The Echo Show 8 brings more heft than the Show 5 (which is cheaper by $40): a screen that’s bigger than a propped-up phone, fairly sharp 1,280×800-pixel resolution and a pair of solid two-inch speakers. What’s more, the Show 8 steals the Show 5’s best ideas, like the physical camera shutter and sunrise alarms. What are the key differences – Amazon Echo Show 5 vs 8 comparison?
Compare Pros & Cons – Amazon Echo Show 5 vs 8
| Echo Show 5 | Echo Show 8 | |
| Pros | +Compact design to fit anywhere +Physical cover/off switch for microphones and camera +Better speakers than Echo Dot or Echo Spot | +Great compromise size +Physical cover/off switch for microphones and camera +Similar specs to more expensive Echo Show (2nd Gen) |
| Cons | – Auto-brightness isn’t well-tuned – If all you want is an Echo with a clock, the Dot with Clock is 2/3 the price | – No Dolby processing – Need a stand to adjust viewing angles |
Amazon Echo Show 5 vs 8 Size & weight comparison
| Echo Show 5 | Echo Show 8 | |
| Size | 5.8” x 3.4” x 2.9” (148mm x 86mm x 73mm) | 7.9”x 5.4”x 3.9” (200mm x 135mm x 99mm) |
| Weight | 14.5 oz (410 grams) Actual size and weight may vary by manufacturing process | 36.6 oz (1037 grams) Actual size and weight may vary by manufacturing process. |
What are the differences – Amazon Echo Show 5 vs 8
| Echo Show 5 | Echo Show 8 | |
| Display | 5.5” touchscreen | 8.0” touch screen |
| Resolution | 960 x 480 resolution | 1280 x 800p resolution |
| Audio | Full range 1.65” built-in speaker. 3.5 mm stereo audio output for use with external speakers (audio cable not included) | 2.0” (52 mm) neodymium speakers with passive bass radiator |
As the name suggests the Echo Show 5 uses a 5-inch screen, 5.5-inch to be exact and this runs at a meagre 960 x 480 pixels.
The Show 8, unsurprisingly, has an 8-inch screen but this has a much larger resolution of 1280 x 800.
That’s probably worth the extra tenner already, but with speakers, size really does matter. The Echo Show 8 weighs more than double the Show 5 at 1037 g in a body measuring 200.4 x 135.9 x 99.1 mm this allows it to fit 2 x 2.0-inch speaker @ 10W per channel.
The Echo 5 which weighs just 410g and measures 148 x 86 x 73 mm has just a single 1.7-inch @ 4W. The quality of audio between the two devices will be night and day. To put it into context, the speaker in the Echo 5 is only slightly larger than the 1.6-inch inside the Echo Dot. While the latest dot is amazing for notifications and voice control, would you really want to watch a video or listen to music on it?
The dual 2-inch speakers of the Show 8 are not that much smaller than the dual 2.2-inch of the original show, and they run at the same 10W per channel.
Compare Amazon Echo Show 5 vs 8 similarities
Both Amazon Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8 have these common features.
| Echo Show 5 & Echo Show 8 | |
| Camera | 1MP camera with built-in shutter |
| Wi-Fi connectivity | Dual-band Wi-Fi supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi networks. Does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks. |
| Bluetooth connectivity | Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) support for audio streaming from your mobile device to Echo Show 5 or from Echo Show 5 to your Bluetooth speaker. Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) for voice control of connected mobile devices. Hands-free voice control is not supported for Mac OS X devices. Bluetooth speakers requiring PIN codes are not supported. |
| Alexa App | The Alexa App is compatible with Fire OS, Android, and iOS devices. |
| Setup technology | Amazon Wi-Fi simple setup enables customers to connect smart devices to their Wi-Fi network in a few easy steps. Wi-Fi simple setup is another way Alexa is always getting smarter. |
| Processor | MediaTek MT 8163 |
| Accessibility Features | On Echo devices with screens, you can enable Alexa captioning and closed captioning, magnify the screen, toggle color inversion, and choose between color correction options. You can also enable the VoiceView screen reader to use gestures to navigate the screen and hear spoken feedback about the items you select. |
| Privacy Features | Wake word technology, streaming indicators, microphone/camera off button, built-in camera shutter, the ability to view and delete your voice recordings, and more. |
Alexa compatibility
Despite cutting the Zigbee receiver from the second-gen Show and the tap-to-snooze feature of Show 5, the Show 8 might be the best Alexa-enabled smart display. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best display altogether. While I like the combination of clever features — and as importantly, the price tag attached to them — Google’s smart displays do boast a better user experience.
It’s tough to compare the Show 8 directly to the Nest Hub ($90 at Best Buy) — Google’s $130 7-inch display — because that doesn’t even have a camera. And the Nest Hub Max, which does include a high quality camera, costs $230. But one thing both Nest Hubs share is a smoother interface than Echo Show 8’s. The screen is more responsive, the camera can follow your face if you walk around while video chatting and you can access videos on YouTube with a simple voice command.
Amazon’s operating system is improving, but compared to Google’s, it still lags — a jarring experience if you’re accustomed to the responsiveness of modern smartphones and tablets.
Camera
Both the Show 5 and 8 use a 1MP front-facing camera for video calls, this is quite a bit lower than the 10-inch Show which has 5MP. The biggest show also has Dolby processing and a built-in Zigbee smart home hub, while these make that device the best option, the current price of £159.99 mean it is not worth considering at all, unless a big discount happens later in the week.
While the Show 8 is a clear upgrade from its predecessors, it seems to fall short in one big area: The camera is only 1 megapixel, as opposed to the 5-megapixel camera on the second-gen Show. Lower-megapixel cameras generally produce blurry results, and honestly, I was taken aback when I heard that spec.
But when I video chatted with myself using the second-gen Show and the Show 8, the feed from the 5-megapixel camera actually looked more pixelated than the one captured by the lower-quality cam. Whatever the reason, the lower-quality camera, in this case, actually produced consistently higher quality results for me.
Privacy screen
Both the Echo Show 5 and the Echo Show 8 have the same privacy features. You can disconnect the camera and the microphone with the press of a button, and both devices include a plastic shutter that can slide over the camera for an additional layer of security. This is an improvement over the original Echo Show, which allowed users to disconnect the mic and camera, but did not include a slider.
Aside from these basic hardware features, all versions of the Echo Show can serve as a control center for dozens of other smart devices. Control your lights, security system, smart television, and much more with a spoken command. You will also be able to make Alexa kid-friendly by activating Amazon FreeTime. Amazon FreeTime is a subscription-based service ($2.99 per month) that provides access to thousands of Audible books, kid-friendly videos through Amazon Prime Video, and ad-free radio — all while filtering explicit content and staying kid-friendly.