Editors’ Note: This is still the most recent version of the Echo Show 10. Read our original review from February 24, 2021 below.
Smart displays are usually stationary screens. They have microphones and speakers, and you can talk to them and they answer back, but they otherwise just stay still. Their screens point in one direction, and if you want them to point somewhere else, you have to move them yourself. That isn’t the case with the third-generation $249.99 Amazon Echo Show 10, which has a motorized base that lets its 10.1-inch screen rotate to face you, wherever you are in the room. 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. It makes for a significant increase in price over the $129.99 Echo Show 8, though you’re also getting a larger screen and more powerful sound.
An Innovative New Design
Smart displays are fundamentally tablets 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 Echo Studio speaker. The bottom half is a barrel-shaped 6.7-inch cylinder covered in grille cloth similar to what you find on recent Echo speakers. A short arm extends from the top edge of the cylinder, on which a 9-by-9.9-inch (HW) screen is attached. The device is available in black or white.
The screen portion is built very much like an Amazon Fire tablet, with a similar plastic body. The display measures 10.1 inches and features 1,280-by-800-pixel resolution. 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 top part of the frame features a microphone and a 13MP camera. The screen can tilt 40 degrees from completely vertical to angled back, but it’s locked in landscape orientation and cannot be rotated to portrait.
Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Generation) Preview
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. The resolution is low on paper compared with similarly sized tablets (the Fire HD 10 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’s perfectly functional, if not fantastic.
The top edge of the screen holds a mic/camera button that mutes the microphone and electronically disables the camera. It’s also home to volume up/down buttons, as well as a mechanical switch that moves a shutter in front of the camera to physically disable it.
The speaker-and-screen assembly is mounted on a base with a brushless motor that rotates the entire device 350 degrees. 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. This is the key feature of the Echo Show 10, and the one that makes it different from every other Echo Show. It’s similar in concept to the Smart Camera feature on Facebook Portal devices, except the Echo uses mechanical movement instead of just digital pan-and-zoom to drastically improve its ability to track you.
Alexa Features on the Echo Show 10
The Echo Show 10 offers the full capabilities of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. Just say “Alexa” (you can also change it to “Amazon,” “Computer,” or “Echo”), followed by a question or command. Alexa can provide spoken information like weather reports, sports scores, unit conversions, and general trivia, with relevant supplemental info appearing on the display.
For entertainment, Alexa can provide audio and video on request from a handful of services. Alexa can bring up videos from Amazon Video, Hulu, and Netflix on the Echo Show 10’s screen (YouTube isn’t available by voice, but you can bring up the Firefox browser with Alexa and then browse to YouTube on the device that way). You can also ask Alexa to play streaming music from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, and live radio from TuneIn, or you can listen to audiobooks through Audible. 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 Bluetooth speaker. Unlike dedicated Echo speakers, the Echo Show doesn’t have a 3.5mm line in/out for a wired audio connection.
Alexa can control your compatible smart home devices, and supports most major brands like Arlo, Kwikset, iRobot, Ring, and TP-Link. For video-based devices like home security cameras and video doorbells, you can bring up the video feed right on the Echo Show 10, and even talk through the device.
Like the fourth-generation Amazon Echo, the Echo Show 10 features a built-in Zigbee hub for wider smart home device compatibility, and can optionally work with Amazon Sidewalk.
The Echo Show 10 can also serve as a home security device on its own. 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.
Alexa Guard sets the Echo Show 10’s microphone to monitor for sounds like smoke alarms or glass breaking, and send you alerts when you’re out. It can work in conjunction with ADT, Ring, and other compatible home security systems.
You can optionally subscribe to Guard Plus ($4.99 per month or $49 per year) to get hands-free access to an emergency helpline available through the Show, along with more options for home monitoring. While not yet available, Amazon plans to add camera-based monitoring to the Show 10 through Guard Plus, sending you alerts if people are detected, and even setting off a siren through the device’s speakers.
Of course, Alexa also lets you make voice and video calls through the Echo Show 10. Amazon’s Drop In service can make calls to other Echo smart displays in your household, or to any contact over the Alexa smartphone app. If you don’t want to go through Amazon’s service, Skype calls are also available. In addition, you can make domestic phone calls to any non-emergency phone number in the US, Canada, or Mexico through the device.
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. 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. 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).
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. Every other smart display I’ve tested requires that you face it (if you want to see the screen, that is), so you can only use it from a limited range of locations in a room based on where it’s placed. 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. In testing, I could see and hear whatever Alexa was showing and telling me no matter where I was.
It isn’t perfect, though, and if you’re very close to the device or just behind it, the motion tracking tends to be less accurate. 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. It’s also very finicky when you use the touch screen with your right hand. 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. It made using the touch controls awkward while motion tracking was turned on. The motion tracking also doesn’t work when the room is very dark.
Note that motion tracking only applies to horizontal rotation. The vertical tilt of the screen has to be adjusted manually, so it can’t automatically adapt as you move between a seated and standing position. Its 45-degree tilt also means the angle might feel a bit awkward if you’re very close to it and it’s on a table that’s lower than counter height.
While any smart speaker 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.
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 Echo Show 5 has a single 1.7-inch driver). That sounds impressive, but it isn’t much of an upgrade over the standard Echo smart speaker, which has a 3-inch woofer and two 0.8-inch tweeters. And the Echo Studio eclipses them all with a 5.3-inch woofer, three 2-inch midrange drivers, and a 1-inch tweeter.
You’ll get enough bass out of the Echo Show 10 to rattle loose objects on the counter or table on which it’s placed, but it won’t shake the walls. When playing our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” at maximum volume, the bass synth notes came through without a hint of distortion, but the kick drum hits bordered on warping, sounding a bit poppy and crunchy. Turning the volume down a little will help reduce this on bass-heavy tracks.
Yes’ “Roundabout” sounds bright and crisp on the Echo Show 10, showing what the slightly larger tweeters can do compared with the standard Echo 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. 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. It’s a powerful, room-filling sound at higher volumes, which leans more toward the high-mids than anything else.
This balance comes through in The Crystal Method’s “Born Too Slow.” The screeching vocals and synth riffs get plenty of presence, as does the attack of the drums. 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. It’s not a weak sound at all, it’s just balanced more toward the highs than the lows.
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. It’s almost twice as expensive as the Echo Show 8, making it a tough sell if you’re looking for a basic smart display with solid audio quality. Still, the extra $120 you’ll spend on the Echo Show 10 gets you more powerful audio performance, a bigger screen, and most importantly, motion tracking that lets the device follow you as you move around the room. If you makes lots of video calls or have limited mobility, the Echo Show 10 is absolutely worth considering.
That said, the $129.99 Echo Show 8 remains our Editors’ Choice winner for its superior value for the price. The $89.99 Echo Show 5 is also a good option if you’re looking for a more nightstand-friendly smart displays that doubles as a clock radio. If you prefer Google Assistant to Alexa, meanwhile, the $89.99 Nest Hub is an excellent, affordable alternative that sits between the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8 in size and power.
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The Bottom Line
The third-generation Amazon Echo Show 10 smart display delivers powerful audio and adds a motorized base that lets the screen and camera rotate as you move around.
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About Will Greenwald
Lead Analyst, Consumer Electronics
