This bargain-priced smart display is a great way to get started with Alexa

Amazon launched its Alexa virtual assistant with the original Echo smart speaker in 2015, and just two years later it was pioneering the use of smart displays with the original Echo Show. Today, there are several versions of Amazon's Alexa-powered display, including the budget-friendly Echo Show 5. This device gives you hands-free access to Alexa, and the addition of a display makes it easier to control smart home devices, track packages, and more. The 2nd gen Show 5 costs just $85 when it's not on sale, but given the approach of Prime Day, it's almost half-off right now. If you prefer Alexa to Google Assistant or Siri, the Show 5 is easy to justify when it costs almost nothing.

If you want to live an Alexa life and give Amazon all your data, the Echo Show 5 is a nice way to get started.

The Echo Show 5 is a compact, and dare I say, cute little smart display. It looks a bit like an old iMac G3, but much smaller and wider. The Show 5 is the smallest of Amazon's smart display lineup, which also includes the Show 8, the rotating Show 10, and the wall-mounted Show 15. Those devices are all a lot more expensive than the Show 5, which is about the size of a bedside clock. That's one of the use cases Amazon envisions for the Show 5, but perhaps you're understandably squeamish about putting a camera in your bedroom—Google's second-gen Nest Hub doesn't even have one for this reason. The Show 5 smartly includes a physical camera shutter for added privacy, so fear not the big tech boogeyman (this time). The bigger issue is the 2MP camera isn't very good. If this is a major factor for you, you'll have to spend more.

The back of the device is covered in thin fabric similar to Google's Nest Hub, and it has a similarly ill-placed speaker; pumping sound from the grille along the bottom. The tapered back also has a power plug and a Micro USB data port for an optional Ethernet adapter. The display is tilted up slightly, which makes it easy to see if you place it on a table. However, it's not ideal if you plan to set it on a higher shelf. Amazon does sell a stand for the Show 5 to make it more adaptable (see below in the next section).

There is a sizable bezel all the way around the display, with the front-facing video chat camera toward the top right. Just above that on the top is the slider for the camera shutter. Next to that, there are buttons to adjust the volume and a privacy button that turns off the microphone and camera in the software. There are also two microphones on the top. Since the top is tilted slightly away, you won't see them from many angles.

Sadly, there's no 3.5mm output like the original Show 5, so you're stuck with this device's mediocre 1.7-inch full-range speaker. If all you're going to do is issue Alexa commands and listen to podcasts, the iffy speaker won't be a big problem. You can listen to music on the Show 5, but it's not going to sound very good. It's a bit tinny, and there's essentially no bass. Having the speaker face down is not ideal, but as previously mentioned, this is a very common concession in smart displays.

Display resolution isn't a major factor in smaller smart displays. You'll rarely ever look closely enough at the Echo Show 5 to scrutinize the pixels, but Amazon invites you to try with support for Netflix and Prime Video. This 5.5-inch LCD clocks in at a mere 960 x 480, like an Android phone from ten years ago. So video is a no-go on the Show 5. The display is small enough that you can only watch it close-up, but the low resolution is apparent when you do that—I can't imagine in what situation I'd want to watch video on this device.

You can use the Echo Show 5 as a bedside clock, where it's great for alarms, morning routines, relaxation/mindfulness, and podcasts. At night, the display does get pretty dim, but not as dim as Google's latest Nest Hub. Keep that in mind if you're sensitive to light when you're trying to sleep. It's also not as good as a digital photo frame, but it's hard to compete with Google's Ambient EQ display tuning.

Setting up the Echo Show 5 is simple but a bit arduous. Whereas Assistant displays plug into the Home app for setup, Amazon's default method is to have you log in via the display. I don't love typing in my Amazon info and two-factor code on this device's sluggish UI, but it works, and you don't need to have your phone on hand. Once you're up and running, you can talk to the display by saying "Alexa." The Echo Show 5 had no problem hearing me, even from across the room with some ambient noise. "Alexa" is also easier to say than "Ok Google," in my opinion.

Logging into the display and apps with an on-screen keyboard isn't ideal.

Alexa commands are quick and reliable, but I can't say the same for actually using the touchscreen display. The Echo Show 5 has a bargain bin MediaTek MT 8163—a low-power quad-core ARM chip common in cheaper smart home gadgets. The Show 5 suffers from almost constant sluggishness in the UI, making it hard to know if your swipes and taps are being detected. They usually are... after a second. The slightly more expensive Echo Show 8 has a faster octa-core MediaTek chip.

Alexa plugs into numerous smart home ecosystems—all you have to do is add "Skills" for the services you want to use. For example, the Hue skill I've used extensively in testing. One major downside: Amazon's equivalent of casting is much less capable.

The Alexa app can be convoluted and buggy, but it mostly works to manage my various gadgets. Alexa discovered my Hue lights right away, but it was tedious to move them to rooms—I'm talking 5-6 taps per bulb. If your smart home ecosystem leans heavily on Amazon devices, these will integrate best with Alexa and the Echo Show 5, and Alexa setup is much faster. For example, the Show 5 remembered my old Amazon cameras right out of the box.

Even without adding Skills, Alexa is able to answer all sorts of questions about the world, news, the weather, and so on, but it's often reaching out to Google (and Assistant does that better). The display constantly cycles through suggestions for commands, trending news, as well as Skills you might want to add. It's a lot of clutter out of the box, but you can pare down the list in settings. One thing I made sure to leave enabled is package tracking. If you order a lot of things from Amazon, this is a killer feature. The display tells you the status of your Amazon shipments, answers questions about contents, and even sends a ping when something is delivered. Alexa definitely excels in some areas, but for my money, Assistant gets it right more often.

That said, I love Alexa's Brief Mode, which makes the voice assistant less chatty. It's just a toggle away in the settings, and then Alexa will shorten its responses to save you time. It can make a big difference; instead of loudly proclaiming that it has turned off a light as asked, now Alexa just chimes. These shorter, quieter dialog options make Alexa less frustrating to live with than Google Assistant, which lacks any similar feature. Assistant even sometimes tacks on annoying "tips" after you get done with a command. I still think Assistant is better with complex tasks and queries, but believe me, I'd kill for Brief Mode on Assistant.

Maybe. While there are issues with the Show 5, like sluggish performance and a poor speaker, it gets a lot right. Alexa is a totally competent voice assistant, and it's tightly integrated with Amazon's ecosystem of devices. It helps that the display is only $85 on a bad day. With Prime Day almost here, Amazon is slashing the price of this display—it's basically an impulse purchase. If you're not deeply committed to Siri or Assistant, you might as well buy one.

And if I'm being honest, "Alexa" is just a much better hotword to be shouting compared to "Hey Google." It almost makes me want to switch to Amazon's ecosystem. Almost. If you want to live an Alexa life and give Amazon all your data, the Echo Show 5 is a nice way to get started.

Amazon's larger smart display is, obviously, larger than the Show 5. It has a similar overall shape, though, with a tapered fabric-covered back and the physical camera shutter we like so much. The 13MP camera is good enough that you might actually want to use it, too. It's also more powerful and better for watching video than the Show 5, but that comes with an increased $130 MSRP.

Google's smallest smart display is the 7-inch Nest Hub, which offers a slightly different feature set. There's no camera, but the Hub offers integrated sleep tracking via the Soli radar module. As a Google device, it runs Assistant rather than Alexa, but we generally like Google's option better. If you already use a lot of Google and Nest smart home gear, the Nest Hub will work better for you. The Nest Hub starts at $100. Although, it gets closer to the Echo Show 5's price tag on sale.

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Ryan is a tech/science writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would. He's the author of a sci-fi novel called The Crooked City, which is available on Amazon and Google Play.