Modded flat screen Show puts Alexa connected devices front and center
On a smart home focused site such as this, it’s hard to remember that people use Alexa for anything other than controlling their smart homes.
Verdict: Amazon Echo Hub review
But smart home control is very much the focus on the latest Alexa smart display device – the Amazon Echo Hub, which has just been announced at the big Devices & Services event over in Virginia.
Essentially a modded 8-inch Echo Show, designed to sit flush(ish) on your wall. So… like the Echo Show 15 which is not, I repeat not, a smart home control panel.
No, the key difference here is that, although there are some nice smart home control widgets on the Show range, they all sort of live behind the entertainment aspects.
On the Echo Hub, however, all of your smart home controls will be available easily, without having to swipe up and down or jump through different screens – there’s an IR sensor that it uses to wake up as you approach, so you should be presented with the controls you need most.
We were shown a demo of a person disarming their Ring alarm system as they entered their front door, and there’s also widgets for multiple camera streams, controlling lights, heating and so on.
It all looks pretty cool and there’s not a wire in sight. Except there will need to be; it’s powered either by USB-C or by using PoE; and I think (think) those power options are round the back so as you can mount flush, as per the Show 15.
This being a dedicated smart home hub, it packs in Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Thread, Bluetooth LE, and Amazon Sidewalk radios and it can also act as a Matter controller (with a Thread border router).
When it’s not actively in use, the Echo Hub can blend into your home by transitioning to an idle screen of rotating family photos and glanceable information such as the weather and time, just like an Echo Show.
But it’s not an Echo Show, remember.
The Amazon Echo Hub will be available to to pre-order “soon” for $179.99, with shipping slated for later in the year.
Amazon is also going to offer decorative frames in wood, white and metallic for $19.99 each, and there’s also a tabletop stand that will cost $29.99.
