Should YOU Buy the NEW Echo Show 8 3rd Gen? (2023)

Amazon has updated the Echo show 8 with improved sound, spatial audio, adaptive content and more. For the smart home there is not a Zigbee hub, Matter Controller and Thread border router built in. You can also take advantage of the new widgets on the screen.

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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:36 What is New
01:57 Using the Camera
03:15 Interface Updates
04:36 Clean the Screen
05:39 Faster Display?
06:33 Gestures
06:53 Adaptive Content
07:34 The Sound Upgrade
09:43 New Smart Home Features
10:34 Performance
10:58 Recommendations

#EchoShow8 #EchoShow #craigstechtalk

[strongerthaneverph]

So thoughtful that you muted the "Alexa" to avoid triggering our Echos haha

[tylorlenart]

I ordered both the echo show 8 and the show 5 today. I have two echo's in my house currently. Both the Echo Dot. So, a long waited upgrade. The Echo 8 will go in the kitchen and the echo 5 will go in my bedroom. Thank you for the review.

[mjcz]

Didn’t have much luck with the 3rd Gen Show 8. The screen displayed “loading” and would not advance. I tried resetting, unplugging for 30 or 40 seconds. Nothing seemed to work. Too bad, I was looking forward to the upgrades on this unit. Back to my Gen 1.

[josephbennett]

The cards rotating on the displays helps to protect the screen from burn-in ghost images from static images on screen I'd keep the cards on just for safety if i had one.

[davidfarrell]

How do I get echo show to display the next calendar item on the home screen. The calendar is syncing fine and I can say show calendar and it does but I cant get it to display any upcoming appointments on the home screen that i can see without clicking somewhere. Seems a bit silly. Is it not capable or need someting enabled ?

[NathanBudd]

I want this exclusively to be used as a photo frame for my nan who lives in a different town.

I'm going to turn off the mic and camera.

Is there any reason to buy this over the gen 2 for that reason?

[romantashevRT]

Old one - now - 70 Euros, new one - 165 Euros. Does it really need to consider?

[joek]

On the 3rd gen can the clock on the home screen be relocated or is it still stuck in the bottom left corner? My bed blocks the left corner but I can see the right corners. Would be nice to see the clock without having to sit up in bed.

[AlessiaZordan-ygbm]

Thanks for the very useful video! I was wondering about the battery to move it around the city: somehow all the betteries I see are for 2/3rd generation and I was wondering if these will be compatiple? Thanks

[adonaivictor]

I bought one years ago and noticed I could make the entire screen a digital clock…. Can I still not do that???

[ebeale]

Why does Amazon send a white cord with the black device? It would look much better with a black cord.

[spare]

Hi ! Great review..Do you know when its going to be available in canada ?

[cherylallison]

Does it have more movie apps like hulu max etc i love netflix but i like the others too?

[seb]

Thanks Craig! Is there a way to show a full screen clock?

[dankelley]

Craig, great review on the new Echo Show 8. I have a couple year old echo show 10, I know it doesn’t have the hub, but wondering if it’ll have these newer feature? With the new thread/matter feature, how do you know if the device your trying to connect will work with this hub if it’s matter capable? Thanks

[zachz]

Does it still have picture-in-picture built into the software?

Not a fan of picture-in-picture at all, so if they got rid of it or even just a way of turning the feature off I would consider purchasing again.

[derekpeake]

You mentioned that the sound quality is a bit better on the standard Echo (spherical). Do you know how the sound on this new Echo Show compares to the third gen standard Echo (cylindrical)? That’s what I have now and the sound is great throughout my very open and connected kitchen/living room areas. But I’m hoping to have at least the same quality of sound with an Echo screen…without paying $200+. I really just want to see album art while playing music but I’m sure my family would enjoy other aspects of having a screen

[garyhenderson]

Have recently returned my Echo Show 8 first Gen as a Trade in, preparing for the Echo Hub. The third Gen is slightly more interesting now that it has Smart home support and also Zigbee and Matter on board. Will however wait until the Hub is released to see what it offers more for the extra few bucks. Amazons adverts are becoming a big turnoff for their system. Would love to see Aqara offer some speaker/screen options and then I would drop Amazon products completely.
Would like to see some comparison videos of the Show 8 3rd gen versus the Echo Hub when launched to see the differences they are offering.

[SRX]

I recently got the new Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen). I also have the 1st gen. On my 1st Gen while connected to my bluetooth earbuds I can tap the earbuds and pause, skip or go back while listening to music on Pandora. I tried this on the new 3rd gen and it's not working. Was this feature removed from the 3rd Gen Echo Show 8 or is there a setting I need to adjust?
Update - I just hooked up my old 1st gen Echo Show 8 and even though it's slower my bluetooth devices work properly with it. I can adjust the volume, pause, play, track forward and track back all with my bluetooth devices. This 3rd gen is being returned.

[hecntina]

Thanks for the detailed review. I'm upgrading from the gen 1 to this one for only $50, with trade-in promo. The improvements seem iterative, rather than having major innovations, but that's the norm nowadays (e.g., Apple & Samsung).