Amazon's Echo Show 15 Is A Nice Smart Hub For Connected Homes

 

What makes the Echo Show 15 unique

There are a few things that make the Echo Show 15 special, most of which revolve around the 15.6-inch Full HD smart display. Unlike previous models of the Amazon Echo Show, the Show 15 touts a convenient wall-mounted display that frees up precious counter space while creating a sleek, central hub for your smart home. 

Compared to previous models of the Echo Show, the Show 15’s screen size is definitely a plus — I tried the Echo Show 10, which has a much smaller screen that wasn’t super useful from across the kitchen. The Show 15 scales everything up without being too large or obnoxious — anything bigger and it would’ve felt like an extra TV in the room — and the 1.4-inch thickness of the display keeps it from being too bulky on the wall. 

What I liked about the Echo Show 15

Aside from the size, there were a few features I really liked about the Echo Show 15. I appreciated the nod toward privacy — it touts a sliding camera cover, as well as the option to turn off added features like Amazon Sidewalk — as well as the minimal, photo-frame design. It was also super easy to install straight out of the box, and — aside from needing to install a few lengthy updates — it wasn’t a very complicated process to get it connected to my WiFi and Amazon account.

While there are countless widgets and routines you can use with many of the Echo Show devices, I found myself gravitating toward using the Show 15 for recipes, reminders, and calendar alerts. I liked using it as part of my morning routine, and it was certainly helpful for keeping tabs on my busy schedule. Plus, I found that the Echo Show 15 was a little more “sensitive” to recognizing my voice compared to the Echo Show 10, which meant I didn’t feel like I had to yell at Alexa to get her to understand what I was saying.

I also loved creating a sound-detection routine that recognized my dog barking and played calming music for him whenever I was leaving the house — which surprisingly worked to settle him down.