Alexa With a Screen

The entire purpose of Echo devices, of course, is to enable hands-free use of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. Echo Show smart displays add visual information to the vocal responses. Just say “Alexa,” (or "Amazon," "Computer," "Echo," or, oddly enough, "Ziggy") and ask a question or make a request. You can choose among several English-speaking Alexa voices, including male and female respondents with American, Australian, British, or Indian accents, and also adjust the speed at which they speak.

Middling Music, Strong Speech

Like with the echo pop and other smaller smart devices, the Echo Show 5 tamps down deep bass response with some manner of digital signal processing (DSP) to prevent it from damaging the drivers. It aggressively reduced bass when played at high volumes. On our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the bass synth notes were muted, and the kick-drum hits leaned toward distortion and sounded uncomfortably poppy. Turning the volume down slightly helped reduce the pop, but it didn’t improve the low-frequency response. This kind of performance is common on small devices.