Amazon is the king of the best smart displays we’ve tested. The brand’s Echo Show line is perfect for watching shows, listening to music, and controlling some of the best smart home devices. These displays come in a variety of options ranging from a 5-inch Echo Show 5 to the sizeable Echo Show 15. But smart home management often takes a backseat to hype and recommendations for new content.
That’s where the new Echo Hub smart home controller comes into play. This Alexa smart display has a clean, fully customizable interface consisting of live widget panels front and center, so you can view multiple live camera feeds, the status of your home devices, and control S. Mount it on your wall just like you would with a smart thermostat or alarm panel and will display the time and your favorite photos from a distance.
Both the Echo Show 8 smart display and Echo Hub are useful additions to any home, but what you should get depends on how you plan to use it and how many connected smart home devices you own. Read on to see a breakdown of the features and costs of both and find which one is best for you.
Echo Hub vs. Echo Show 8: Pricing and options
Editor’s note: This p is based on the original prices of all smart displays, but prices tend to fluctuate due to frequent Amazon sales, which can make one smart display a better deal than the other.
Amazon’s Echo Hub comes in a single 8-inch model for $179.
The Echo Show line comes in four different options, named by their screen size: Echo Show 5 ($65), Echo Show 8 ($149), Echo Show 10 ($199), and the massive Echo Show 15 ($279). .
For this matchup, we’ll be comparing the $179 Echo Hub to the $149 Echo Show 8, since they’re the same size and closer in price and features.
Winner: Echo Show
Echo Hub vs. Echo Show 8: Specs compared
Echo Hub vs Echo Show 8: Design
Amazon’s Echo Hub is an attractive touchscreen panel that’s smaller and flatter than the Echo Show 8. The Echo Hub can be mounted flush to the wall, but can also be placed on a stand. By comparison, the Echo Show 8 is a relatively thick device that needs to be placed on a surface like a counter or shelf.
While both smart displays are equipped with vibrant 8-inch screens, the Echo Show’s beefier 5-inch depth houses much more powerful speakers that fill a room and support spatial audio. Unfortunately, this addition leaves a thick protrusion on the back of the screen and prevents the device from being mounted on the wall.
The Echo Show 8 comes in a black or white option compared to the Echo Hub’s unique glacier white color, but the sleeker Echo Hub outshines it in terms of looks and versatility any day of the week.
Winner: Echo Hub
Echo Hub vs Echo Show 8: Interface
Both smart displays have a similar setup process that involves authenticating the device with a code and then choosing a background photo. That’s where the shared user experience ends.
The Hub’s lightweight interface is well-spaced and completely customizable – it has your inpidual rooms and routines arranged in a list on the left side of the screen so you can quickly jump between them. Meanwhile, you can fill the main p of the screen (center and right side) with dozens of widgets like a multi-camera live feed and controls like the temperature of a smart thermostat. You can add more widgets to the home screen and access them by scrolling to the right. Since you can arrange each widget block, you can move less urgent information, such as the week’s weather forecast, further from the center of the screen. At the bottom of the screen are inpidual device categories that you can rearrange.
On the other hand, Amazon’s Echo Show is more blocked and full of bloat. You can only add four little widget buttons at a time that you tap to access things like your main connections or controls for your favorite smart home devices. That’s an extra step to get things done and the Show feels busier at all times switching between a digital photo frame and a billboard, as you can see in the image above.
Winner: Echo Hub
Echo Hub vs Echo Show 8: Features
The Echo Hub focuses on smart home management with sacrifices that make it a less ideal lifestyle device for consuming media or making video calls, as it lacks decent speakers and a camera.
When it comes to video performance, both share an equally bright display, but the sound is much richer on the Echo Show. Additionally, its built-in camera acts as a security system and video call center.
Video calls
While both Echos can be used as a home intercom system to connect to all your other Echo devices, the Echo Show has a camera for two-way video calls. You can make video calls with it on Alexa or third-party platforms like Zoom.
The Echo Hub doesn’t have any cameras; just a proximity and ambient light sensor to switch from a digital photo frame to a command center when you get close and ensure the screen’s brightness matches the environment.
Customizable interface
Echo Hub’s highly customizable widget-based menu lets you put live information and interactive controls for your most important devices at your fingertips. These widgets are always in view so you can see if your front door’s smart lock is active and keep track of tasks with a calendar and to-do list.
The Echo Show’s main menu is a rotating carousel of images that switches between a digital photo frame and the information it scrolls through. It places four widget buttons in the top right corner, which not only makes it difficult to select these little options, but adds a layer of friction to getting things done.
Activate smart home routines
The Echo Show’s camera can be used as a trigger for smart home automation. For example, if it detects that you’ve entered a room, it can turn on the lights or turn up the smart thermostat. The Echo Hub has a proximity sensor, but it can’t be used as a trigger for smart home automation in the same way.
Spatial audio
The sound on the Echo Hub is acceptable, but it falls flat and completely lacks bass: Amazon encourages you to stream music to your smart speaker or group of connected speakers. The Echo Show has speakers that fill the room with deep noise, spatial audio for layering a space, and richer audio for a better overall media playback experience.
Eero Wi-Fi
Neither Echo Hub nor Echo Show 8 have built-in Eero Wi-Fi support like the latest Echo Dot smart speakers.
Winner: Echo Show
Echo Hub vs. Show: Smart Home Compatibility
Both the Echo Show and Echo Hub will run any Alexa smart home without issue. The Echo Hub doubles as a smart home hub and panel.
Both act as capable smart home hubs with the addition of Zigbee, Thread, and Matter. These protocols help you strengthen your smart home without needing to set up inpidual device hubs, improving action speeds and allowing you to power on your smart home devices when Internet service is off. Plus, you can easily link new smart home devices by telling Alexa to search for devices.
Yes, the Echo Show 8 can do almost everything the Hub can do, but some features give the Hub an advantage. For one, you can view up to six live cameras simultaneously. The Hub also acts as an alarm panel to arm or disarm the Ring security system, which the Echo Show lacks.
Winner: Echo Hub
Echo Hub vs. Show: overall winner
The Echo Show 8’s more versatile set of tools, such as the ability to make video calls and act as a security camera and automation trigger, will give it the edge over the Echo Hub for most people. The Show fits more scenarios, while the Echo Hub is of much more limited value if you don’t have a smart home equipped with devices to control.
That said, the Echo Hub’s better interface and smart home controls make it the stronger choice if you have more than just a handful of smart lights and plugs scattered throughout your home. Between a better design and a richer smart home experience that lets you quickly lower the temperature or dim the lights, the Hub is a device optimized for a busy lifestyle.
The best middle ground between both devices is the Echo Show 15, as long as you have the space for it. This larger, more expensive Echo Show smart display combines the best of both devices with support for live widgets that are always on the screen, as well as a full Fire TV interface in a package that can double as a TV in your kitchen or office. It can even be mounted on the wall. However, its speakers are arguably not as good as those on the Echo Show 8.
Ultimately, your choice comes down to what you’re looking for in a smart display; If smart home device management is your biggest concern, choose the Echo Hub over the Echo Show. But if you want something that also doubles as an entertainment device, the Echo Show 8 is the best option.
- Amazon Echo Hub Review: A Great Alexa Smart Home Controller
- The 15 best Alexa widgets to use on your Amazon Echo Show
- The best home security cameras
