Show Me Your Skills

Very obviously a larger version of the Show 5, the Echo Show 8 hides Alexa’s many, many skills underneath

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₹12,999 / stuff.tv/in/amazon

The inflated version of Echo Show 5 houses a beautiful, crystal clear 8in display within a chunky border that reminds one of a previous-generation tablet, but still as aesthetic as any other modern-day device, and blends in perfectly with the rest. Rounded edges, premium fabric cover over the speakers at the back, media in and out ports – it’s a complete package you’d be adding to your ever-growing Alexa family. The bezels are forgiven, ‘coz the screen remains centre stage.

For the most part, the Echo Show 8 is a pretty useful device as far as communication and entertainment go. A built-in camera means you can make video calls, not only to another Show device, but the two-way conversations via the Alexa app are nice and clear. But the use of the screen for the purpose of communication is limited to that. Entertainment is the name of the game here.

Let’s face it, you’re never going to have an all-night rager around the Echo Show 8. At least we hope not. A pair of 2in drivers are augmented by a passive radiator and while it suffices for trailers and clips, they do fire towards the back, reducing intelligibility a bit.