**Testing the Amazon Echo Show 8: A Mid-Range Smart Display**
The Amazon Echo Show 8 is the latest addition to the company's smart display lineup, and it's an upgrade over its predecessor. In this article, we'll delve into the features and performance of the new Echo Show 8, including how it tracks movement, checks in remotely, and interacts with users.
**The "Creep Test"**
One of the most important tests for a smart display like the Echo Show 8 is its ability to track movement. To do this, we performed the "creep test," where we moved around the room while David Priest, our resident Alexa device expert, sat in front of the display. The goal was to see how well the camera tracked our movements and whether it lost us or followed us too closely. As expected, the Echo Show 8 took a little time to get used to, but once it did, it performed admirably.
**Tracking vs. Stationary Cam**
When it came to tracking movement, the Echo Show 8 was slightly slower than its competitor, the Nest Hub Max. However, when we were closer to the display, it tracked us with ease and accuracy. The image quality was also excellent, with clear video and a nice wide-angle lens that allowed us to pan and zoom around our surroundings. While not as fast as the Nest Hub Max, the Echo Show 8's tracking capabilities are still top-notch.
**Remote Viewing**
One of the new features on the Echo Show 8 is the ability to check in remotely using the camera. This is a convenient feature that allows you to see what's happening in your home without having to physically be there. We tested this feature by moving around the room while David checked in, and it worked beautifully. The camera tracked our movements with ease, and we could even see the iron man figure pulling up into a toy story-style scene when David was out of sight.
**Smart Home Integration**
Another key feature of the Echo Show 8 is its smart home integration. We were able to use Amazon's Alexa voice assistant to control various smart devices in our home, including lights. While setting up this demo proved tricky, we were ultimately able to get it working with ease. The display also has a built-in on-screen indicator that shows when you're being watched remotely, which is a nice touch.
**Camera Quality and Features**
The camera on the Echo Show 8 has several features that make it stand out from its predecessor. It has 13 megapixels of resolution, which is significantly higher than the old Show 8's single camera. The display also supports pinch-to-zoom and panning, allowing you to get a closer look at what's happening in your home. While the remote viewing feature took a little time to get used to, it's still a convenient way to keep an eye on things when you're not around.
**The Verdict**
Overall, we were impressed with the Amazon Echo Show 8. While it may not have the same level of innovation as some of its competitors, it's a solid upgrade over its predecessor and offers many features that make it a great option for those looking for a mid-range smart display from Amazon. The tracking capabilities are still top-notch, and the camera quality is excellent. If you're in the market for a new smart display, we'd definitely recommend giving the Echo Show 8 a look.
**Comparison to Other Options**
The Echo Show 8 is part of a larger lineup of smart displays from Amazon, including the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 10. While these devices offer more advanced features and capabilities, the Echo Show 8 is still a great option for those who want a solid mid-range display without breaking the bank. The Nest Hub Max, on the other hand, offers even better tracking capabilities and a larger screen, but at a higher price point.
**Conclusion**
The Amazon Echo Show 8 may not be the most innovative smart display on the market, but it's still a great option for those looking for a solid mid-range display with many features. Its tracking capabilities are top-notch, and its camera quality is excellent. Whether you're looking to upgrade from an old smart display or simply want a new one that offers many features, we'd recommend giving the Echo Show 8 a look.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe second gen echo show 8 comes with a cool camera that pans and tilts to follow you when you're on a video call is that enough to make this a worthwhile upgrade let's find out right now the new echo show 8 is here and it looks just like the old echo show 8. if you're a fan of giant bezels you are gonna love this design after the fancy spinning show 10 and the spherical echoes i got my hopes up about new cool designs from amazon not this time the show 8 looks a lot more run-of-the-mill but amazon packed a lot of new stuff in here under the hood and it's still a reasonable 130 bucks the same as the old one we're gonna talk basics then we'll take a close look at the three main new features moving video calls check-in from afar and presence-based routines then we'll give our recommendation and determine if this upgrade feels worth it this is the 130 dollar second gen echo show 8. it's not the eighth echo show we've entirely lost count it's the second model with an 8-inch hd screen it works with amazon's digital assistant that responds to a wide variety of voice commands it has a touch screen that displays extra info when you ask about the weather you can access a smart home control panel you can watch videos or make video calls there are physical volume controls a physical mute button and a camera shutter pretty standard stuff as far as sound quality it is improved though it sounds a little bit muddy at higher volumes still it's nice and loud and it blows away the new nest hub which is similarly sized with a 7 inch screen and as long as you're at a volume of around 7 it sounds great other than improved sound quality the show 8 has a few new features aside from the big three it has a new octa-core processor so i think that means this smart display is going to try to fight tom holland at some point but andrew garfield should be safe regardless your family and friends can share photos with you that scroll across your home screen you can do group video calls now augmented reality effects are coming soon so you'll be able to add hearts and sparkles to your next digital deposition speaking of video calls remember the facebook portal yeah but it had one cool trick where it would follow you on a video call so if you were chatting with grandma she could follow the movements of her grandkids it was very sweet terrible device other smart displays have adapted the trick since like the nest hub max the echo show 10 can even spin its head around to keep up with the action that much more and now the show 8 can do it too yes it's old news but it is more affordable here than on the nest tub max or the show 10 so let's see if it works well calling david priest's alexa devices hey dave hey how's it going pretty good we're here in the smart home we're testing the new echo show eight i can see that and and i can see you right and seeing how it tracks me as i move about uh last time we did simon says but you made me do too many burpees so we're just not doing that this time canceling cancelling all that so now you're just sort of creeping around the room instead exactly it's what we call the creep test to see how it actually tracks the movements and then if i actually creep it almost it almost lost you there you were so sneaky it was it was the extra sneaky factor so it's a little slow in following me here so it looks better when i'm closer to it though than the nest hub max there isn't as much distortion which is pretty good on the close-up yeah your forehead isn't like twice the size of your jaw this time so no warping there that's just a personal feature dave and i appreciate it if you would not air out my dirty laundry so again in terms of a stationary cam smart display i think the nest hub max is a little bit faster to track because again this one's just moving a little slow but it does a pretty good job of tracking even when i'm doing all right how's it look from a distance so it's still on you watch walk to your left a little bit it's kind of drifting a little bit i'm not sure if it's following you yeah it's it's not it's just sort of hanging out on that door frame over there okay so it lost me now what happens if i come back in frame here when's it pick me up uh pull back out well okay so now it just started following you again just looking at the ceiling for a second uh yeah it seems like it seems like it's just kind of on a delay and not super tight in how it follows you uh but when you're in that middle distance or closer it works decently well okay well uh thanks for testing this with me dave i'll let you get back to your many adventures in ordinary life yeah yeah lots lots of important things going on around here lots the quality of the cam has improved a lot this model has 13 megapixels the old show 8 only had one the extra definition goes hand in hand with one of the other new features you can check on your cam remotely if i'm out for a walk i can check to see if this iron man figure pulls a toy story and comes to life when i'm gone maybe you saw the indicator that i'm watching maybe the toys are onto the smart home deck so the on-screen indicator when you're looking in is huge which i like because then no one can spy on you without you knowing the picture quality was fine the image was nice and clear and you can pinch to zoom and pan around to follow the action it didn't follow me automatically like in a video call but you get a solid view of your home if you want to check in and the smart home side is improving too thanks to the cam on the show eight amazon can use my presence or my absence to trigger routines you can add this stuff to whatever smart home device you want but we're keeping it simple with lights we couldn't quite get the demo to work on cam setting up our cam and all made it so we couldn't convince amazon we weren't actually there like the old show 8 the 2nd gen version suffers from middle child syndrome the new show 5 is debuting 2 for less and the show 10 has that many more tricks up its sleeve plus the nest hub with a 7 inch screen is a great option if you like google assistant nevertheless this feels like a fine upgrade it's reasonably priced it's helpful it's a solid buy especially if you want a mid-range smart display from amazon it's an improvement over its predecessor for the same price it is more iterative than innovative but oh well it's a new coat of paint without extra buying thanks for watching comment below to let me know if you're gonna get one of the new echo shows and which one and let me know if you've seen your action figures come to life i need to know thanks again like and subscribe goodbyethe second gen echo show 8 comes with a cool camera that pans and tilts to follow you when you're on a video call is that enough to make this a worthwhile upgrade let's find out right now the new echo show 8 is here and it looks just like the old echo show 8. if you're a fan of giant bezels you are gonna love this design after the fancy spinning show 10 and the spherical echoes i got my hopes up about new cool designs from amazon not this time the show 8 looks a lot more run-of-the-mill but amazon packed a lot of new stuff in here under the hood and it's still a reasonable 130 bucks the same as the old one we're gonna talk basics then we'll take a close look at the three main new features moving video calls check-in from afar and presence-based routines then we'll give our recommendation and determine if this upgrade feels worth it this is the 130 dollar second gen echo show 8. it's not the eighth echo show we've entirely lost count it's the second model with an 8-inch hd screen it works with amazon's digital assistant that responds to a wide variety of voice commands it has a touch screen that displays extra info when you ask about the weather you can access a smart home control panel you can watch videos or make video calls there are physical volume controls a physical mute button and a camera shutter pretty standard stuff as far as sound quality it is improved though it sounds a little bit muddy at higher volumes still it's nice and loud and it blows away the new nest hub which is similarly sized with a 7 inch screen and as long as you're at a volume of around 7 it sounds great other than improved sound quality the show 8 has a few new features aside from the big three it has a new octa-core processor so i think that means this smart display is going to try to fight tom holland at some point but andrew garfield should be safe regardless your family and friends can share photos with you that scroll across your home screen you can do group video calls now augmented reality effects are coming soon so you'll be able to add hearts and sparkles to your next digital deposition speaking of video calls remember the facebook portal yeah but it had one cool trick where it would follow you on a video call so if you were chatting with grandma she could follow the movements of her grandkids it was very sweet terrible device other smart displays have adapted the trick since like the nest hub max the echo show 10 can even spin its head around to keep up with the action that much more and now the show 8 can do it too yes it's old news but it is more affordable here than on the nest tub max or the show 10 so let's see if it works well calling david priest's alexa devices hey dave hey how's it going pretty good we're here in the smart home we're testing the new echo show eight i can see that and and i can see you right and seeing how it tracks me as i move about uh last time we did simon says but you made me do too many burpees so we're just not doing that this time canceling cancelling all that so now you're just sort of creeping around the room instead exactly it's what we call the creep test to see how it actually tracks the movements and then if i actually creep it almost it almost lost you there you were so sneaky it was it was the extra sneaky factor so it's a little slow in following me here so it looks better when i'm closer to it though than the nest hub max there isn't as much distortion which is pretty good on the close-up yeah your forehead isn't like twice the size of your jaw this time so no warping there that's just a personal feature dave and i appreciate it if you would not air out my dirty laundry so again in terms of a stationary cam smart display i think the nest hub max is a little bit faster to track because again this one's just moving a little slow but it does a pretty good job of tracking even when i'm doing all right how's it look from a distance so it's still on you watch walk to your left a little bit it's kind of drifting a little bit i'm not sure if it's following you yeah it's it's not it's just sort of hanging out on that door frame over there okay so it lost me now what happens if i come back in frame here when's it pick me up uh pull back out well okay so now it just started following you again just looking at the ceiling for a second uh yeah it seems like it seems like it's just kind of on a delay and not super tight in how it follows you uh but when you're in that middle distance or closer it works decently well okay well uh thanks for testing this with me dave i'll let you get back to your many adventures in ordinary life yeah yeah lots lots of important things going on around here lots the quality of the cam has improved a lot this model has 13 megapixels the old show 8 only had one the extra definition goes hand in hand with one of the other new features you can check on your cam remotely if i'm out for a walk i can check to see if this iron man figure pulls a toy story and comes to life when i'm gone maybe you saw the indicator that i'm watching maybe the toys are onto the smart home deck so the on-screen indicator when you're looking in is huge which i like because then no one can spy on you without you knowing the picture quality was fine the image was nice and clear and you can pinch to zoom and pan around to follow the action it didn't follow me automatically like in a video call but you get a solid view of your home if you want to check in and the smart home side is improving too thanks to the cam on the show eight amazon can use my presence or my absence to trigger routines you can add this stuff to whatever smart home device you want but we're keeping it simple with lights we couldn't quite get the demo to work on cam setting up our cam and all made it so we couldn't convince amazon we weren't actually there like the old show 8 the 2nd gen version suffers from middle child syndrome the new show 5 is debuting 2 for less and the show 10 has that many more tricks up its sleeve plus the nest hub with a 7 inch screen is a great option if you like google assistant nevertheless this feels like a fine upgrade it's reasonably priced it's helpful it's a solid buy especially if you want a mid-range smart display from amazon it's an improvement over its predecessor for the same price it is more iterative than innovative but oh well it's a new coat of paint without extra buying thanks for watching comment below to let me know if you're gonna get one of the new echo shows and which one and let me know if you've seen your action figures come to life i need to know thanks again like and subscribe goodbye\n"
