Best Smart Displays

The Echo Show Premium is everything that its predecessors were but improved across the board. The biggest improvements pertain to the screen and speakers though. Starting with the latter, this device comes armed with two 2.2-inch neodymium drivers that are outputting 10 watts per channel and utilize passive bass radiators. While smart displays' speakers usually are, best-case scenario, satisfying or sufficient, these are quite tremendous. The bass frequencies that these speakers produce have a noticeable bump. The vocal masking that low-end sounds are normally working with is reduced. Besides that, the speakers are excellent are separating instruments, making the music feel more layered and impactful. They can also create a somewhat honest space perception, almost matching mid-range headphones on this front. Last but not least, the speakers support Dolby processing, making the audio more immersive so that the movies almost sound like they do at cinemas.

With the display, one would argue that the biggest improvement is the size, stretching the screen 10 inches. Needless to say, the 1280 x 800p resolution that smart displays are usually working with looks less cluttered on screens around and above 10 inches than on ~8-inch screens. From following recipes to reading text responses and watching movies, the screen makes everything more comfortable.

Of course, you cannot discuss the display without discussing the almost complete design overhaul that this device has received, making the original look clunky and even downright ugly. The bezels have been minimized, the speaker grille has been separated from the screen, and the edges have been rounded, making the model quite an elegant gadget.

Separating Facebook Portal Plus from the Facebook family can be difficult at times but we would recommend even the company's biggest critics to think about it. Sure you still need a Facebook account to use this smart display, a decision that has earned this line some just criticism but, assuming you can look past it, this is quite an awesome device.

First things first, both black and white version look handsome, with the attached kickstand containing the power cord that you can plug into walls using a dedicated power adapter. Owing to this attached kickstand, the display looks clean, sleek, and streamlined.

The 15.6-inch screen is huge, so you can watch movies without feeling like you cannot tell small details apart. What's more, this device comes equipped with a 12-megapixel camera that stretches its field of view 140 degrees, meaning that this is easily the best smart display for corporate calls/conference rooms. The Smart Camera feature that this device's adopting automatically pans and zooms when necessary, keeping up with the action and adjusting the camera so that everyone's in view. Likewise, Smart Sound can enhance individual voices and reduce background noise.

While the camera sits at the top, on the bottom part, you will find two 2-inch tweeters with a 4-inch rear woofer behind them. This is not necessarily the most impressive audio setup but, for the most part, the setup suffices. While the tweeters will not quite be able to produce room-filling sound, the sub will be able to produce a bass response with a decent impact and excellent extension.

The Echo Show 8 hits that sweet spot between the cheapest smart displays that are not cutting it when it matters most and more expensive models that cost around or even above 200 bucks, more than most customers are comfortable with. While the Premium model sits at the top, with its sizable screen, loud speakers, and an equally loud price, the alarm clock-like Echo Show 5 costs much less and easily fits nightstands but cannot quite do everything that people occasionally want from smart displays. The Show 8 has been introduced to split the difference, with its 8-inch screen and the same bass port as well as dual two-inch speakers that the Premium model's offering but at a price that's not quite as steep as the company's flagship smart device.

To start with, this device will not struggle playing videos from various sources, including Hulu. Video calling devices with the Alexa app will not be an issue and playing music from Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and others will not be something you will find challenging. Appearance-wise, the model shares its wedge-shaped profile with the Echo Show line, looking less clunky than the fifth version but not quite as elegant as the tenth iteration. While the screen is not necessarily high-res, its output is bright and easy to see from across the room. Plus, there are sensors on the front that will be automatically adjusting the brightness based on ambient light, which's great, even though the Nest Hub from Google can also tune the colors based on ambient lighting but Google's device is also more expensive and less compact than this one, so there are always trade-offs.

Facebook Portal Smart shares both the good and the bad with its more expensive relative except that this one is working with a 10-inch screen and without the attached kickstand. Apart from that, the differences between the two models are minute.

Both models rely upon an identical camera and microphone systems: a 4-mic array that offers 360-degree beamforming as well as the 12-megapixel camera with its wide (~140 degrees) FoV and <8x digital zoom. In other words, this device sees and hears you anywhere around the room.

While the model's camera is technically immobile, the company's fancy tracking software identifies human shapes and reframes the view automatically. What we're saying is that the camera basically follows you as you're pacing around, moving and zooming its lens. This is an immeasurable improvement that the Amazon's Echo Show line could benefit wonders from. With automatic framing, you can participate in video calls without worrying that you might be standing in the wrong spot, moving freely and knowing that the person you're calling will have no problem hearing and seeing you.

While this is the first time we're reviewing the Echo Show 5, we've talked quite a bit about this device before. As you would imagine, the model shares a few similarities with the Show 8 and even the Show 10, though the second gadget is more advanced and sophisticated across the board, which is understandable considering that the gadget also costs almost 4 times as much as the Show 5.

When you're paying less than 70 bucks, expecting high-end tech is seldom wise. While the more expensive Echo Show iterations are basically tablets with voice assistants, this one comes from a different angle. Much to most people's surprise, voice-controlled smart alarm clocks are a real thing and the Echo Show 5 is Amazon's latest entry into this space, hanging with the still available Echo Spot. Of course, given that this device will cost more than 60 bucks, this is as much a smart display as it is a smart alarm clock.

Aside from a few exceptions, the model can do almost everything that its less affordable Echo Show relatives can do. Sure, the 5.5-inch screen with its 960 x 480p native resolution will not make watching movies an especially enjoyable experience and the single 4-watt speaker will not be able to compete with twin 10-watt speakers that the full-size Echo Show models are using, but these full-size models do not fit nightstands as well as this smart alarm clock. Also, borrowing from the same playbook, the screen here automatically adjusts its brightness, not shining like a lamp at night when you're trying to fall asleep but also not making the on-screen content look washed-out when it is bright and sunny inside and outside. Again, the speaker will not be able to bump tunes at a house party but you should be fine casually to music and podcasts without feeling like the audio is passable at best.