Large enough to show you what’s important, but small enough to tuck out of the way, the 3rd-gen Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) ensures that Alexa is always there when you need her.
Smart screens are a great way to bring smart assistants to life around your home, so they can both show and tell when answering your queries. While Amazon is the smart home king in the US, it’s still a bit of an underdog here in Australia even though it offers more smart speaker and screen options locally than Google and Apple combined.
We’ve reached the point where each new smart screen is typically an evolution rather than a revolution. Such is the case with the new 3rd-generation Echo Show 5, following on from the 2021 Echo Show 5 (2nd gen) and original 2019 Echo Show 5.
Just to make things confusing, Amazon calls it the “all-new” Echo Show 5. This model is $50 more expensive than its predecessor, so what do you get in return?
Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) review
Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) first impressions
As the name suggests, the Amazon Echo Show 5 sports a 5.5-inch 960×480 pixel touchscreen, the same as the 2nd-gen, but the body has undergone a slimline redesign.
The 2nd-gen featured a thick frame around the screen, which incorporated the buttons across the top. The frame was around 10 mm deep, after which the mesh body tapered away to the back.
The new 3rd-gen does away with this thick frame. There’s still a bezel around the screen at the front, albeit slightly smaller, but behind it, the mesh body starts tapering off straight away. This leaves the buttons on the mesh, although they’re slightly further apart and thus easier to distinguish with your fingers.
You’re still presented with the three standard Echo buttons: volume up, volume down and microphone mute. The latter also disables the 2 MP camera, which hasn’t had a resolution bump with the new model. When mute is enabled, an orange line appears across the bottom of the display.
Alternatively, you can slide across the physical lens cover to disable the camera but not the microphone, so you can still talk to Alexa.
As a result of redesigning the frame, the 3rd-gen’s screen sits on a slightly more upright angle and rests against the tabletop. Whereas the 2nd-gen had a hidden grill under the screen, that’s gone on the new model.
When it comes to sound you’re still relying on a single 1.7-inch speaker, but Amazon has improved the quality. As part of this, the sound now comes out of the sloped back of the device, rather than the bottom of the device. Amazon has also reengineered the 2 far-field microphone array.
Things have also changed at the rear. You’re still missing the original Show 5’s 3.5 mm audio output on the back, although it’s possible to connect an external speaker via Bluetooth.
This time around you also lose the rear micro-USB port, although it was a service port and couldn’t charge devices. It’s a shame Amazon couldn’t include a proper USB port for charging your smartphone without the need to tie up another bedside power point.
Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) specifications
| Display | 5.5-inch 960×480 pixel touchscreen |
| Camera | Front 2-megapixel |
| Microphone | 2 far-field |
| Speakers | 1 × 1.7-inch |
| Wi-Fi | Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac wifi |
| Bluetooth | Yes |
| Processor | MediaTek MT 8169 B |
| Dimensions | 147 mm W x 91 mm D x 82 mm H |
| Weight | 456 gm |
| Colours | Charcoal, cloud blue, white |
| Price | $169 RRP |
| Warranty | 1 year |
| Official website | Amazon Australia |
Features
The latest Amazon Echo Show 5 offers faster performance than its predecessors thanks to its AZ2 Neutral Edge processor, which helps with voice recognition, although the menus are still sluggish at times.
In terms of features, a slight menu redesign makes it more user-friendly, but the new device doesn’t really do anything new compared to the 2nd-gen Echo Show 5. That said, it’s hard to complain when this little smart screen was already capable of so much.
You’d primarily use the Show 5 to channel the spirit of Alexa to answer your queries and control smart devices around your home. It supports the new Matter standard but doesn’t have built-in Zigbee like some of the large Echo Show devices.
Apart from that, the Show 5’s key use cases revolve around communication and entertainment. When it’s sitting idle, it can double as a digital photo frame and you might use it as a kitchen or bathroom clock radio.
The Show 5 would also make for a handy bedside alarm clock. The ambient lighting feature automatically dims the screen after dark, plus there’s a sunrise option that gradually brightens the screen in the morning.
In a busy household, one of Show 5’s most useful features is an intercom for making announcements such as calling everyone to the dinner table. Another great feature is the ability to check the video from Amazon’s Ring cameras, including Ring video doorbells, and let you know when someone rings the doorbell.
The screen and camera are also handy for making video calls, both within the house and beyond. Of course, that’s assuming that the Show 5 lives in a convenient location, or you’re prepared to sit in front of it for a while.
Amazon sells an optional stand that helps with angles (which you can see in one of the images). Unfortunately, the camera can’t take advantage of auto-framing, like some of the larger Echo Show devices, which keeps you in the centre of the shot as you move around.
Amazon’s optional “Drop-In” feature can automatically answer incoming video calls from select family and friends, but it’s wisely disabled by default. There’s also the ability for you to access the camera from afar to check out what’s happening in a room. It’s disabled by default and to enable it you need to authorise your access via an SMS or email message.
If you’re watching the live feed, “A household member is viewing your camera” appears on the screen alongside a stop button. The person watching you can also hear you and speak to you, or they have the option to set Do Not Disturb mode or simply close the camera slider.
There’s the option to add an announcement chime when you start watching a room, and blur the first few seconds of the video, something which should also be enabled by default.
When it comes to entertainment, you can listen to Amazon Music, Audible, Apple Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio and RadioApp. As for video, you watch Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and some catch-up services. YouTube is available, but it runs in Amazon’s Silk browser.
Keep in mind that Amazon lacks the equivalent of Google’s Chromecast for streaming music and video from other devices.
Realistically, you’re not likely to watch movies and TV shows on such a tiny screen. Instead, you’re more likely to use it for watching news bulletins and perhaps recipe walk-throughs.
Quality
The Amazon Echo Show 5 offers the same screen as its predecessor, but Amazon has upgraded the speaker. As a result, voices don’t sound as muffled, whether you’re talking to Alexa or listening to the radio.
There’s also an improvement when it comes to music playback. While the bass doesn’t have much more kick, it offers a slightly richer, more full-bodied overall sound. It also throws the sound a little further and wider than the 2nd-gen, thanks in part to the fact the speaker now fires upwards from the back rather than downwards into the tabletop.
The sound quality is not bad for background music or radio, but it’s certainly not up to the task of really rocking a room.
Who is the Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) for?
If your smart home is on Team Alexa then chances are you’ve got the perfect spot to put the Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) to work. With its small footprint and large feature set, it would certainly prove useful – especially if you’d make the most of the camera features.
If you’ve already got the 2nd-gen Echo Show 5, you wouldn’t bother upgrading just for the slight improvement in sound quality. It’s more tempting to upgrade from the original Echo Show 5 which only featured a lowly 1 MP camera.
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