Amazon has just updated the Echo Show 8 and it doubles as a Smart Home Hub
The 3rd generation of Amazon's Echo Show 8 combines the best features of both the Echo Show and the Echo Hub for your smart home.
I read a report recently that despite selling hundreds of millions of Echo speakers, Amazon's smart speaker business is losing billions of dollars. I doubt the third generation of Echo Show 8 will turn that around, but it's interesting to see the developments in the context of the category's financial challenges.
The Echo Show 8 3rd gen is a bit of a cross between the last generation of Echo Show 8 and the Echo Hub.
It features some minor hardware improvements and a bit of a redesign with the new model. A faster processor promises to answer requests up to 40% faster, according to Amazon.
The 13MP camera now offers automatic framing for video calls, and there's a better speaker system inside which can adapt to your room for filling it with immersive spatial audio.
But the biggest development is on the smart home front. The Echo Show 8 (3rd gen) now offers support for Matter, Zigbee and Thread protocols directly, so you can have comprehensive smart home control without needing an additional hub.
It also offers the same adaptive content experience, which shows more useful and engaging content and info as you approach the speaker, and offers shortcuts to the most frequently used content or services.
Amazon takes it a step further here as well thanks to the integrated camera, offering a personalised experience for anyone enrolled with a visual ID.
Given that was something I longed for with the Echo Hub, it seems like an positive inclusion, so long as you're prepared to leave the camera open on the speaker.
Pricing and availability
The third generation of the Echo Show 8 is available to pre-order from today, with shipping beginning on August 22.
It will be available in Glacier White and Charcoal colours, and will have an RRP of $249.
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