Editors’ Note: This is the most recent version of the Echo Show 5. Read our review from June 15, 2023 below.
The $89.99 Amazon Echo Show 5 has been one of the most affordable smart displays for some time now, offering Alexa voice control and a touch screen for under $100. The third-generation Echo Show 5 is largely unchanged from its predecessor, which itself wasn’t very different from the first model. The new smart display is a bit larger; both Alexa and the touch-screen interface are smarter; and while it won’t wow anyone with its audio clarity, it can get quite loud for its size. The Echo Show 5 remains a good pick for anyone seeking a small, Alexa-powered smart display, though we still prefer the larger, Editors’ Choice-winning Amazon Echo Show 8 ($129.99) for its better screen, multiple speakers, and sharper camera.
Minimally Updated Hardware
This third-gen smart display carries over the general shape and design of its predecessor, but it’s just slightly larger, at 3.2 by 5.8 by 3.6 inches (HWD) compared with 3.4 by 5.8 by 2.9 inches. It’s still a vaguely Toblerone-shaped device, with a triangular cross-section from the side and a trapezoidal one from above. It features a 5.5-inch screen tilted slightly upward, and a body covered in black, white, or light blue fabric. The top edge holds volume up/down and mic mute buttons, as well as a mechanical switch that slides a physical cover in front of the camera. The rear surface has a connector for the included power adapter, but no other ports.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
While the 960-by-480-pixel LCD touch screen is identical to the previous Echo Show 5’s, a faster processor and a slightly larger speaker are tucked inside the display. It runs on MediaTek’s 8169 B chip, replacing the MediaTek 8163 that powered the last two models. It also has Amazon’s updated AZ2 Neural Edge processor, first introduced on the Echo Show 15. According to Amazon, the AZ2 offers significantly improved voice-recognition and machine-learning performance compared with the original AZ processor.
For sound, the Echo Show 5 relies on a 1.75-inch driver, which is an update to the previous model’s 1.65-inch driver. For comparison, the Echo Show 8 gives you a pair of 2.0-inch drivers for louder, stereo sound, as well as an 8-inch, 1,200-by-800-pixel touch screen, and a 13MP smart-framing camera.
Disappointingly, the Show 5’s camera is the same 2MP shooter as the previous model’s. It works well enough for video calls, but it’s soft and grainy compared with the Echo Show 8’s higher-resolution camera. The Show 8 can also digitally zoom and pan to keep your face centered in the frame, a feature the Echo Show 5 lacks.
The Show 5 ships with dual-band Wi-Fi 5 for connecting to your home network and supports an unspecified version of Bluetooth for streaming directly from a mobile device. It supports the Matter smart home platform, in addition to Alexa.
Alexa With a Screen
The entire purpose of Echo devices, of course, is to enable hands-free use of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. Echo Show smart displays add visual information to the vocal responses. Just say “Alexa,” (or “Amazon,” “Computer,” “Echo,” or, oddly enough, “Ziggy”) and ask a question or make a request. You can choose among several English-speaking Alexa voices, including male and female respondents with American, Australian, British, or Indian accents, and also adjust the speed at which they speak.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
Alexa can provide information like sports scores and weather reports, tell you what’s on your schedule, offer reminders, and add items to shopping and to-do lists that can then pop up on your phone via the Alexa app (available for Android and iOS). If you have smart home devices that are compatible with Alexa, you can use your voice to control them through the Echo Show 5, including touch controls for some lights, locks, and thermostats, as well as video feeds from Ring and other doorbell and home security cameras.
Alexa can play audiobooks, music, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify, Tidal, and a handful of other services. It can play video content from Amazon Prime and Hulu. You can also ask Alexa to make audio or video calls on the Echo Show 5 through Amazon’s Drop In feature to friends or family who have Echo devices or the Alexa app installed on their phone. The Echo Show 5 does not support Zoom, but the Echo Show 8 and larger Amazon smart displays do.
In testing, the microphones on the Echo Show 5 picked up my voice easily from across my apartment, even when my TV was on. It recognized my words accurately, and I didn’t see any false activations set off by other audio sources.
The touch screen is reasonably bright and colorful for its size, though it isn’t as sharp or as vivid as most midrange-to-high-end phone screens, like the ones on the iPhone 14 or Google Pixel 7. The touch controls work quite well across the board, with a drop-down menu that lets you directly access a variety of features, including making Drop In calls, playing music and videos, and controlling smart home devices. The Echo Show 5 also works as a digital picture frame and will sift through pictures you upload to Amazon Photos or rotate through a variety of images from Amazon’s art and travel collections.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
Middling Music, Strong Speech
Like with the Echo Pop and other smaller smart devices, the Echo Show 5 tamps down deep bass response with some manner of digital signal processing (DSP) to prevent it from damaging the drivers. It aggressively reduced bass when played at high volumes. On our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the bass synth notes were muted, and the kick-drum hits leaned toward distortion and sounded uncomfortably poppy. Turning the volume down slightly helped reduce the pop, but it didn’t improve the low-frequency response. This kind of performance is common on small devices.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
Yes’ “Roundabout” sounds much cleaner and fuller, as should any music that doesn’t reach heavily into sub-bass. The opening acoustic guitar plucks have plenty of low and low-mid resonance, though the string texture is blunted somewhat by weak treble. When the track properly kicks in, the bassline and vocals sit in the foreground, while the guitar strums and drum hits settle a bit in the back with less high-mid presence to give them a crisp attack. Overall, the speaker’s balance seems to be focused on mids and pulls back from extreme highs or lows.
Speech response is loud and clear on the Echo Show 5. Both Alexa responses and podcast audio are easy to discern and can fill an office, a kitchen, or a quiet living room easily with clean dictation.
Small Is Good, Bigger Is Better
The new Amazon Echo Show 5 remains an excellent smart display for bedrooms, small offices, and other places where you might want a screen but don’t want it to take up too much space. As always, Alexa, when combined with a touch screen, provides plenty of functionality, making the device an ideal alarm clock or a countertop radio, though the screen is a bit small if you want to watch video from any distance. It sounds generally good for its size, though it doesn’t offer an impressive low- or high-frequency response, and it’s a shame the camera hasn’t been upgraded.
The Amazon Echo Show 8 is still our Editors’ Choice selection for smart displays, despite its higher cost, thanks to superior audio and video, and a much better camera, though it might be too big for a crowded nightstand or bookcase. If you prefer Google Assistant, you might consider the Nest Hub ($99), which is slightly larger, at 7 inches, but lacks a camera for video chats.
The Bottom Line
Amazon’s 2023 Echo Show 5 is one of the best small smart displays available, and we like this version’s more powerful speakers and improved voice response. Just know that the larger Echo Show 8 is a more well-rounded offering.
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About Will Greenwald
Lead Analyst, Consumer Electronics
