I love my Echo Show 5. It’s a smart home device and Alexa skill machine. I thought the Echo Show 8 was interesting, but not compelling enough to upgrade my product. So I went with the 5. It’s great for my home and family.
How do they compare, what is the difference between them, what are their pros and cons? I will answer all these questions to the best of my knowledge in this article. The table below shows you which features are still available on the Echo Show 5 and which are available on the Echo Show 8.
They both use the same far-field microphone technology. The speakers of both use the Smart Speaker Connector, which lets you connect other speakers or a phone for hands-free Alexa. Both support multiple far-field microphones, which let Alexa hear you even if you’re not directly in front of the device. They also both support Wi-Fi calling and make calls to landlines.
The Echo Show 8 has better microphones for better sound quality. But there are a lot of reasons to stay with the 5.
Key Difference between Echo Show 5 vs 8
Here are 5 reasons why you may want to stay with the Echo Show 5
1. A Better Speaker
Echo Show 5 has a soundbar on it. Echo Show 8 has built-in speakers. While you can use external speakers on the 5, they are much less enjoyable. The built-in speaker is better in all ways. It’s louder, has better bass, and sounds just much nicer.
The bar doesn’t have enough of bass to really move furniture around in the room. For that, the built-in speaker does a better job. There are some ways around this though. I had better luck just turning off the bar.
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Blue Snowball microphone.
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That makes the sound of music or books a bit better, but the sound coming from the built-in speaker is superior in all other ways.
2. More Control
The 5 has a much better control experience than the 8. It lets you do much more. For one, it can connect to most screens, which you can get on the 8.
3. Alexa
Both the 5 and 8 support Alexa. But the 5 can have “interactive content”. Alexa is actually smart enough to know when there is a screen next to you. And can control it. That’s very useful if you have a smart TV or Google Home. It just makes it better.
4. Voice Assist
The 8 has an amazing voice assist. Alexa is better at finding things, using contextual commands, and answering questions. The 5 is better for the basics like changing the volume or turning on and off the TV.
So for voice assist, the 5 is better. It’s just a bit annoying when the 5 is trying to do the same thing as the 8 when you ask it to do something.
The 5 also has a much more advanced voice system. The 8 really uses Alexa as a smart speaker, when it should really be using Alexa as a dumb one. The 5 uses Alexa as the voice assistant and the smart speaker. That makes a much more natural experience for all the things Alexa can do.
Echo Show 5
In the past, the Google assistant was very useful when recording messages, but I found that it has now become limited when it comes to recording phone calls. The echo show 5 is a portable and smart speaker that combines Google home and Google assistant. This smart speaker is also highly versatile. Echo show 5 users can talk to their personal assistant just like they do with their Google home. But the echo show 5 also acts like a smart display that responds to voice commands. And because it is also a portable speaker, you can play your favorite music and YouTube video on the portable speaker wherever you go.
The echo show 5 features a built-in smart speaker that can play music, make calls, connect to the internet, play YouTube videos, and much more. It has seven microphones and 12 far-field speakers that are used to let the device connect to the internet and connect to any device using Bluetooth. Its three microphones also make it a great home security device. You can also connect your phone or tablet to the echo show 5 to control the device through voice commands. To help you control the device, the echo show 5 has five buttons, including volume control buttons, a button that turns the device on or off, and a microphone button.
This portable smart speaker features a 7-inch touch screen that is used to control the device, and it is the most useful feature of the echo show 5. The 7-inch display has a 1366 x 768 resolution and is used to play music, videos, control the device, and much more. It is also used to take photos and videos using the built-in camera. If you want to see all of the connections on the echo show 5, then you can always see them on the device. The two right-facing connection ports are used for the AUX input and the headphones output. Both of these ports are used for charging the echo show 5 and for using headphones.
The echo show 5 has a speakerphone, and this feature is pretty amazing for a portable device. The speakerphone has a noise reduction technology that makes the echo show 5 loud and clear. It also has a microphone that has a wide-beam pickup pattern. This means that the echo show 5 can connect to the internet with a wide-range of distance from the device. The echo show 5 has a voice privacy feature that blocks the microphone from picking up voices in the same room as you. It also has a volume limit that lets you control the amount of sound that your voice gets picked up. And it has Bluetooth compatibility. You can connect this device to any device that uses Bluetooth technology.
The echo show 5 has a 3.5 mm audio port and a micro USB port. If you are a Mac user, then you may find this device to be very useful because it has Airplay compatibility. The echo show 5 also has a USB connection that lets you use your PC to play music and download apps. This is very useful when you are on the road or are away from a computer. You can also listen to your favorite music by connecting your favorite music streaming apps.
The speakerphone has a battery capacity of 60 hours, and this is one of the best features of this portable speaker. This means that you can talk on the phone for an entire weekend and still have a couple of hours of talk time left. The audio quality of the echo show 5 is great. It has multiple microphones that are used to pick up the voice of the person on the other end of the call. The speakerphone has also been designed with quality speakers and the audio of the echo show 5 is crystal clear. If you are using headphones, then you will not notice any audio dropout or low quality audio.
The echo show 5 has a volume control that lets you control the volume of your music or any other audio file. This feature is the best thing about the echo show 5, and it lets you have a really clear audio output when using headphones. The echo show 5 has five buttons, including a volume control button, a button that turns the device on or off, and a microphone button. These buttons are used to make voice calls and to use the voice assistant feature of the device.
Echo Show 8
At first blush, the Show 8 does everything and more. It’s louder than any other Echo or smart speaker. You can make video calls, and with just a tap on your phone, use the display to make notes or read through your favorite ebooks. As its name suggests, you can use it to search the Internet, read your news, and watch Amazon Prime Video. It supports Alexa skills, third-party voice control apps, and smart home routines, not to mention its own skill category: built-in device support. The Echo Show 8 has a dedicated TV remote as well, and includes one extra-long battery. All in, it’s quite the package.
But in terms of features, it doesn’t pack anything new. It’s an update to a previously great device that does many things with more than enough ease. But the Echo Show 8’s strongest attribute is its simplicity. In fact, the real innovation of the Show 8 might be how similar it is to the Amazon Fire TV.
The Show 8 has a built-in speaker that produces good quality audio. But it also works with headphones, a detachable add-on called the JBL speaker dock, and a Bluetooth version that plugs into your phone.
The speaker’s primary purpose is to produce sound, which it does quite well. No surprises there. The Echo Show 8 also has a built-in mic to allow you to make calls using your mobile devices. Alexa also offers a surprisingly powerful speech recognition feature, and can play music and podcasts on the Show 8.
To power everything, Amazon provides an internal 8-hour battery. The original Echo speaker has a little over 6 hours of battery life, and the Echo Dot speaker is nearly two. If you’re on the Show 8 for a long time, you can find yourself without a charge by the end of the day. With over two hours of continuous use, it’s at least a middle-of-the-road product.
Echo Show 5 Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Good size for a smart display.
- Voice Assistants are really great.
- When Amazon says their speaker can learn your habits, it will.
Cons:
- Lacks much of the functionality that the Echo Spot and the Sonos One offers.
- Lacks any sort of battery backup.
- Low quality video content.
Echo Show 8 Pros & Cons
Pros
- Smart display and a home hub
- Ability to “smile to the camera”
- Animated 3D images
- Voice control
- Multiple front-facing speakers
- If you own a 5- or 8-inch tablet, this Echo Show 8 can turn it into an Alexa device
Cons
- Unreliable mic and speaker
- Image quality is low at times
- Lack of microphone and speaker for other devices (Alexa-enabled smart home speakers excluded)
- Amazon also has a separate Echo Show 8 Kids Edition with its own set of pros and cons. Learn more about that here.
Verdict
I like Alexa a lot. If I could have two, I would definitely have a 5 and an 8. I like both. I just like the 8 more. And I like my 5 for all the basic stuff. And my 8 for when I want to be able to talk to it like a smart speaker.
Overall, the 5 and 8 are both great products. I’d have a hard time making a choice. But I do like the Alexa system better in the 8.
