Echo Show 8 (1st Gen) (Scratch & Dent)

Update: Pros: When you set reminders they show up on the screen before to remind you they are coming and they stay on the screen for a short while after. This is a really nice feature. Cons: there is a basic sound mixer with bass, mid and treble to adjust the sound of the device. The only problem is the settings wont save so you have to reset them every day or every time you want to listen to music. This can be a pain when you have several alexa devices and have to redo sound settings every time you want to play music on them all at once throughout the house. I purchased two echo show 8's when they had them on special. I an echo and an echo dot, but these were my first echo devices with screens so I wasnt sure what to expect. I mainly decided to try them due to amazing price they had that day. The size of the screen is not bad for a device. I just havent found too many uses for my echo show compared to my plain echo due to limited skill sets. Screen: the screen has nice a nice image for a device, colors are on the cool side. It will show you the hourly weather which is nice. You can stream prime videos and when you play music it will display lyrics for some songs. You can ask alexa to show you a map of traffic for your work commute, but the map is zoomed out so far you cant tell which roads/route is highlighted. You are also unable to zoom in. If the map view was closer or you could zoom in this would be a great feature. I have blink cameras and the echo show will bring up the live view from the cameras. The image looks good but the buffering time to bring up the image is a good 10-15 seconds similar to my firestick, so anyone at the door will likely be gone by then. It would be nice if they could get the buffering time down so it opens as fast as it does with the blink app on my phone. You can choose slide shows to play on the screen, for example I am using nature or you can create your own. You can go into settings and turn off the advertisements for websites and news which is nice. However there is no way I have found yet to turn off the banner at the bottom of the screen advertising alexa skills with "try this" The clock is relegated to a tiny corner on the upper left with no way to make it bigger. it would be nice to be able to customize size and design of clock. Sound: The speakers are slightly bigger than the echo dot and in similar fashion the show 8 does not have dolby so the sound is more similar to an echo dot. It doesnt sound bad on low, but any bass in the music cant be reproduced and ends up just muddling the sound. If you are used to echo dot, then you will be happy with the sound from the echo show. If you are used to regular echo or echo plus, you will find the sound quality to be less and lacking bass. Although to be fair, if you are streaming music then you not exactly an audiophile or overly concerned about sound quality anyway. I currently have an echo show 8 in master bed and living room, an echo in kitchen and dot in basement. When playing music you can set it to stream out of all the devices at once. This is nice for when you are choring around the house, as you move from room to room the music follows. You are supposed to be able to do this reminders/alarms as well, but when I set reminders to play from "everywhere" it still only plays from the device I used to set it up? Camera: The echo show has a camera for face to face streaming through drop in feature. The camera is only 1 mp so the quality is pretty low. I was thinking I could use the drop in feature to use the echo show like a security camera and check in on my pets while at work. The natural tilt of the echo show without a stand directs the camera view to the ceiling. You can put it on a stand, but to get a decent view of the room through the camera the screen/echo show has to be basically vertical. Unless your echo show it at eye level, this makes using the screen awkward. So between the camera direction and low quality of image I cant really use it as a security camera to view rooms when away from home. The drop in is a nice feature to communicate with other family members or friends. Privacy features: the "shutter" switch to cover the camera is a great feature. Not only does it physically cover the camera but you can see that it is covered for reassurance. This is great so a friend or family member doesnt drop in while your walking around in your underwear. You can also push another button to turn off the camera and the microphones so amazon cant listen to you hatch your plans for world domination. As with other Amazon devices wireless connectivity is good, I have never had wifi connectivity issues with any of my amazon devices. Overall its not a bad device. The sound is subpar to my echo (but on par with an echo dot)and with limited skills and small screen size I dont really find uses for having a screened echo device. I can put one in my basement so I can pull up my blink front door camera when someone rings doorbell, but long buffering time means they might leave or it would be easier to just run upstairs and check the door. If the traffic maps were zoomed in so you could identify individual routes it would make that a great feature. It could double as a security camera to drop in an check on inside house or pets if the camera was better quality and not aimed at the ceiling. I got them at an amazing price, but at this point I am undecided if I will keep them. I might just trade them back in for another echo.