By Sonya Davidson
We are inundated with devices all year round. Devices that can entertain, keep us organize, keep our homes in check and keep us connected with our friends and family. We keep them in our pockets like umbilical cords. Can’t live without them. I know. I’m down deep in that rabbit hole too. But I am someone who embraces technology when it can make my life easier, better, and smarter.
As the consumer and end user, I want to know what a device does and how it works. The latest addition to my home is the Amazon Echo Show (second generation). Think of it as your virtual assistant with Alexa at the helm ready and waiting to make your day. We have the device sitting prominently on the kitchen counter - yes, high traffic area. Why? Because when I first saw the device at a preview event I was already loving the design and quality of sound. I knew it would serve its best purpose in a high traffic area in my home. The kitchen, and main floor area, is where I spend 90% of my time when I’m home. It made sense. I usually have music playing in the background while I work, cook or entertain. Echo Show does more than that, so let’s break down what I love most about this device.
DESIGN:
While this is tablet size that features a bigger 10.1-inch touchscreen it certainly is more solid than the average. Rather than a thin portable device, this one is designed to stay put. With eight built in speakers in the back of the device, the Echo Show sits firmly in place. I don’t have to worry about it being knocked over. And the display is sharper with higher resolution than the first gen.
Like other Echo devices, it’s built with Alexa in mind, a virtual assistant that takes voice commands for “skills”. What’s impressive is that I don’t have to stand directly next to the device, she can recognize and hear me from any direction. I can literally be in another room in the house on the main floor and give Alexa my commands thanks to its far-field voice recognition.
There are three small buttons located on top for manual volume control, muting and shutting down the device completely. But the display also will adjust to lighting based on the room it’s in and time of day. At the end of the day I just say goodnight to Alexa and she dims right down.
SOUND:
Sound quality is important to our family since we have music playing all the time. This Echo Show I’ve added on Amazon Music but FYI, you need to set it up on the device. The $3.99 per month/Canadian subscription is reasonable for the amount of time I spend listening to music. You can also play music from Spotify. I’ve just asked Alexa to play R&B and she has a continuous playlist that runs as long as I want without commercials or interruptions.
SHOW ME STUFF:
Yes, you can watch your favourite shows say, from your Amazon Prime Video account (but not Netflix) while you’re waiting for your cookies to bake. You can also ask Alexa to give you a daily topline of important news, create your shopping list, check your calendar, show you the weather, recipes etc. A real conversation starter is asking Alexa to tell you something weird or random. There are funny prompts on the bottom of the screen the rotate suggestions if you need a diversion.
SMART HOME CONNECTED:
Stay in control with many of your smart home devices like asking Alexa to show you who’s at the door if you have, for example, Ring installed. You can also control light settings, view connected cameras, baby monitors and thousands more everything from this device. You can create routines too.
WHAT ELSE CAN IT DO?
Lots! I'm still discovering how it complements my daily life and so far, it's been really handy to have around.
You can also make calls/video calls directly from this device. Having said that, you also have the option to turn off the camera feature in the settings.
I really loved how the Echo Show synced with my audible.ca account allowing me to pick up listening from where I had left off on my downloaded audio books from my iPhone.
Some more info…
- Screen measures 10.1 inches
- 720P full screen HD display
- 5 megapixel, front facing camera
- Comes with an power adapter
- Comes in charcoal or sandstone