Amazon’s smart displays keep getting bigger and bigger, and the latest, the Echo Show 15, sports a 15.6-inch 1,080p screen and is designed to be mounted to a wall or position on a counter or shelf.
The display can be positioned either in portrait or landscape orientation and boasts Amazon’s AZ2 Neural Edge processor along with a redesigned home screen that has more customization options, new personalization features with visual ID, and new Alexa experiences.
With customizable Alexa widgets and Echo Show 15’s ambient rotating content, you can customize the home screen using a new widgets gallery. Alexa widgets continually refresh to stay up to date, so you always have the latest information and can easily rearrange them to suit your needs and preferences.
With the new (and optional) visual ID feature, Alexa can recognize you and personalize the information on Echo Show 15’s screen. After enrolling in visual ID, if you walk in front of Echo Show 15, Alexa will automatically update to show you a custom greeting, your reminders, calendar events, recently played music, or notes from others in your home.
You can also use the smart display to view and update your household’s shared calendar, add or remove items from your shopping list, check your to-do list, and more. You can get delivery options from restaurants like KFC; recipe recommendations from Epicurious, Tasty, Food52, and more. You can also create a personalized taste profile with your family’s dietary preferences, so Alexa will show recipe and restaurant recommendations tailored to you.
A smart home favourites widget lets you view and control your most-used compatible smart home devices with a tap. Thanks to the large screen, you can use picture-in-picture viewing to follow a recipe, while also keeping an eye on the nursery camera.
With the sticky notes widget, you can leave a note about dinner time for family members, or a reminder to take the dog for a walk. With visual ID, you can send a note directly to a specific family member, which will only show up when Alexa recognizes them in front of the device. The large 15.6-inch screen and 5MP camera, Echo Show 15 can also be used for video calls, or to Drop In on a loved one inside or outside of your house.
With its large screen and support for 1,080p video streaming, Echo Show 15 can also double as a kitchen TV. Ask Alexa to watch movies and TV shows from Prime Video or Netflix, or catch up on the news from CBC, CityNews, CTV, and Radio Canada. You can also ask Alexa to play music or read an Audible book, catch up on NHL highlights, or display full-screen pictures from Amazon Photos or alternating visuals from pre-loaded art, nature, seasonal, or travel galleries.
Amazon has been rolling out its new Low Power mode, which reduces their lifetime energy consumption by using less power during periods of inactivity, to a variety of devices. By the end of 2021, more than half of all Echo and Fire TV devices that are in customers’ homes will have Low Power Mode. This feature is also included on the new Echo Show 15 and Fire TV Stick 4K Max.
Privacy includes microphone and camera controls, the ability to view and delete your voice recordings, and a built-in shutter to cover the camera. Visual ID is optional and requires explicit enrollment, and you can delete your visual ID profile at any time through the on-device settings or the Alexa app. There are several updates to Alexa as well, including the ability to ask Alexa to update your privacy settings so you can change how long voice recordings are saved and how they are used. Customers will also receive a reminder to review their privacy settings in the Alexa app 30 days after they’ve set up their device.
The Amazon Echo Show 15 will be available for $330.