Editors' Note: This is the most recent version of the Amazon Echo Show 15. Read our original review from December 13, 2022 below.
Amazon’s Echo Show 15 ($249.99) is the company's largest and most unique smart display: It looks like a picture frame and hangs on the wall like one. And thanks to a recent update, it features Amazon Fire TV functionality, letting it act like a media streamer. That said, its audio and camera quality are disappointing, and unless you specifically need a smart display to sit on your wall, Amazon's other Echo Shows might serve you better. For example, the $129.99 Echo Show 8 costs half as much as the Echo Show 15 and offers superior speakers. And for $249.99, the Echo Show 10 is the best model for video calls thanks to a motorized base that allows its cameras to follow you around the room.
Designed for Mounting
The Echo Show 15 measures 9.9 by 15.8 by 1.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 4 pounds, 4 ounces. It looks similar to a framed, matted piece of art. A 15-inch screen with a 0.7-inch white border sit under a glass panel surrounded by a 0.4-inch matte black metal bezel for an attractive, minimalist look.
A 5MP camera in the left corner of the white matte border is the only element that punctuates the clean aesthetic. The edge of the frame to the left of the camera houses pinhole microphones for hands-free Alexa use, while the adjoining edge has a physical camera cover switch, as well as buttons for mic mute, volume down, and volume up.
The back of the Echo Show 15 has a square-shaped groove for the included mounting bracket, along with four screw holes. A circular recess houses the power connector and a micro USB port for service.
The included mounting bracket and hardware allow you to secure the Echo Show on your wall either horizontally or vertically. However, because of its narrow depth, you can’t just set it on a table like most other smart displays. If you want a stand, you have to pay extra; the Sanus Tilt Stand costs $29.99.
Amazon sent us the stand for testing. It’s a simple, appropriately heavy stand with a rectangular matte black foot that keeps the Echo Show 15 steady in either landscape or portrait orientation. The mounting arm of the stand has a hinge that lets you tilt it up to 30 degrees. It works well, but putting the Echo Show 15 on a table defeats its biggest appeal, which is the ability to hang it on a wall.
A Big Screen
The centerpiece of the Echo Show 15 is a 15-inch, 1,920-by-1,080-pixel touch screen. It’s a bit smaller and less sharp than the Meta Portal Plus' 15.6-inch, 2,160-by-1,440 screen, but it still looks clear and crisp. We can’t measure its contrast and color like we can with TVs, but anecdotally it looks bright and colorful. Don’t expect the kind of light or color output you get with a good 4K TV, though—just from eyeballing it, it clearly doesn’t attempt to present a high dynamic range (HDR) or a wide color space.
The large screen is good for viewing the at-a-glance widgets that provide information and media access. You can arrange multiple tile-based widgets to pop up when you look at the Echo Show 15, arranged in two rows. Currently, 32 different widgets are available, including calendars, maps, reminders, shopping lists, smart home controls, sticky notes, and weather reports. It’s a modest but useful collection, though only some take full advantage of the touch screen. For instance, while you can tap to select a radio station on the Amazon Prime Music widget or to control lights with the smart home widget, most primarily provide visual information.
A year after launch, the Echo Show 15 still has fewer than three dozen widgets, with only a handful of third-party ones. The Amazon Prime Music widget feels inflexible; it lets you listen to Amazon’s recommendations, but not your favorite songs or playlists. You can also only select one large widget (spanning two or three normal tiles) at once, so you have to choose between your calendar, a map, or music suggestions. Even widgets that simply serve as quick access to the web browser would be a welcome addition. The platform simply feels underdeveloped in this respect.
Each person in a household can set up custom home screens with different widgets, and the Echo Show 15 will load the correct screen profile when they approach. Setting this up is simple: The camera records each user’s face at different angles and connects that data to the correct profile. If you don’t want the Echo Show 15 to always watch for you, you can disable Visual ID and physically close the camera shutter with the switch on the side.
Fire TV on the Echo Show 15
A software update after launch has added the Fire TV platform to the Echo Show 15. By tapping the Fire TV icon on the home screen, the smart display will load an interface nearly identical to the one used by Fire TV media streamers.
The Fire TV menu provides rows of Fire TV-compatible apps and suggested content from both Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services available through the platform. You can load the individual apps for Prime Video, along with Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, Sling TV, YouTube, and others.
Both the Prime Video app and Fire TV interface can be controlled by tapping the screen, but since Fire TV apps are developed for media streamers with remotes, not all support touch controls. Those that don't, like Sling TV, enable a pop-up software remote for navigating the app. You can also pair a third-generation Alexa Voice Remote ($29.99) with the Echo Show 15 to control the Fire TV platform and all the apps on it, just like you would a Fire TV Stick. The remote doesn't control the smart display outside of Fire TV mode, however.
Also, keep in mind that this is a 15-inch screen. If you use a table stand and it's on a nearby desk or counter, or if it's mounted on a fairly close wall, you can probably enjoy passively watching video on the device. It can't replace even a small TV for comfortably viewing anything more than a few feet away, though.
Alexa Remains Helpful
All of the usual Alexa-dependent voice commands are available on the Echo Show 15. Just say, “Alexa,” give a command, and Alexa will do what you ask. Amazon's voice assistant can check your calendar, open various apps, and provide general information such as weather reports. The Alexa platform works with a long list of smart home devices, and we like its ability to directly pull up camera feeds from compatible home security cameras and video doorbells. Voice controls are also enabled for controlling the Fire TV interface.
Alexa also offers plenty of communication capabilities. Amazon’s Drop In feature lets you make voice or video calls to anyone with an Echo or Echo Show device or the Alexa app on their smartphone, including within your household. Outside of Amazon’s platforms, you can make phone calls (to standard North American and UK phone numbers, but not premium or three-digit numbers including emergency services); initiate Skype voice and video calls; and Zoom.
You can expand Alexa's utility even further with third-party skills. Most Alexa skills are for Echo smart speakers rather than Echo Show smart displays, however, and offer only audio-based information and controls. Additionally, unlike the apps on Portal devices, you can’t browse Alexa skills on the Echo Show 15 or arrange icons to access them by touch; you need to use your voice.
Middling Audio and Camera Quality
The camera in the Echo Show 15 is surprisingly much less advanced than you get in the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 10. It uses a modest 5MP sensor and lacks the auto-framing capabilities of the 13MP cameras on the other two devices (and, of course, the motorized tracking of the Echo Show 10). You can get solid video call performance and photo booth pictures with proper lighting, but it’s odd that Amazon skimped on the camera here.
The Echo Show 15's audio output is commensurate with its screen size, and is better suited for movies, shows, podcasts, and other content with more speech than music. You'll be able to hear it clearly when you're watching anything on it, well past the distance where you can comfortably see what's happening on a 15-inch screen.
For music, though, the Echo Show 15 can't put out much depth or detail because of its narrow physical design. It features two 1.6-inch drivers, which are smaller than the 2-inch drivers in the Echo Show 8 (not to mention the Echo Show 10's 3-inch woofer and two 1-inch tweeters). Expect sound that is suitable for idle listening (despite its lack of bass power), but not appropriate for fully experiencing music or powering a party.
On our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the bass synth notes sound hollow and distant on the Show 15, while the kick drum hits pop with almost no force behind them. Fortunately, the drivers don’t distort at maximum volume.
Tracks with much less sub-bass, like Yes’ “Roundabout,” sound better. The acoustic guitar plucks in the opening sections get solid resonance and a pleasing sense of string texture. When the track fully kicks in, the balance clearly favors the mid-highs and highs, with the guitar strums, cymbals, and vocals all standing out. The bassline is audible, but suffers from a lack of low-end presence, for a pleasant, but slightly bright, sound.
This also comes through with The Crystal Method’s “Born Too Slow.” The harsh guitar riffs stand firmly in the spotlight, while the vocals sit a bit in the background. The backbeat sounds somewhat distant in the mix as well.
Echo, Echo on the Wall
The Amazon Echo Show 15 is a large, attractive smart display that easily mounts on a wall. We like its expansive screen, and the addition of Fire TV functionality makes it useful for watching movies and TV shows under the right conditions. It falls a bit flat in terms of audio and camera performance, though, and you really need to be close up to enjoy the experience of using it as a media streaming device. If you have space on a counter, desk, or shelf, the Echo Show 8 sounds much stronger, has sharper camera quality, and costs half the price. For the same price as the Echo Show 15, meanwhile, the Echo Show 10 offers even better audio and useful mechanical tracking for video calls. But if you're looking for a smart display you can mount like a piece of art, the unique Echo Show 15 fits the bill.
