Amazon's Echo Show 10 is available for preorder—here's what's new
Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. For one thing, it now has a 13-megapixel camera instead of a 5-megapixel one, which means that video calls look way better than before. By contrast, a similar device from Facebook called offers a 114 to 140-degree field of view, depending on the model, because it can only pan, not rotate. Follow Reviewed on , , and for the latest deals, product reviews, and more. Turning the volume down a little will help reduce this on bass-heavy tracks. The display looks nicely saturated and reasonably bright, but it's also quite reflective, which can be an issue if you have bright overhead lights and the screen is tilted back. At the time of publication, Amazon is offering a bundle that includes a Blink Mini security camera with the purchase of an Echo Show 10. The top part of the frame features a microphone and a 13MP camera. Sure, voice has its advantages when your fingers are covered in cookie dough or you want to quickly turn on smart lights. For my part, my apartment is fairly limited when it comes to smart home tech. are usually stationary screens. I was skeptical about whether the rotating base justifies the extra expense over the Echo Show 8, but after a few minutes of using it, I was sold. 99 Echo Show 8 remains our Editors' Choice winner for its superior value for the price. Sometimes it rotates just far enough for me to be in frame and it stops. 99 per month , you get additional security support, such as the ability to make hands-free voice calls to emergency numbers, other noise detection features, and siren sounds or dog barking sounds that play to deter potential intruders. Of course, the company included one on its larger Max device, so the option is there, if you want it. It's unclear whether Zoom and Skype calls will be available immediately upon shipping or if it's expected to roll out later. You can also mute the microphones in the same way. And the Echo Studio eclipses them all with a 5. Not everyone will want a camera tracking their every move, of course, which is why you can disable the motion system at any time. The product experts at have all your shopping needs covered. I adjust screens all of the time. Additions like these have really made the smart screen category a much more compelling and capable one. But it did sometimes lose track of where I was standing, or cut off the top of my head. The content is also customized by time of day, so you might see trending topics during the day and relaxing song suggestions at night. The screen portion is built very much like an Amazon Fire tablet, with a similar plastic body. They have microphones and speakers, and you can talk to them and they answer back, but they otherwise just stay still. Smart displays have proven to be pretty useful around the house. The rotating feature is primarily a way to reduce user friction. Certainly it does the job for my one-bedroom apartment. The third-generation Echo Show 10 contains a new AZ1 Neural Edge processor, too, which makes it faster for Alexa to give you a response when you ask questions or give commands. For video-based devices like and , you can bring up the video feed right on the Echo Show 10, and even talk through the device. While any or smart display carries privacy concerns, the video and audio used to track movement on the Echo Show 10 is processed locally by the device itself, and not uploaded to Amazon. These things are a part of the social media and services we regularly use. Similar to previous versions of the Echo Show 10, you can cook using interactive recipes from supported sites, including Food Network Kitchen. An Innovative New Design Smart displays are fundamentally attached to speakers, and the Echo Show 10 really embraces this concept: It looks like a large Fire tablet attached to a smaller version of an speaker. The opening acoustic guitar plucks get a strong sense of low-frequency resonance while still showing plenty of string texture in the higher frequencies. The motion tracking also doesn't work when the room is very dark. 1 inches and features 1,280-by-800-pixel resolution. The covid-19 Zoom boom has turned us into camera operators. When Amazon first announced the device, it said it would support not only using Alexa Group Calling and , but also Zoom and Skype. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Please also read our and , which became effective December 20, 2019. It can work in conjunction with ADT, Ring, and other compatible. Another neat feature that provides security in a different way is remote viewing. 99 is an excellent, affordable alternative that sits between the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8 in size and power. When you're not actively using the screen, you can set it up to be a digital photo frame, showing a carousel of your favorite images. The Home Monitoring feature checks the room the Show is in for activity, and can do things like periodically turn the lights on and off when the room is empty, or play a news report when someone enters. The rotating Echo Show 10, on the other hand, automatically swings to face you whether you're sitting on the couch, or when you're up and walking somewhere else in the room. His work and analysis has been seen in GamePro, Tested. The motion is powered by a brushless motor that enables 175-degree rotation. Every new smart home device invites new questions. Image Credits: Brian Heater Notably, the tracking feature uses a vague outline of a person, rather than any sort of facial tracking. Image Credits: Brian Heater The notion of creating a home device that fades into its surroundings is really out the window with that feature. Availability Preorders are currently being accepted for the Amazon Echo Show 10. When the device physically follows you around the room, however, this stuff is top of mind. Amazon's new Echo Show 10 third-generation , the first Alexa device with a motorized swiveling display, is now for delivery starting on February 25. So it appears that at least the Echo Show 10 is trying to learn. For now, calls are limited to other Alexa devices and Skype. It can also be used to follow you as you move around while video calling a feature the competition has offered through zooming and cropping. 9-inch HW screen is attached. The front-firing audio also moves as the screen does. Much like with other Alexa products, Amazon says you are able to review your privacy settings and delete voice recordings if you wish. Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for a decade, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET. 99 and is available in two colors: charcoal and glacier white. The device is scheduled to be delivered starting February 25. You can even swipe left to right to remotely rotate your Echo Show 10 if you feel like taking a look around. Or what if you were in an abusive relationship and your partner could do the same? That means you don't need another hub to connect and set up supported cameras, lights, thermostats, and a variety of other smart home devices. I was skeptical, but the rotating screen does prove somewhat useful. A short arm extends from the top edge of the cylinder, on which a 9-by-9. Sometimes the screen would follow my husband and not me, even though I was the one talking and he was moving around the kitchen. To help , you can ask her to turn it off or slide a physical shutter cover over the lens. A few times when I called to Alexa while the screen was facing the other way, it rotated toward me and then overshot, facing me at an awkward angle until I called Alexa again. The Echo Show 10 can also serve as a home security device on its own. 1-inch screen is a nice size, as well. The touch-enabled display and embedded camera rotates atop a round base, which allows the built-in smart technology to keep the camera and screen in your line of sight automatically. To learn more or opt-out, read our. The Echo Show 10's smart technology works by detecting human figures through sight and sound in the room, but. But I think the best argument for the swiveling screen is video calls. Here you can limit the applications it will use to follow you, require voice to use the feature or disable it entirely. Having used the product for several days, I would say the feature feels unnecessary in most cases — and downright unnerving in some. This month has seen rumors that Amazon is working on a wall-mounted smart home hub. When the track properly kicks in, the bassline settles slightly in the background, while the vocals and guitar strums stand in front of the mix. Alexa can provide spoken information like weather reports, sports scores, unit conversions, and general trivia, with relevant supplemental info appearing on the display. You see the recipe on screen with step-by-step instructions, which you control with voice commands or via the touch screen. This is either a plus or a minus, depending on how you use the device, and how many people are around. It even works if you have multiple people on camera at once. Note that motion tracking only applies to horizontal rotation. As with other Alexa smart displays, the Echo Show 10 supports video streaming from Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu, along with cooking videos from sources like SideChef and AllRecipes. Motion Tracking I found the Echo Show 10's motion tracking, which uses a combination of audio and camera information, to be very accurate in testing. You can also change the range manually by going into settings. In addition, you can make domestic phone calls to any non-emergency phone number in the US, Canada, or Mexico through the device. The audio quality is fantastic, thanks to dual front-firing tweeters and a powerful woofer that delivers a satisfyingly thumping bass beat and crisp highs. Amazon has taken a few steps I applaud. One can inherently know and passively understand that a device is using imaging and AI for tracking, but largely effectively ignore it. A well-placed Show will address that need for many. From the Alexa app on a phone, a member of the household can remotely see through the camera, which continues to track whoever is nearby. Audio Performance The Echo Show 10 is equipped with a three-inch woofer and two one-inch tweeters, making it the most powerful of Amazon's smart displays the Echo Show 8 has a pair of 2-inch drivers, and the has a single 1. The attempts to solve that problem. For entertainment, Alexa can provide audio and video on request from a handful of services. An opt-in surveillance function called Live View turns the Echo Show 10 into a rotating security camera. Of course, Alexa also lets you make voice and video calls through the Echo Show 10. It was smart enough to keep both my husband and myself in the frame. Because my hand kept waving over the camera as I reached down to touch the screen, the Echo Show 10 turned slightly to the right to regain a visual lock on me. This is the key feature of the Echo Show 10, and the one that makes it different from every other Echo Show. The device is available in black or white. If the audio service selection seems paltry, you can pair your phone or other device with the Echo Show 10 and use it like a. It's a feature that you must actively set up, but once you do, it sends you Smart Alerts if the Echo Show detects the sound of smoke or carbon monoxide alarms, or glass breaking. The brushless motor is completely silent, ensuring that no buzzing or other unwanted noises are picked up by the microphones which is especially important during video calls, as the Echo Show 10 follow you around the room. You will be able to stream videos from Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video right away, however. In a different form, this is like installing a speed-dome security camera in your kitchen. And, when my husband ducked out of the shot, the camera went right back to focusing on me. Engadget That said, this panning and zooming is somewhat inconsistent. Not to mention that services like Spotify can be set as the default for music playback. As a result, the new Echo Show 10 takes up a lot more space — while the 2018 Echo Show measured around 9. Now these kinds of countertop computers — also known as smart displays — have become their own aisle at the electronics store. After a quick setup process that lets the device rotate around its full range of motion to determine how it should move based on its surroundings, it locked onto me and followed me faithfully every time I used Alexa. For the time being, between Show and the Alexa mobile app, I think the bases are covered pretty well — though such a device could certainly lend a more premium experience to the space. 3-inch woofer, three 2-inch midrange drivers, and a 1-inch tweeter. Image Credits: Brian Heater For the time being, I think the most compelling case to be made for both the camera and automatic screen swiveling is as a makeshift security camera. When you set up a smart home in this way, you can ask Alexa, via your Echo Show 10, to turn the lights on and off, see a particular camera's view, such as that from a , and more. With it, you can set a geofence, with the Show doubling as a smart security camera when you leave home. You can adjust these later in settings, as well. com, and several other publications. Amazon also says the data the Echo Show captures to track your body is all processed locally on the device. Like other Echo Shows, the camera has a physical shutter, along with volume controls and a microphone mute button on top. Echo devices are mostly known as Alexa smart speakers, but in 2017, Amazon started adding screens with cameras in them to a line called the Echo Show. Again, not everyone will have the same misgivings. If you move the Echo Show 10 to another location — you can run Device Mapping again to readjust it. The speaker-and-screen assembly is mounted on a base with a brushless motor that rotates the entire device 350 degrees. It looks and sounds fantastic, and offers all the important features like the updated home screen, video streaming and smart home controls. That, in particular, has been a for the company. At the very least, it would give me a compelling reason to get more use out of that 13-megapixel camera on a regular basis. The bottom half is a barrel-shaped 6. The form factor certainly makes sense, essentially serving as an Alexa-enabled touchscreen control for your various connected devices. The Echo stands out from the pack because its camera and screen physically move. 7-inch cylinder covered in grille cloth similar to what you find on recent Echo speakers. The Echo Show 10 also features an updated home screen that lets you view multiple cards at the same time. The original Echo was a cylinder, later models have had a spherical shape, and the Echo Show devices are effectively wedges with screens on the front. Support for music and podcasts is also included for like Amazon Music and Spotify. Like the fourth-generation , the Echo Show 10 features a built-in for wider smart home device compatibility, and can optionally work with Amazon Sidewalk. He currently covers consumer electronics in the PC Labs as the in-house home entertainment expert, reviewing TVs, media hubs, speakers, headphones, and gaming accessories. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission. Honestly, where the Show is currently sitting on my desk is really the perfect placement to use it for calls while working on my computer. The processing that powers screen motion happens on device — no images or videos are sent to the cloud to provide the motion feature. Back when Google announced its first-party smart screen, the Home now Nest Hub, I thought it was a savvy decision to leave the camera off. In testing, I could see and hear whatever Alexa was showing and telling me no matter where I was. 1-inch display with the same 1,280 by 800 resolution. I own two large smart speakers and a third smaller one, mostly for the convenience of networking streaming music across different rooms. The Blink Mini is an with 1080p HD video, night vision, motion detection, and two-way audio. By default, the camera-powered motion capability is on — and the Echo Show will track you when you interact with it in ways beyond video calls. Alexa can control your compatible , and supports most major brands like Arlo, Kwikset, iRobot, Ring, and TP-Link. It's perfectly functional, if not fantastic. When you speak your chosen wake word to activate the display, the screen automatically rotates to face you, and will continue rotating to follow you around the room as you move. You can turn off the camera to disable the motion as well. If you have your heart set on an Alexa smart display, the Echo Show 8 is overall a much wiser choice than the Echo Show 10, swiveling screen or otherwise. The company created some easter eggs to show off what the Echo Show 10 can do. The main draw for the is its smart motion. But other things I can accomplish in three taps with my iPad require grating conversations with Alexa on the Echo Show. Even after a few years of developing for Echo Show devices, Alexa is still primarily a voice-operated interface. The Echo uses figure tracking to make sure the display is facing you at all times when using it, drawing attention to itself in the process. Their screens point in one direction, and if you want them to point somewhere else, you have to move them yourself. If you makes lots of video calls or have limited mobility, the Echo Show 10 is absolutely worth considering. Options include , which uses facial recognition to identify which family member is in front of it, and , which offers its own more limited ability to track faces during calls. From a mobile device, you can remotely enable the camera and rotate it to see what's happening around the Echo Show 10 even if you're not home or in a different room. But there are other new concerns. You can use voice or touch to control lighting, and the screen can monitor feeds from security cameras, including, naturally, Amazon-owned Ring. The resolution is low on paper compared with similarly sized tablets the has 1,920 by 1,200 pixels , but for the typical distance from which you'll be viewing it, it's sharp and easy to read. It has a rotating base that enables the screen to move on its own, following you around the room. It made using the touch controls awkward while motion tracking was turned on. Of course, for most of these products, video cameras are a given — and understandably so, with smart screens like the new Echo Show 10 edging into the teleconferencing space as the line between work and home has become far more fuzzy for many. Netflix and Hulu are now available on the device for video, and Apple Music and Spotify have been added on the music side. Doubles as a smart home hub If you want to use your Echo Show 10 as your main smart home device, you can do that, too, because the new model can act as a smart home hub for Zigbee and devices like Tile Trackers and Ring cameras. The Echo Show 10 has a number of improvements over its predecessor. Amazon will walk you through the feature during setup, including which direction you want the screen facing as a default and how much rotation it offers on either side. 99 , though you're also getting a larger screen and more powerful sound. Zoom and other third-party teleconference software has the opportunity to create an entire new dimension for these products, especially with the aforementioned blurring of home and work life. Zoom — arguably the most compelling addition from a software standpoint — is coming later. A color-adaptive technology works to keep your images looking good no matter the light in the room. The Best Smart Display for Video Calls The Amazon Echo Show 10 is a significant departure from other models, and its motion tracking capabilities come at a pretty high price. 1-inch screen rotate to face you, wherever you are in the room. A black frame sits flush with the screen, measuring half an inch on the sides and bottom, and a full inch on the top. The Echo Show 10 supports as well. How would you feel if you were a teenager knowing your parents could peer in on you at any moment? 99 Amazon Echo Show 10, which has a motorized base that lets its 10. The lower-frequency thump of the backbeat that really gives it an ominous drive is lacking, however, sitting a bit behind the higher-frequency elements of the mix. Amazon says that third-party developers are working on skills that make use of the rotating screen. Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time. Alexa behaves in the same way on all of them: you ask it to do something, then it provides a polite response and does that thing. And as we chat, the Echo Show works behind the scenes to follow me, spinning up to nearly 360 degrees. Oh, and a couple of connected lightbulbs, mostly because why not? If you want it stop following you momentarily, you can just tell Alexa that. You can also ask Alexa to play from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, and live radio from TuneIn, or you can listen to audiobooks through Audible. Will is also an ISF Level II-certified TV calibrator, which ensures the thoroughness and accuracy of all PCMag TV reviews. Since the camera is in the top right corner this often results in the display facing slightly away from me. It's a surprising jump forward in usability, as you no longer have to stay in one place to see the display or make a video call. While I was initially creeped out by the display stalking me around the kitchen, I did appreciate being able to glance at the results in a near-instant.。
