Amazon Echo Show 10 review: The best gets better
In late June, Amazon launched the new Echo Show 10 in India. It is available on the company's e-commerce website for Rs 24,999.
It is the biggest and also the most expensive smart display-cum-speaker to date from the house of Amazon. But, it also comes with a lot of enhancements over the predecessor. I have been using it for over a week and here are my thoughts.
Design
As I said in the first impression article, Echo Show 10 comes with a unique smart display design. Amazon has given prominence to three critical aspects-- display, sound, and camera.
It features a 10.1-inch HD(1280x800p) flat-display panel connected to the cylindrically shaped speaker similar to the Echo Studio, but in a smaller dimension. Inside, it comes with a 2.1 audio system-- two stereo 1-inch tweeters and a 3-inch woofer. In the top right corner, it features a 13MP camera (more on that later).
The speaker is encased with high-quality fabric and the charcoal black model looks lovely when placed in the living room.
The standout aspect of the Echo Show 10 is its capability to turn (up to 175-degree) the display to face the owner during the conversation. Amazon has incorporated a brass disc-based brushless motor at the base and it turns smoothly with hardly any noise at all.
User-experience
Like all the previous smart speakers and displays, Echo Show 10 too, comes with an in-built Zigbee smart home hub and owners can control Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices. You can ask for any real-time updates on sports or weather or news of the day.
The viewing on the Echo Show 10 was a delightful experience. It has a big 10.1-inch HD (1280x800p) display with adaptive brightness and colour feature. You can now watch movies and TV shows on OTT apps with more clarity compared to the predecessor. Also, you can place it in the kitchen to learn new recipes and cook with step-by-step guidance on video portals.
Also, the big display can now accommodate more details on it. The digital clock's font is bigger and noticeable even from a far distance. And, the wallpaper rolls come with a beautiful landscape and several themes to match the decor of the living room. Also, users can add personal photos via Facebook account link to make it look like a lovely digital frame.
Another huge upgrade is the front-facing 13MP camera. The video recording quality is just top-notch.
The USP of the new Echo Show 10 is the moving display. The speaker houses a well optimised stable motor and is backed by MediaTek 8183 main chipset, Amazon's AZ1 Neural Edge co-processor, sound source localization (SSL) with computer vision (CV) algorithms. This enables the device to accurately recognise the owner's position in the room and respond.
And yes, in the real world too, Echo Show 10 works like a charm. The turning of the display to face the owner to listen and respond gives a sense of personal attention similar to human interaction.
However, sometimes if the TV is turned on and if any ad related to Amazon Alexa is on it, the device does turn the display to understand the query, but it's not a deal-breaker. As I or anybody in the house start to converse with the Echo Show 10, it returns to face the person in the room.
With high-quality video recording and rotating capability, Echo Show 10 can be used as an excellent in-door security camera. You can watch the place through the device via Alexa mobile app anywhere in the world. You can pan and zoom for closer inspection.
Owners can also interact with family members in the living room or kitchen or wherever the Echo Show 10 is placed, through the video drop-in feature as well.
The audio output is really great. It comes with dual, front-firing tweeters backed by a powerful woofer. The company says the smart speaker automatically understands the contours of the room and offers directional sound. It really livens up the place. Even with the volume at max, there is very little distortion, the singer's voice, and acoustics in the background.
Users can link their Amazon Prime Music, Spotify, JioSaavn, Gaana, and Apple Music accounts to listen to the music anytime.
As far as privacy is concerned, the new Echo Show 10 comes with the option to stop the display from turning around every time you speak and walk around it. Or else just say, 'Alexa, turn off the motion'.
For some, it may come off as creepy, as if someone is watching you walk along in the room. Fret not, it has built-in shutter buttons at the top to turn off the camera and the mic as well.
Final thoughts
Just when we thought, the speed of innovation is slowing not just Echo series and with other rival brands, the new Echo Show 10 brings refreshing new value-added features. Most smart speakers and displays in the market usually come in handy to get small bytes of information, appointment reminders, control gadgets, and drop-in video calls. However, the video quality was much to be desired.
The Echo Show 10's moving camera, which is not only capable of capturing/streaming high-resolution video, but also capable of making wide-angle turns to cover more area of the room and zoom as well. This gives value addition as a home security system and if you have happened to be a parent, it is a really handy monitoring system to check on baby in the cradle.
Furthermore, the intelligent sensors, which make the display turn to face the owner while receiving commands and replying, is another good enhancement in terms of user experience. It creates a sense of politeness and personal touch when it is responding to the house members.
The new Echo Show 10 is a good gadget to place in a living room, bedroom (if you have a baby to monitor), and also kitchen as well. The big display makes it easy to watch step-by-step guides to prepare food and also with support for OTT apps, we can catch up on good TV shows or movie trailers between the interval. Also, the sound quality has improved a lot too.
Overall, Echo Show 10 is the best smart display-cum-speaker you can buy in the market.
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