TheEcho Showfirst launched in 2017, designed to add a visual element to the Alexa-powered Echo speakers. Amazon soon diversified the range, rolling through several generations at different sizes. The selection now offers devices from 5 inches up to 15 inches, with the Echo Show 8 sitting in the sweet spot right in the middle.
The Echo Show 8 has the size and sound quality to fill a room without the fuss that comes with the larger Echo Show 10 and its rotating screen. That makes it an attractive proposition and the Echo Show 8 model is likely to appeal to the widest range of buyers.
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, 2023)
The latest Echo Show finds a sweet spot between size, affordability and performance. This is an ideal device for those with an Alexa smart home, delivering great sound, a fresh new design and all that convenience of Alexa voice control.
Price, availability and specs
The Echo Show 8 was announced in September 2023, replacing the2021 version with the same name. It went on sale on 12 July 2025 and surprisingly, byBlack Friday 2023it was already selling at a discounted price. The Echo Show 8 is widely available from retailers, online and offline, although most buyers will likely opt tobuy from Amazon.
Below is a summary of the specs for the Echo Show 8 and you can seehow it compares to the old version right here, where we put both devices head to head.
Design and build
Fresh new design
There’s been a considered redesign to the Echo Show 8, now with a curved mesh-covered back that looks a lot more modern. It’s a little deeper round at the back than before at 106mm with that sculpted mesh giving the internal speakers a little more room to breathe - which is important for boosting the sound quality of this speaker, something that it does well.
The camera now moves front and centre, rather than being offset to one side, while there’s still a pretty big bezel around the edges of that 8-inch screen, but it’s now more seamless and the design matches the recently updatedEcho Show 5.
Controls remain on the top of the device, with a privacy slider that you can use to cover the camera with a physical barrier, while there’s a separate mute button, so you can stop Alexa listening to you. There are volume buttons here too, all with a nice positive action, so you’ll know that you’ve pressed that button. The action of the privacy slider is also nice and crisp: it’s not going to get accidentally knocked open or closed.
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From the front, the Echo Show 8 admittedly doesn’t look too different, but the rear is a lot more eye-catching. It means that you’ll be less bothered about putting it against a wall. Angling it on a work surface, so people can see the rear, isn’t a problem either, because it looks great. The more curvaceous design is welcomed. It’s a refreshing change from the slightly boxy design of previous Show devices.
Display and hardware
A better smart home hub
In terms of display hardware, there are a few differences to the previous Show 8 model. There’s an 8-inch display on the front with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution - or 188ppi if you’re counting. That’s not a high pixel density, but as the Echo Show is the sort of device that you view from a distance, it’s not a huge concern. The user interface is designed around big graphics, so the resolution isn’t a problem.
There’s been a slight change in how the Echo Show will use the display. It’s called Adaptive Content, which uses the camera to detect how far you are from the device and then adjust the content accordingly. When you’re further away, it will be larger and simpler, but when you move closer, you’ll find it changes slightly, adding touch controls, for example. This means that when you’re looking from across the room, the display isn’t cluttered with controls, but when you’re standing in front of it, you can tap the onscreen shortcuts that appear.
It will also use Visual ID - the same system that’s onEcho Show 15- as well asVoice IDto give you a personalised experience. Speak to the Echo Show 8 and if you’ve registered your voice, it will say hello and give you personalised content - like your sports team fixtures, for example.
The Echo Show has a number of pages that it will carousel through, but the experience is at its best when you ask for what you want, and you get it. The shortcuts that do appear on the display aren’t always the fastest to load, but can be useful. Setting the “smart home favourites” is useful for accessing common devices or functions (like boosting the heating), but note that you need to set these favourites in the Alexa app - and they then sync to the Echo Show. Generally, however, I find that the fastest response is via voice and setting up custom voice commands throughRoutinesis often the best way to set the Echo to task.
In terms of hardware, the Echo Show 8 gets a power boost, now with an 8-core chip with the AZ2 Neural Network Engine. This makes things a little faster, although Alexa still operates at a moderate pace and touch responses are at more of a leisurely pace than the latest smartphone. Some of Alexa’s AI functions have also been added onto the device to speed up immediate requests, like asking for a light to be turned on. Amazon says this will speed up Amazon’s response for such tasks by up to 40 per cent, although I can’t say that I’ve noticed a huge difference over other Echo devices in this regard.
The Echo Show 8 has also been boosted when it comes to connectivity. It now contains aZigbee controlleron top of Matter, Thread, Bluetooth andSidewalksupport, so the new Show 8 will be a better smart home controller, if that’s what you want it to do. Previously you’d have to set up devices with a dedicated hub - or connect them to something like theEcho 4-gen speaker- to get that direct control, but now the Echo Show 8 can do it all. That’s quite a boost in functionality and a slight repositioning of Amazon’s mid-sized Show device.
Echo Show audio performance
Room-filing sound
For many people, the Echo Show is all about music. Naturally, you still have access to all those entertainment services that you expect from Amazon and other providers, like Spotify or Apple Music. There’s a pair of two-inch drivers in the rear of the Echo Show 8, with a passive radiator that’s designed to elevate the bass.
I was impressed with the sound performance, with appreciable volume being delivered without distortion. For many people, this will fulfil one of the primary roles of the Echo Show 8, allowing it to fill a room with music. Sure, it won’t touch the Echo Studio for performance and there are better speakers available, but from a device this size, the performance is impressive. It’s also great that it supportsSpotify Connector you can cast from the Amazon Music app - giving your phone control.
There’s noise reduction technology designed to make your video calling clearer - with this model once again offering a 13-megapixel camera that will zoom and pan to keep you in the picture when usingAlexa Calling. That’s one of the attractive features of the Echo Show, it can just become a video calling device, letting you call anyone else in your contacts who hasan Echo device- or even the Alexa app on their phone.
Of course, that means syncing your contacts with Alexa, and it does then mean that anyone in your house can call anyone. There have been a number of times when Alexa has interpreted a request as a call to a particular person, so there’s plenty of potential to make mistakes here. I mentioned the privacy shutter too, and I’m a big fan of the fact that there’s a hardware barrier for the camera. When it’s shut, no one canDrop Inand see what you’re doing. Of course, you’re able to change the settings to disable the Drop In function. Equally, on the flip side, having a camera on an Echo Show means you can monitor your home when you’re away, just by firing up the Alexa app, so you can see what’s going on.
The Echo Show has always been able to show your photos, but Amazon is going to enhance that offering with anEcho Show 8 Photos Edition. This version of the Show 8 is really designed to give you more photo storage, as it comes with 25GB of cloud storage from Amazon Photos. That will mean you’re able to put more into the cloud for the Show 8 to display. It’s a little more expensive at $160, and you’ll get thePhotosPlus subscriptionwhich powers the whole thing free for six months - then renewing at $2 a month. You’ll even be able to invite family members to contribute photos to share on your Echo Show.
The Amazon Echo Show is an affordable visualisation of Alexa, leveraging the voice control that Alexa is so good at, along with a display to give you a little extra. That allows some degree of touch control and interaction, it opens the door to watching things like movies and TV shows, and being able to refer to recipes on the display, as well as getting audible feedback.
The experience of the Echo Show 8 hasn’t changed hugely, but this is a more capable device than the previous iteration. It has more connectivity, so it’s a better smart home hub (if you want this as a hardware controller via Zigbee or Matter), while the design is really what sells the new Echo Show 8 to me - it looks great.
What’s really important is that the Echo Show 8 delivers on sound. Sure, it’s not going to compete with many of the dedicated sound systems on the market, but it still delivers audio that’s rich enough and loud enough to not worry about an alternative sound system for the kitchen. But at its heart, this is about Alexa, and it offers the greatest functionality for those who have a smart home setup in Amazon’s ecosystem.
