Shane
Ready when you are, Amazon’s Alexa has got the tunes, the info, the news and entertainment, as well as answers to most of your questions.
Alexa is the primary A.I. smartdevice to have in your home, and now Amazon has released a new third generation of their Echo Show 5.
With a brighter and sharper screen than their last model, The unit is roughly the same size with the same display bezel, but the overall body and sound has definitely had a makeover.
Still rectangular in shape the rear of the housing is more contoured. The camera (which can be turned off) has a squared housing.
From the box, connecting up the Amazon Echo Show 5 is super easy. Almost plug and play once you power it up.
If you already have an Alexa in your home, this process will be familiar.
You can set it up via the device’s 5 inch, 960 x 480 touchscreen manually, but easier if you have the Amazon Alexa app.
The app will auto discover the new Alexa device and begin pairing, once connected your WiFi, it’s a few clicks of ‘Next’ and you’re basically done.
Other than being an A.I. that you can converse with, the Echo Show 5 itself can be used as an intercom in your house, if you have another Alexa device.
The 2MP front facing camera also allows you to take video calls and if paired up with a smart doorbell, or security camera’s you can interact with those too (providing that they are compatible with Alexa). The top of the device houses basic audio controls and camera toggle.
The booming crystal clear audio from the Echo Show 5 is louder than it should be from a device of this size.
You can opt to have the Echo Show 5 as a Bluetooth speaker, but if you subscribe to an audio streaming service, sync that up in the app, create a new Skill and have your playlists or podcasts playing with a voice command, ‘Alexa, play my favourite podcast’.
Alexa is able to integrate with most home smart appliances, and is a super reliable alarm clock (which the Echo Show 5 is the perfect size for), reminder assistant and more.
Set skills and routines to personalise Alexa within the app.
The Echo Show 5’s price point is such that it is affordable to anyone to upgrade their home with some A.I. smarts.
Small, ready to tell you the weather, the news through to entertaining the kids and more, Amazon’s Echo Show 5 takes up less of a footprint in your living room, home office or bedroom while retaining the same smarts and wit as it’s larger siblings.
The Amazon Alexa Echo Show 5 (3rd gen) is a definite recommend.
