Echo Show 5

I have been wanting to replace the 1990s era clock radio in my bedroom with an echo device since the Echo Spot was released.  The issue was my wife refused to allow a device with a camera in the bedroom. So we have been holding off hoping that Amazon would release something new that would work for us.

Then a couple weeks ago Amazon released the new Echo Show 5 which seems to check most of the boxes that were preventing me from upgrading in the past.  I pulled the trigger and purchased the Echo 5 the day it was released.  Below are my thoughts after using the device for a couple days.

Price - For $89 this is a pretty good deal compared to the Echo Spot ($130) and Echo Show($230). 

Sound - Obviously this isn't going to compare with a Sonos speaker but for a clock radio to wake up to it is sufficent

Size - This is a small device, about the size of a standard smartphone.  But the form factor is much better than the Spot especially when viewing video which were cropped way down to be basically unusable.  Not that I am going to be watching movies on the device but the larger size will be useful when streaming video from my security camera's 

Privacy -  This is the big addition that I think will make people who were hesitant to bring an Echo Show device in their bedroom consider it.   The new Echo Show 5 does have a camera but also has a little shutter switch which will cover the camera when not in use.  This definitely alleviated some of the fears that my wife had about using a spot as a clock radio.

Functionality -  Think of this as a smaller version of the Echo Show.  It looks very similar and has most of the same functionality just in a smaller form factor.

Clock Radio - One of the issues that I has with my existing clock radio was that the blue background of the led screen was too bright and I would have to turn it away from me while I slept.  The Echo Show senses the brightness in the room and adjusts the display accordingly.   When all the lights in my room are out the numbers turn an orange like color and is almost too hard to read but I think I just need to get used to it.  I am on vacation this week so I have not used the alarm yet bit I have to assume it woks just fine as teh other echo devices do.

What's Missing - The Echo Show 5 checks almost all the boxes for me the only feature missing in my opinion is a battery backup.  This is a standard feature on most clock radios.  It is especially useful here in New England as we lose power a couple times a year, a battery backup would allow the alarm to still wake me up in the event of a power loss.

Overall I think this is a great device for the price.  Amazon definitely listens to their customers and releases products that fix the problems in the previous models.  Looking forward to getting to know this little device better over the next couple months.