Amazon Echo Show 15 Smart Display (Review)
In addition to being multiple times larger and more unique than its predecessor. The Echo Show 15 also has face-detection capabilities, making it a useful information hub for everyone in the house. While there are some downsides, such as its poor audio and camera quality, limited widgets, and lack of face detection, other Echo Show devices will offer both features.
There are other Echo Shows available from Amazon that might be better. Unless you specifically need one to hang on your wall. There is a difference in price between the Echo Show 8 and the Echo Show 15 for sale, and the Echo Show 8 offers superior speakers at half the price. Its motorized base allows its cameras to follow you around the room, making the Echo Show 10 the best model for video calls.
Designed to be mounted
With a height-width-distance measurement of 9.9 by 15.8, the Echo Show 15 weighs 4 pounds, 4 ounces. It looks like framed art that has been matted. With a matte black metal bezel surrounding the screen, a 15-inch screen has a white border with a 0.7-inch white border.
It looks like a white matte border with the only element punctuating it being a 5MP camera in the left corner. A physical camera cover switch and buttons for microphone mute, volume down, and volume up are located on the edge of the frame to the left of the camera. An Echo Show 15 mounting bracket and four screw holes are located on the back of the device. Micro USB ports and a power connector are housed in a circular recess.
It is possible to mount the Echo Show horizontally or vertically on your wall thanks to the included mount and hardware. However, it cannot be placed on a table like most smart displays due to its narrow depth. In order to test the stand, Amazon sent it to us. Despite its simple design and heavy construction, the Echo Show 15 is stable in either landscape or portrait orientation thanks to its black matte foot.
The stand’s mounting arm can be tilted up to 30 degrees by a hinge. When you put the Echo Show 15 on a table, it loses its greatest appeal: that it can be hung on the wall.
Widgets on a big screen
A 15-inch touch screen with 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution is a feature of the Echo Show 15. Compared to Facebook Portal+’s 16.6-inch, 2,160-by-1,440 screen, ours is a bit smaller and less sharp, but it still looks great. As a smart display, it looks quite colorful and bright, although its contrast and color cannot be measured like in TVs. Although it doesn’t seem to offer any kind of high dynamic range (HDR) or color space comparable to a 4K TV, don’t expect the kind of display you would expect from a good 4K TV.
With the large screen, you can easily access media and information with widgets at-a-glance. A number of tile-based widgets can be arranged in two rows when you view the Echo Show 15. A total of 14 different widgets are currently available on the website, including calendars, maps, reminders, shopping lists, settings for smart devices, sticky notes, and weather reports. While only a few use the touchscreen to its full potential, it’s modest, but useful collection. Smart display, for instance, provide visual information about radio stations, while smart home widgets control lights.
Alexa Remains Helpful
You can use the Echo Show 15 to use all of the usual Alexa commands. You can ask Alexa anything by just saying “Alexa.” Such as checking your calendar, opening various apps, and getting the weather report, you can ask Amazon’s voice assistant anything. Several smart home devices work with Alexa, including home security cameras and video doorbells. We like its ability to show live video feeds directly from those devices.
There are also plenty of ways to communicate with Alexa. If you have an Echo or Echo Show device or the Alexa app on your smartphone, you can make calls anywhere, including within your household, using Amazon’s Drop-In feature. You can initiate Skype voice and video calls outside of Amazon’s platforms, and Zoom will be added in early 2022; to call North American and United Kingdom numbers, you must use a standard number; but not a three-digit number (including emergency services).
The camera and audio are not the best
There is a surprising lack of advanced camera technology in the Echo Show 15, compared to the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 10. As a result of its modest 5MP sensor (and without the motorized tracking of the Echo Show 10), it lacks the auto-framing abilities of the others. When provided with proper lighting, Amazon’s video call and photo booth capabilities are solid, but the camera seems underwhelming.
Its narrow design is also a reason for its lack of audio power. There are two 1.6-inch drivers in this speaker, which is smaller than the two 2 inches in the Echo Show 8 (as well as the 3-inch woofer and two 1-inch tweeters in the Echo Show 10). In spite of its lack of bass power, this speaker is suitable for idle listening, but it will not power a party or provide a full experience of music.
On the wall, echo, echo
An attractive smart display, the Amazon Echo Show 15 mounts easily on a wall. Although we like the size of the screen and widgets, we’re not blown away by its audio or camera performance. The Echo Show 8 is better sounding. It has better camera quality and costs half as much as the Echo Show 7. It offers better audio and mechanical tracking for video calls than the Echo Show 15, meanwhile, for the same price. You can mount the Echo Show 15 like a piece of art if you are looking for a smart display.
