As Apple Prepares to Launch Home Hub, Amazon Debuts New Echo Show With 21-Inch Display

[MacRumors]

Amazon today announced the launch of two new Echo Show devices, both of which have large displays. The Echo Show 15 has a 15-inch display and is a replacement for the original Echo Show 15, while the even bigger Echo Show 21 has a 21-inch display. For those unfamiliar with the Echo Show, it is Amazon's smart home control device, serving as a way to control smart home products.

According to Amazon, the Echo Show 21 has nearly double the viewing area of the Echo Show 15. Like other Echo Show products, it can be used for video calls, watching videos, accessing news, managing family calendars, controlling smart home products, viewing photos, and more.

The Amazon Echo Show is compatible with Matter as a controller, and it can connect directly to Wi-Fi, Thread, and Zigbee devices. Amazon's personal assistant, Alexa, is also included for voice-based smart home controls.

Amazon has been making various Echo Show devices for quite some time, and next year, Apple plans to offer a competing product. Apple's smart home "command center" is expected to feature many of the same capabilities as the Echo Show.

It will include a camera for FaceTime, plus it will control HomeKit and Matter devices. Internal speakers will allow for playing music, and it will have Apple apps like Calendar, Photos, Apple News, Apple Music, and Notes. The device won't be as big as Amazon's Echo Show, though, with Apple planning for a six-inch square display.

The upcoming Apple smart home device will have integrated Siri support with Apple Intelligence, and it will have a customizable home screen with widgets that can show things like the weather, upcoming appointments, and important home controls. Built-in sensors will be able to tell when a person is near, and Apple plans to offer both desktop and wall mounting solutions. Multiple hubs could be used throughout the home as intercoms as well.

It's not clear how Apple plans to price the home hub, but Amazon's Echo Show 15 costs $300, and the Echo Show 21 costs $400. Smaller versions are priced as low as $90.

Article Link: As Apple Prepares to Launch Home Hub, Amazon Debuts New Echo Show With 21-Inch Display

 

[contacos]

Not a price point I expected. Well done Amazon.

 

[ShivneelSingh]

NGL, I'd love this in my kitchen, right now I just have an iPad to YouTube recipes/tutorials.

 

[nicwa]

Apple’s version will have rounded corners. Totally different.

 

[SanderEvers]

Can you use these as a PC/mac monitor? Are there USB-C or HDMI input ports?

 

[jandersonhill]

We have a love/hate relationship with these echo devices.

On the one hand, when someone presses the Ring doorbell, a live picture shows up on each floor. The rest of the time, it acts as a picture frame. Bloody brilliant!

On the other hand, Amazon have started using the devices to show adverts that appear impossible to switch off, so it seems we've paid for a set of displays to watch adverts throughout the house. It's a bit like paying for your car to be washed and waxed, only to find the car wash painted their logo on to your rear bumper (it's my bumper, not theirs).

Not impressed.

 

[Pezimak]

Interesting products these things, sadly probably full of Amazon ads. But probably half the price Apples robot thingy will be. Still I’ve turned off all ad stuff in my Echo Show 5 and it’s been great on the bedside.

 

[Mansu944]

It is neat, I am not sure how useful it would be...but Amazon is a non starter.

 

[magicschoolbus]

I enjoy mine; it's by far the one I use the most.

 

[McWetty]

Too bad Amazon peppers the Home Screen with ads and sponsored products that you can’t turn off. I have the original Show 15 and it’s almost perfect… except the damn ads.

 

[ultrafiel80]

I hope Apple enters this product segment... my wife is wanting a digital "frame" to rotate through family photos. She got this idea as some relatives have the Netgear "Meurals", which work petty well but I don't like the aspect ratio or size that much. I've looked into that as well as using a Samsung Frame (32"), but neither is ideal. What would be ideal for us:

1. Size of 24-32 inches, AR 16:9 or 3:2
2. Slim profile, should look like a picture frame
3. Integration with Apple Photos
4. Integration with Calendar
5. Homekit / Matter integration

Obviously, integration with any iCloud services would be a given, but I list them as those are what would be important for us. I'm sure Apple pricing would be expensive, but all the other alternatives are $500+ without good Apple ecosystem benefits. If it could be priced under $1000, but closer to $800 that would be great.

🤞

 

[Baritone_Guy]

I really, really wish Apple supported Zigbee. The only reason I still use Alexa is because of this. The Hue hub could potentially solve this, but I have never been able to get it to work even though the Hue bulbs are actually Zigbee compliant and can talk directly to the Alexa devices albeit with lower functionality.

 

[ipedro]

The first gen is so excruciatingly slow and has just become an ad billboard in my house. I'm looking to replace my Echo Show 15 that I have on my foyer wall with a HomePad if the rumours of a Q1 2025 release are true.

 

[swm]

as someone who didn't turn on the large flatscreen since about a year or two i'd think this is another solution looking for problems. literally everything it can offer can be done with your ipad/iphone. want to have a zigbee/matter/ble/IDK hub? it doesn't need to have a display. you might want to buy new gateways in 1-2 year because a new standard will be the "best", so you will have multiple hubs/gateways anyway.
this will need constant power, so it has to connect to mains or to PoE. the chord will probably visible at all times unless you create a recessed box for it. at least apple would design a proper built-in PSU for it and skip the usual wall-wart approach.

the best thing with your portable stuff that it comes and goes with you. having to walk to a stationary touchscreen all the time to get stuff done - i don't know how it is any better that walking to the switches on the wall.

 

[usmaak]

21" screen with ads vs. 15" screen with ads. Brilliant.

 

[Edgecrusherr]

I would not trust Amazon to use any of their smart devices.

 

[Edgecrusherr]

Not a price point I expected. Well done Amazon.

They're going to subsidize the price by selling user data, ads, as well as using it as a means to sell more products through their store.

 

[kyjaotkb]

I have an Echo Show 10. It's mostly a billboard for Amazon ads that can't be easily turned off. It looks like a tablet and itdoes have a touch screen but touch input is incredibly limited. The interface is slow as molasses in the Arctic. The selection of apps is appalling. Especially here in the UK, nothing apart from Netflix and Prime Video. The app/skill store is dead. It does not have a remote control, which makes it an incredibly poor Netflix watching device. Bottom line it's a piece of junk. Maybe it makes sense to wall mount an iPad - i a dubious - but Amazon's devices are, at best, interesting hardware at competitive price points, crippled by useless software.

 

[TechWhisperer]

I don’t understand this product. Why not just use your iPad period.

 

[dzankizakon]

So one more Apple device to upgrade, update and worry about. I have about 10 Apple computers (3 iPads, 2 MacBooks, 3 iPhones, Apple TV and Apple Watch) and numerous accessories but adding another device that my other devices are perfectly capable of emulating does not make sense.

 

[Scotticus]

So let me get this straight - I can only get one iPhone model that's smaller than 6 inches (the SE), but they're going to launch a product that would actually benefit from being larger... at 6 inches?

 

[CalMin]

I would have been all over this, but Amazon insists on using my current echo show as a billboard (that I paid for!). More recently it even chimes when it thinks that it has an offer I “would love”

No thanks Amazon.

 

[leicaman]

The choice will come down to, "Do you want 21" wide ads on your device or not."

I think I'll just buy a cheap tablet and use Home Assistant to do what I want.

 

[SoldOnApple]

Wonder if it's bright enough to actually function as a digital photo frame in a bright sunlight room.

 

[LarryB08]

Amazon today announced the launch of two new Echo Show devices, both of which have large displays. The Echo Show 15 has a 15-inch display and is a replacement for the original Echo Show 15, while the even bigger Echo Show 21 has a 21-inch display. For those unfamiliar with the Echo Show, it is Amazon's smart home control device, serving as a way to control smart home products.

According to Amazon, the Echo Show 21 has nearly double the viewing area of the Echo Show 15. Like other Echo Show products, it can be used for video calls, watching videos, accessing news, managing family calendars, controlling smart home products, viewing photos, and more.

The Amazon Echo Show is compatible with Matter as a controller, and it can connect directly to Wi-Fi, Thread, and Zigbee devices. Amazon's personal assistant, Alexa, is also included for voice-based smart home controls.

Amazon has been making various Echo Show devices for quite some time, and next year, Apple plans to offer a competing product. Apple's smart home "command center" is expected to feature many of the same capabilities as the Echo Show.

It will include a camera for FaceTime, plus it will control HomeKit and Matter devices. Internal speakers will allow for playing music, and it will have Apple apps like Calendar, Photos, Apple News, Apple Music, and Notes. The device won't be as big as Amazon's Echo Show, though, with Apple planning for a six-inch square display.

The upcoming Apple smart home device will have integrated Siri support with Apple Intelligence, and it will have a customizable home screen with widgets that can show things like the weather, upcoming appointments, and important home controls. Built-in sensors will be able to tell when a person is near, and Apple plans to offer both desktop and wall mounting solutions. Multiple hubs could be used throughout the home as intercoms as well.

It's not clear how Apple plans to price the home hub, but Amazon's Echo Show 15 costs $300, and the Echo Show 21 costs $400. Smaller versions are priced as low as $90.

Article Link: As Apple Prepares to Launch Home Hub, Amazon Debuts New Echo Show With 21-Inch Display

I am not sure why everyone is complaining about being bombarded with Amazon ads. I have been using the Echo Show 15 almost since its time of release and I have never seen anything displayed on its screen that I hadn't chosen to see.

If you swipe down from the top of the screen and choose "Settings" and then select "Home Content," there are myriad options you can easily turn on and off. For example, in this section, I have turned off things like "Alexa Suggests" and "Shop." Perhaps this is why I have never seen an advertisement for anything from Amazon or anyone else on the Echo Show's screen.