Echo Show 8 (Fourth Gen) review: The most livable Alexa display yet
Echo Show 8 (Fourth Gen) review
- Jan 21, 2026,
- Updated Jan 21, 2026 2:51 PM IST
The Echo Show 8 has always been Amazon’s most reasonable smart display. Big enough to be useful, small enough to fit almost anywhere, and priced just low enough to justify putting Alexa in rooms where you might not otherwise bother. The 2025 fourth-generation model keeps that spirit but dresses it up in something more confident and more complicated.
After living with it across a kitchen counter and a bedroom side table, the new Echo Show 8 feels like Amazon trying to make its smart displays feel less like gadgets and more like furniture. It mostly succeeds, though not without trade-offs.
A design that finally feels intentional
The biggest change is visual. The old wedge shape is gone, replaced by a floating display perched on a rounded speaker base. It borrows heavily from the Echo Show 10 playbook, and that is a good thing. The new design looks calmer and more modern, and it blends into a room instead of announcing itself as tech.
The screen is now 8.7 inches, slightly larger and noticeably brighter than before. It is thin, sharp, and easy to read from across a room. Recipes, weather cards, and video calls all look better here, and touch interactions feel quicker and more confident.
The downside of this slimmer look is privacy. The physical camera shutter is gone. You can still disable the camera and microphone with a button or in software, but losing that physical barrier is a real emotional downgrade. It is the difference between knowing something is off and trusting that it is off.
A screen that wants to do a lot
Using the Echo Show 8 feels fast. The new processor makes swipes snappy, voice responses quick, and video playback smoother than previous generations. Asking Alexa questions, jumping between widgets, or starting a show happens without the hesitation older Echo Shows were known for.
That said, the interface still feels busy. Amazon wants the screen to do everything at once. Photos, suggestions, widgets, ads, and reminders all compete for attention. On an 8.7-inch display, that can feel cramped. You can tame it by setting photo backgrounds and limiting content, but it takes effort.
This is still a smart display that works best when you tell it what to show, not when you let it decide.
Sound that fills the room, not the audiophile gap
The speaker setup is more capable than you would expect from something this size. It gets loud enough for a medium-sized room, and it handles voices well, which matters more than bass when you are watching videos or making calls.
Music sounds warm but not detailed. Complex tracks can feel compressed, and vocals sometimes sink into the mix. It is good background sound, not sit-and-listen sound. For most people, that is fine. If you care deeply about audio quality, you probably are not shopping for a smart display speaker anyway.
Smart home brains built in
Where the Echo Show 8 quietly shines is as a smart home hub. Support for Matter, Thread, and Zigbee means it can act as the brain for a modern connected home without extra boxes. Presence detection, temperature sensing, and motion awareness all worked reliably in daily use.
This is the Echo Show that makes routines feel effortless. Lights adjust when you enter a room. Temperature triggers automation. Cameras and doorbells show up on screen without fumbling for your phone.
It feels less like a voice assistant and more like a control panel that happens to talk back.
The multiple-camera live feeds on a single screen worked well in my household.
Alexa feels faster, but still very Amazon
Alexa itself is responsive and occasionally too eager. Questions get answered quickly, sometimes before you finish speaking. Media playback works better than it used to, especially when searching across streaming apps.
Some newer features and smarter responses are tied to Alexa Plus, which is currently limited by region and not available in India. That makes the value proposition uneven depending on where you live. You are paying for hardware that is ready for features you might not get yet.
Verdict
The Echo Show 8 (2025) is a smarter, faster, and better-looking device than the model it replaces. It feels more like a permanent part of your home and less like a plastic gadget you tolerate.
At the same time, it asks you to trust Amazon a little more than before, especially when it comes to privacy. If you are comfortable managing that in software, this is one of the most capable and balanced Alexa displays you can buy.
If you want a smart screen that looks good, sounds decent, and genuinely helps run your home, the Echo Show 8 makes a strong case for itself.
The Echo Show 8 costs ₹23,999 (Graphite & Glacier White colours) and is available to buy on Amazon, Flipkart, and offline stores of Reliance Digital and Croma.
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The Echo Show 8 has always been Amazon’s most reasonable smart display. Big enough to be useful, small enough to fit almost anywhere, and priced just low enough to justify putting Alexa in rooms where you might not otherwise bother. The 2025 fourth-generation model keeps that spirit but dresses it up in something more confident and more complicated.
After living with it across a kitchen counter and a bedroom side table, the new Echo Show 8 feels like Amazon trying to make its smart displays feel less like gadgets and more like furniture. It mostly succeeds, though not without trade-offs.
A design that finally feels intentional
The biggest change is visual. The old wedge shape is gone, replaced by a floating display perched on a rounded speaker base. It borrows heavily from the Echo Show 10 playbook, and that is a good thing. The new design looks calmer and more modern, and it blends into a room instead of announcing itself as tech.
The screen is now 8.7 inches, slightly larger and noticeably brighter than before. It is thin, sharp, and easy to read from across a room. Recipes, weather cards, and video calls all look better here, and touch interactions feel quicker and more confident.
The downside of this slimmer look is privacy. The physical camera shutter is gone. You can still disable the camera and microphone with a button or in software, but losing that physical barrier is a real emotional downgrade. It is the difference between knowing something is off and trusting that it is off.
A screen that wants to do a lot
Using the Echo Show 8 feels fast. The new processor makes swipes snappy, voice responses quick, and video playback smoother than previous generations. Asking Alexa questions, jumping between widgets, or starting a show happens without the hesitation older Echo Shows were known for.
That said, the interface still feels busy. Amazon wants the screen to do everything at once. Photos, suggestions, widgets, ads, and reminders all compete for attention. On an 8.7-inch display, that can feel cramped. You can tame it by setting photo backgrounds and limiting content, but it takes effort.
This is still a smart display that works best when you tell it what to show, not when you let it decide.
Sound that fills the room, not the audiophile gap
The speaker setup is more capable than you would expect from something this size. It gets loud enough for a medium-sized room, and it handles voices well, which matters more than bass when you are watching videos or making calls.
Music sounds warm but not detailed. Complex tracks can feel compressed, and vocals sometimes sink into the mix. It is good background sound, not sit-and-listen sound. For most people, that is fine. If you care deeply about audio quality, you probably are not shopping for a smart display speaker anyway.
Smart home brains built in
Where the Echo Show 8 quietly shines is as a smart home hub. Support for Matter, Thread, and Zigbee means it can act as the brain for a modern connected home without extra boxes. Presence detection, temperature sensing, and motion awareness all worked reliably in daily use.
This is the Echo Show that makes routines feel effortless. Lights adjust when you enter a room. Temperature triggers automation. Cameras and doorbells show up on screen without fumbling for your phone.
It feels less like a voice assistant and more like a control panel that happens to talk back.
The multiple-camera live feeds on a single screen worked well in my household.
Alexa feels faster, but still very Amazon
Alexa itself is responsive and occasionally too eager. Questions get answered quickly, sometimes before you finish speaking. Media playback works better than it used to, especially when searching across streaming apps.
Some newer features and smarter responses are tied to Alexa Plus, which is currently limited by region and not available in India. That makes the value proposition uneven depending on where you live. You are paying for hardware that is ready for features you might not get yet.
Verdict
The Echo Show 8 (2025) is a smarter, faster, and better-looking device than the model it replaces. It feels more like a permanent part of your home and less like a plastic gadget you tolerate.
At the same time, it asks you to trust Amazon a little more than before, especially when it comes to privacy. If you are comfortable managing that in software, this is one of the most capable and balanced Alexa displays you can buy.
If you want a smart screen that looks good, sounds decent, and genuinely helps run your home, the Echo Show 8 makes a strong case for itself.
The Echo Show 8 costs ₹23,999 (Graphite & Glacier White colours) and is available to buy on Amazon, Flipkart, and offline stores of Reliance Digital and Croma.
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