing and life changing this is not for you. This is a massive step for the Echo devices and I am very happy to own one. It’s enjoyable and easy to use. The more skills you download the more I found out it can do so much more than I really thought. I like the news apps and the sound making apps.
Aesthetically speaking it looks so sweet, clean and futuristic just sitting in my kitchen with the home screen always on and ready to be talked to. And I probably love that the most. Just a little “smart-home-TV-speaker” just chilling in my kitchen. This device and future ones have so much potential in the home and can really change the way we live. I really enjoy being an early adopter of technology to see which direction we are headed in and this is a great start. Amazon is seriously killing the game and I am so excited for their future! Another PLEASED customer!!

UPDATED- (7/12/17)
-The Alexa app, sorry to say, but it’s absolute garbage. The UI is okay but it has a lot going on and it isn’t too helpful. It’s very slow and when you tap some settings it says it doesn’t work, or check your connection, etc. Every option you press on the app must load and buffer which is very annoying. They really need to fix and update the app because that’s where you manage 100% of what you’re doing on your Echo Show.
– I wish it worked with Apple Music ha ha ha… wishful thinking. I know.
– I love the “Do Not Disturb” setting. You can turn it on/off from your Echo Show and the Alexa app. I don’t want friends/family video chatting (dropping in) on me drunk at 2:00 am when I am sleeping.
-I like that you can change the background home screen, but wish it was brighter. I can’t really see it too much.
– “Voice Training” never works for me and I want it to work!

UPDATED- (8/29/17)
-I turned on the voice purchasing feature and it’s easy to use. The only thing I do not like is it will show one item and then you must say Alexa next, Alexa next, Alexa next as it’s going through each option 1, 2, 3, etc. It’s a lot of work. You can just use the screen to swipe through the items but I want to use my voice not my fingers. Also, the password option is nice because you have those friends that come over and say “Alexa, order 10 Xbox’s and then your bill is $3,000.00 and it’s not funny…
-I added my work to the address list and it’s a great feature to show you the traffic and how long it would take to get to work. It also shows alternative routes on the same page. Very useful.
-I still use Amazon music everyday with the lyrics on the screen, very cool to watch.
-I downloaded a few games to play by myself and with others. It’s fun but not very practical sitting around a little box with people playing games on it.
-The video calling/dropping in is my all-time favorite feature. I use it all the time and my family drops in on me all the time and I’m like oh hello there! Awesome feature! But you need to be safe and careful with it. Make sure you read on what it does and how to turn it on/off for certain people.

UPDATED- (9/27/17)
YouTube is NOT supported anymore on the Echo Show AHHHHHHHHH! If you like to watch music videos, cooking lessons, etc or just free music in general you can’t anymore.

UPDATED- (10/19/17)- **FINAL UPDATE**
**Here me out on this one. Due to features being removed, the app not working seamlessly with an iPhone and the lack of skills that actually will help someone with their day to day lives, I packed up my Amazon Echo Show and will not be using it furthermore.
-This is NOT by any means a bashing negative review full of hate, it’s a review by an honest regular tech user and someone that enjoys new technologies. The Echo Show has a long way to go and this is only generation 1. Think of it as the iPhone 1, or generation 1 of anything. Future improvements only make the product better, and that’s what I’m going to wait for. There are many skills that are not useful and more gimmicky so to speak, to have you download it and use it when it’s actually not improving your day to day life.
-The software needs some major upgrades that make it easy to use and navigate(The Echo Show and the Alexa App). With the removal of YouTube, there is no reason for me to have a screen because I will not be watching any other video content on it while sitting in my kitchen.
-The hardware of the device is great. The screen quality is HD as well as the high megapixel camera for video chatting. The speakers are crisp, loud and very clear.
-if I were to recommend this device to someone I would recommend it to someone that wants a nice quality speaker that you can use with your voice.