Echo Show 15, Full HD 15.6″ smart display for family organization with Alexa

10 reviews for Echo Show 15, Full HD 15.6″ smart display for family organization with Alexa

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Evan – 1 October 2022

   Gorgeous Display, Average Speakers, and QuickI returned my Echo Show 10 because I hated the automatic rotating display, and bought this instead. The display on the 15 is big, bright, and beautiful, but lacks the adaptive color temperature found on the Show 8 and 10, which is really disappointing for a device that looks like a picture frame. Still, I haven’t been disappointed with the resolution on the 15 despite standing so close to it most of the time I use it. My family pictures look great, and videos play in native 1080p.I’m excited for the Fire TV update coming sometime towards the end of 2022 and can’t believe this thing didn’t launch with that feature. It’s practically a tiny TV already, which is why I wanted it for my kitchen counter. If you have the space, I say go bigger 100% of the time. It’s vast compared to the Show 8 and 10 I’ve tried previously.The sound quality is a bit disappointing. The Show 15 is relatively thin (much more so compared to other Echo Show devices) so it makes sense, because where were the engineers supposed to put bigger, better speakers? However, I don’t use the 15 to listen to music—I have a Sonos Move in my kitchen for that and the difference in sound quality is night and day. But I mainly use the Show 15 to watch YouTube (using the Silk browser, which let’s be honest, sucks compared to a native app) and Prime Video/Netflix. For video consumption the speakers are perfectly adequate. They mostly lack any meaningful bass, but dialogue is clear enough, and for streaming content in the background while I cook for myself or feed the dogs, the speakers are good enough. I just highly recommend you don’t compare the speakers to a Sonos speaker or even the Echo Show 10 (or 8) because in that situation it’s impossible not to be a little bummed out.I’ve been impressed with the responsiveness of the touch screen and the speed of Alexa results, which is directly thanks to the newest processor inside. Echo Show devices have always been slow and stuttery when navigating menus and settings, but the Show 15 is definitely an improvement over the previous generation of Shows. I can’t speak for the camera quality because I use FaceTime to video call people, but I imagine if you’re a hardcore Echo Show video caller you’d want the Show 10 or 8 which both have better cameras that automatically keep you in frame. The Show 15 doesn’t do that.Overall, I’m really happy with the Show 15. It’s the perfect size display for my kitchen and is great for content consumption. The widgets are limited, but the ones I do use are useful. I love that I can simultaneously display my photo collection with widgets at the same time because the screen is so large.A big caveat, however: the MSRP is $250. I don’t think it’s worth that. Wait for a sale. I got mine for around $175 on Prime Day, I believe. I also bought the official Sanus rotating and swiveling stand. In my opinion this mount should be included for $175 let alone the full 250. I think it was around 40 bucks when I bundled it in. I have a tile backsplash throughout my entire kitchen and would not have been able to mount the Show 15 on my walls, so a countertop stand was unfortunately a required purchase. Without this stand I would’ve returned the Show 15 immediately. It looks dumb leaning against the wall, and I like that the stand let’s me angle the Show towards my sink or rotate it to portrait mode while taking up a relatively small space on my countertop. The cheaper $30 stand that doesn’t tilt or swivel just seemed like it would take up counter space and be disappointing. If you aren’t planning on mounting the Show 15, I highly, highly recommend the upgraded tilt and swivel Sanus stand.

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2. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Michael Velazquez – 17 May 2022

   Good, but just short of GreatAmazons latest attempt to integrate itself in the homes of millions is a solid addition, however there are some areas that feel like the form factor has taken a step back from the previous generation. With the introduction of the original Amazon Echo, Amazon set to make a smart speaker that could be a personal assistant to whoever was in speaking range. That simple concept has evolved into a smart home hub, that has a seemingly limitless amount of opportunity to make the lives of its users easier. So why does it seem that with each iteration and new device that includes Alexa, the voice assistant gets worse? The particular device seems to be in near constant desperation to hear the phrase “Alexa”, that more frequently is hearing what is simply not said and speaking aloud random information unprompted. Annoying? Yes. A deal breaker? That’s for you to decide. Personally, the convenience of have my security system set, lights turned on, vacuum set to clean, and thermostat cooling my family down in the sweltering Arizona heat all without have to get up or using a bunch of different apps is a dream come true. Sure there are issues with the AI, but once you get it set correctly and over a period of time it learns more about you and the things you are likely to ask it, the issues become less frequent, but never less annoying when they do happen.Back to the Echo Show 15″, having previously owned two older generations I think this is the best looking one yet. Its sleek design, with “healthy” bezels, give it the look of a very premium digital photo frame. The device is meant to be hung on a wall of out the box, and for the first time you are able to decide if you would like it horizontal, which is great for showing pictures, or vertical, which can help display lists, recipes, and more. An option accessory from amazon can allow you to turn it at a moments notice as well, which is a very nice touch that frankly should have been built directly into the device.The screen is… good. Not great, certainly not an OLED screen, but the size of the device and main use cases do not call for the highest resolution. Until you realize a big feature is displaying photos. and for the price, I definitely have to knock it as there are better photo frames for around the same price. However, when taking into account everything else this device is capable of, it makes up for the lack of a crisp high res screen. Then again, being a photographer does make me more critical of the screens I see my images on. I am sure mothers wanting to display their kids photos will be more than happy with the “almost” comically large screen. My biggest grip with the screen is the fact that it is a touch screen, and not a very good one. The screen is a fingerprint magnet and with the widgets or shortcuts on the screen at all times its just begging to be touched. I suggest using your knuckles to avoid smudging the screen. Another annoyance I found with this device is how slow/unresponsive the touch screen can be at times. My previous Echo Show, while not a speed demon by any means, felt like it respond to my manual inputs quicker. Whereas this device is very sluggish at times. Having a $249 price tag should include a zippy and speedy system.The sound is… also good. Audiophiles need not buy though. Amazon has a different product in mind for people looking for the best sound they produce. The device can get loud and fill a room, but the sound feels like it lacks depth, because it does. Gone are the sub woofers from the previous generation that made the music feel whole as a sacrifice to make the device as slim as it is. It is a shame considering that an older device had better sound quality and amazon decided to segment their products into two.Overall, the device will work for your average family looking to add a personal hub for their home. Its design is very nice, the Alexa AI is great… when it wants to be, and the cost isn’t very outrageous. The days of simply asking for the temperature or to play a song have been superseded by requests to video chat, watch Netflix, or monitor your outdoor cameras (all of which are possible to do on this device). Amazon is marketing this product to those who enjoy a nice big screen to layout all the information you need. If audio is important, I suggest looking at the Echo Studio with its 360 degree and Hi-Fi speakers or connecting the Echo Sub to this device. I upgraded because I wanted to a digital photo frame and this one just so happens to do a lot more. If you are thinking of upgrading keep in mind what has improved and what has not. And consider amazons trade up program, its a pretty good deal.

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3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   kcynthia – 21 February 2022

   Some Pros & Cons of the Echo Show 15, Full HD 15.6″ Smart Display w/AlexaI received the Echo Show 15 as a gift from my boss (a company perk), who had tried it out and thought it was worth the $250 price tag. However, I am not really a gadget type person, nor am I a person that has ever relied on voice technology as I believe that we, as humans are becoming more and more lazy and, utilizing voice technology is another example of that laziness…come on you can’t stop and type a message out?Anyway, I set it up the same night I brought it home. The Echo Show 15 is pretty impressive with it’s 15.6″ screeen and the picture quality is quite beautiful. It is also heavy, from researching it, it weighs 4 lbs and 4 oz. and I was actually afraid to have it fall or drop for fear of hurting and/or damaging it and whatever it fell onto.My boss thought that I should mount it somewhere in my kitchen. However, I have a fairly small house and there is actually no wall space in my kitchen that would hold a 15.6″ device. That same night I ended up purchasing the All New, Made for Amazon Tilt and Swivel Stand as shown in the picture. I received it a couple of days later and it is pretty cool. You can turn the Echo vertically or horizontally and it sits fairly well on my kitchen counter.When I started looking at the Echo features it did and still does take some getting used to. It’s definitely not like Apple devices, the technology is just not there yet and it has some limitations. One thing I didn’t know is that you have to download the Alexa app so that you can communicate between the two. You can sink any of your other devices (Ring camera, smart lightbulbs, to name a few) through the Alexa app and tell the Echo what to do, or you can actually talk to the Echo using Alexa voice commands.Using the Alexa voice commands is somewhat tricky because what you may think is something that we, as humans would not have to explain in any detail, Alexa doesn’t. You have to be very specific in what you are asking “her” to do or find. You can’t just say play a song or open an app you have to, 1 – call her name and 2 – say very clearly what it is that you want her to do, which means you may need to make your request in several commands. That takes some getting used to.Back to the Echo, the device does not turn off…there is no on or off button/switch. As it does not turn off, it is constantly “listening” to everything being said by humans and any other speaking device, like the t.v. That’s a little disconcerting.You can design the home screen from the factory settings. I believe the original screen had 6 different “widgets” that were exactly the same size, I changed the displayed and I reduced it down to 5 as shown in the picture.I am not going to go over every feature the Echo has, there are YouTube videos that show, in quite a bit of detail, almost all of the features the Echo Show 15 has. I will review a couple of other features that I thought were interesting.I currently subscribe to Amazon Prime Music and have created several playlists. I thought that since I had Amazon Music and the Echo Show 15 was an Amazon product, that the two would seamlessly connect together. That is so not the case. When you want to play music, the Echo has lots of music channels and in order to get your music to play your Amazon playlist you have to have an Amazon family music subscription, which was an upgrade for me with more of a monthly expense. Then you have to tell Alexa to play the specific playlist from your music library. This is one feature that I find most annoying. Also the Echo will play Spotify or possibly other music apps, but you have to link your account to the Alexa app in order to play that music.My last review is in the “widgets”…the selections are very limited, especially if you want to watch a movie. It doesn’t have access to HBO Max or Disney+, to mention a few, but it does have Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos as well as YouTube. It took a while to find the movie widgets and I still haven’t learned how to attach them to my home screen.Overall, the Echo Show 15 is a very nice device that definitely comes in handy when I’m cooking and want to listen to some music. I can pull up YouTube music videos or play music from my Amazon playlist. My kids have had some fun using it as well. Mostly it just sits on my kitcher counter waiting for me to tell it to do something. I honestly don’t believe I would have spent $250 on it but since my boss was so kind to buy one for me why not take advantage of the gift?Thanks for taking the time to read this long and sometimes rambling review.

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4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Karen – 19 September 2022

   Absolutely love it!I already have a smaller Echo Show 5, which I like a lot. However, when I saw the Echo Show 15, I knew I had to have it for multiple reasons. I love the variety of different household tasks that it can be used for, and love the “yellow sticky note” feature for a quick reminder. This device is a touch screen, but also works great with Alexa.In addition to listening to music, streaming TV & movies (the picture and sound quality is awesome), my favorite feature it the photo frame! It is super easy to add your photos using Amazon Photos. The picture quality is amazing!! You can lump your photos into one folder, or separate by category…but either way, it works great! Another feature I absolutely love is the ease in which it works with my Blink home security cameras. I already have notifications sent to my Echo speaker if there is movement in my backyard or by my garage, and with the Echo Show 15, I can ask to show me a specific camera and the video is crystal clear!Also, if multiple household members share it, each person can have their own account. This is a great feature & easy to set up.I know I probably missed highlighting quite a bit of the features, but you can find that out in the item description. This device has so many cool features and would be a great addition to any household. So with that being said, I absolutely love the Echo Show 15! It has literally become my favorite device in the house! I would definitely recommend buying this!As a side note, I opted to purchase the tilt stand for mine, but there is an option to hang on the wall as well.

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5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   M.B. – 25 July 2022

   We LOVE our Echo Show 15! (plus, a solution for recessed outlet!)This Echo Show 15 is great! It is our information/household management HUB for our family. It functions as: Calendar, ToDo list, Grocery and other shopping lists, kitchen timer, clock, “alive” photo frame, video/voice calling, intercom, news brief, “radio”, recipe cookbook, virtual assistant, smart home camera viewer, fun facts and useless trivia source, etc.One of the best things it does, is give us all a visual interface with the Alexa App stuff – meaning, we can ask it “Alexa, show me my grocery list”, and it shows up on the screen….. or, “Alexa, set cookie timer for 10 minutes”, and the status of the timer is visible, so I don’t need to then ask over an over “Alexa, how much time is left on my timer?”. Sure, all of that can be done with the app on my phone, or (in a somewhat clunky way) on my laptop. But, now it’s all right there for the whole family to access directly. It says that it can learn our names (and faces), and present customized stuff for whomever is looking at it at the moment – we aren’t that “smart” yet…So, the BIGGEST DRAWBACK to the whole thing is the size of the plug-in transformer that comes with the unit. Of course, we all want these to look sleek on the wall, with no cords visible. That means needing an electrical outlet behind the unit. But, the “wall wart” It is too large for a recessed outlet that can be used with a standard in-wall electrical box. I found a solution that worked for me — search on Amazon for “DVFR1W-1” in Tools & Home Improvement category. The rest of this review is about how I mounted the electrical box and the Echo Show 15 – hopefully it helps you get to a workable option with a bit of confidence!When setting the electrical box, I was a bit confused with how the “old work” or “remodel box” worked – when first installing it, you don’t have any front flange to rest on the finished side of the sheetrock – but, as it turns out, the cover ring becomes that part. (Maybe I should have read the instructions!). The opening that is needed in your sheetrock is a hair smaller than 6″ by 3-3/8″. The depth of the box when flush to the front of the sheetrock is 3-7//8″… so, with 1/2″ sheetrock and 2×4 framing, the back of the box will basically be in contact with the sheetrock on the other side of the wall.For mounting my Echo Show, I decided to put this recessed electrical box in “landscape” orientation. This allowed for the Echo Show’s mounting bracket’s drywall anchors to be over an inch away from the cut out for this electrical box. Also – I put the cover ring for this electrical box on top of the Echo Show mounting bracket. It fits within the bracket just fine – assuming the framing in your wall doesn’t have a stud running up the middle of where you plan to mount your Echo. There was enough gap between the bracket and the Echo to do this without pinching or encroaching on the Echo. The “wall wart” is nearly flush, and also has enough clearance to not be pressing on the back of the Echo. And, the Echo is as tight to the wall as the mounting bracket intended.

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6. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Mr. Eddie S. – 14 August 2022

   Good Concept That Needs WorkOverall I’m digging the new Echo Show, but with new comes flaws. One of those is the screen brightness, needs to be brighter. The screen on this one isn’t as bright as the one on my Echo Show 10 2nd Gen. I’ve also noticed that some songs are louder than others such as those directly from Amazon Music, bring the volume up to match the louder songs. Could have done away with the band around the screen for more screen area, but I’m guessing this will be done on the next Echo Show. The screen could also be more responsive and load items faster. Looking forward to the updates. Until then, I’m going to enjoy it’s potential. Love the vivid colors and picture and adding more brightness should make this awesome. On the design side of things, It’s clear to see the Echo Show is heading in the right direction. Loving the more flat panel TV feel. I couldn’t leave out something I’ve been hoping for the longest time that Amazon would get worked out in a update that’s a serious issue with all of my Echo Show devices and that’s the content I have on the screen closing on it’s own. Hopefully one day Amazon will address this in a future update so that anything on the screen stays there until the user closes it. This is especially true with the new Echo Show 15 which has maps. Please fix this issue in a near future update. Happy to see that Amazon has added widgets, not just to this new device but they are also being found on the Echo Show 10 2nd Gen, however 10 2nd Gen doesn’t include maps, or at least not as yet. Hopefully one day Alexa will be the next Google Assistant of the future. “Update”, I’m going to have to cut back a star on this one until Amazon get the kinks worked out of it. It becomes more and more frustrating to have to repeat myself to something that I have put so much money into. Please Amazon fix this and all Echo Show devices so that the content we open on the screen stays open until we the buyers of your product close it. Please install an X button, close button or something. Fix these things and I will give five stars gladly. In my most humble opinion, the customer should be happy not frustrated.

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7. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Itsme – 18 July 2022

   So CloseWe have owned every echo device (including the short lived discontinued ones). This is replacing the latest and greatest echo device.Sound quality (music) isn’t as good but it is faster and more responsive to voice commands.We use it for smart home control so it’s important that it hears us and executed the right command and this does a good job.I like the widget for quick smart home commands, weather, calendar, and grocery list. It’s been an adjustment but it actually has features we use and improve our lives without having to change how we live too much.My daughter likes the novelty of watching her toddler videos on the “picture frame.”INSTALL: Doesn’t have to be that complicated. I planned to use a recessed power box (like behind a TV) but in the end I just bought a DC extension cable and plugged it in in the attic and ran the barrel Jack down. Install wS easy. I see a lot of power running 120v to it but DC power is much easier and makes a small hole vs a random single gang box in the wall.The mounting bracket is clever and so it can be rotated easily from portrait to landscape mode (and back again) in about 5 seconds.As others have mentioned: “walled off” systems are fine (think APPLE) but there’s a real lack of effort into what this device can do. Either app makers don’t want to or Amazon won’t let them. This has amazing potential as it’s a beautiful, good sized tablet, but the software isn’t there. MEATER, Hayward (pool), thermostat (ecobee), Disney+, foodnetwork, even Ring integration is just meh. The prime video is odd and non-traditional so I have to fight to find kids videos. The list goes on for apps that would be useful and really cool that aren’t available or are just odd abbreviated versions.The photo thing, which should be incredibly easy, is difficult and confusing. Amazon HAS TO HAVE complete access to my entire phone library to let me upload *some* images? This feels downright creepy…Amazon insisting that I upload everyone of my pictures or limiting me to 10 feels skeevy.This has amazing potential. I hope Amazon continues to improve and expand on developer integration.

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8. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   C. Zoppi – 30 April 2022

   Great, but could be betterGood:I love having this as a smart hub in the place I come to most often, the kitchen. I have this set up on my kitchen pub table and have it set up with a shared Google calendar that my husband and I both add events too so we can always keep track of what we have going on. I’ve used it to make up grocery lists, look up recipes, track my Amazon packages, listen to music and watch videos. It does most of these pretty well except for the videos, which I’ll touch upon later.Setup was pretty easy since the unit is VESA compatible and I had a spare PC monitor mount laying around from upgrading my monitors to use gas spring adjustable arms. I included pictures of the setup.Could be better:The overall user interface is very similar to prior echo shows which is a little disappointing in regard to the video apps. I have tried Prime video, Hulu, Tubi TV and YouTube (via Silk) and have watched with some success. I have also managed to watch Crunchyroll with great success by using the Silk Browser and logging in. However, the interface for the video app is really dumbed down for such a large screen which might have made sense for smaller echo show screens, but it is too limited here. It only has a few options like Category, Station, etc. And when I get to the actual shows, I only see the first episode or the last watched. Plus, if I pause a video, it will time out after awhile and go to the main screen. That would be fine, but it’s not so easy to continue where you left off because it only sometimes shows up on the main screen. If it doesn’t, you need to tell the echo to continue, hope it brings up the right show and doesn’t constantly crash. I have been having an ongoing issue with it crashing when I try to continue, which is only solved by unplugging the unit and plugging back in. This is my BIGGEST gripe.Honestly, I prefer using the browser to access the streaming sites because it is much easier to search and browse for videos which works for sites like Crunchyroll and YouTube. Unfortunately, watching on the streaming sites for Amazon and Hulu seems to be blocked for some reason. I also tried accessing Disney Plus on the browser and it is incompatible. There’s also no way to cast video from your phone or PC to the screen so I can’t get around it that way either.Closing:All in all, I still really enjoy the Echo Show 15. It has some good features present in previous Shows plus more, and with a much bigger screen. I do feel the interface needs tweaking considering the screen size, especially for video apps. However, if I really wanted a better video experience, I might as well put a small monitor or TV in my kitchen and use Chromecast, but then I’d loose Amazon connectivity. If you don’t already have a bunch of Amazon devices, you’re probably better off doing that. But, it has room for improvement, and I hope that firmware updates or later versions will improve upon these issues.

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9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Gin Wise – 12 September 2022

   Amazon Echo On Steroids! Must Press BUY NOWWith both my husband & I being OCD, this was our best purchase ever! He loves being in the kitchen cooking while watching an episode. This fulfilled his needs to have an option to pause, catch up with the cooking, and adding items back onto our shopping list. The shopping list fulfilled my need to have a list to constantly look at to add or delete without cluttering my desk with 100s of sticky notes. Plus! You can attach digital coupons right to your shopping list to cash in on towards Amazon gift cards!!! I could keep going on & on about how much organizing your life just got simplified but it’s more fun to just feel it out for yourself. Trust me. You won’t be disappointed because…ITS A NICE BIG SCREEN WITH AMAZING PICTURE QUALITY AND EACH SEPARATE PROFILE (if needed) CAN CUSTOMIZE THEIR HOME SCREEN WITH WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO THEM. Amazon…you never fail me. My epic purchase of the year! Let it be yours next!

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10. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    RemixDaMix – 12 August 2022

    We love it but our cats not so much.We original bought this as a visual aide for feeding our animals. We needed a central hub that relayed the times someone in the house fed the animals. I know, such an expensive object for a sticky note but it takes very little time to create said message and it really does save a lot of time in our day to day. Plus since this is in a central location we never again have several people in the house choosing their favorite location for their note.I suppose it does other things like weather, grocery lists, prime video and music, recipes, and a plethora of knowledge just by asking. So if any of those is important to you then I guess this device would do. In all seriousness this gadget does everything the old Echo Show does and probably more but with a much bigger screen and a much better looking screen. It doesn’t look off in our kitchen and can be mounted to the wall like a picture frame. We could live without this in our household but where’s the fun in that?Our animals are extremely angry on the other hand. They were more than happy crying several times a morning in order to get second or third breakfast. All three cats are perfect actors and could go pro if they weren’t so busy manipulating everyone in the house that they’re starving. It’s been long enough that our cats don’t try to get anything on us anymore but I see the murderous look in their eyes when they only get fed once in the morning. If they could talk I’m sure I’d learn new words to describe myself and the blasted machine that ruined their morning routine.

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