Amazon Echo Show 21 (newest model), Full HD 21″ kitchen hub for home organization, with built-in Fire TV and Alexa+ Early Access

10 Stars! No issues, read for user tips
I’ve had so many Echos over the years, beginning with the 1st Gen, can’t live without them anymore since so much of our home is Alexa connected. I originally got a refurbished 1st Gen Echo Show 15″, not knowing the 2nd gen was coming out. So glad I returned it for the new 21″ Echo Show, it’s absolutely phenomenal!Streaming video: Easy to set up streaming (which I’ve done on our 5″, 8″, and 10″ Echos). The best part of the Echo Show is that Fire TV is included. I easily logged into Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, Max, Peacock, Paramount, Disney+, and Apple TV (other Echo shows only allowed me Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon, I believe). The setup and remote is the same as FireTV.Streaming audio: Easy to connect with your Audible account, and Apple Music or Spotify. I can also stream NPR and podcasts. If you are having a problem with Echo playing the right song, try this: “Echo, play Blinding Lights by the Weeknd on Apple Music” instead just saying “Echo, play Blinding Lights.” Same “Echo, play Christmas Jazz on Apple Music” instead of “Echo, play Christmas Music.” The more specific you are, the better results.Calendar: I tried the Skylight and it is useless. The Echo Show will connect to your Apple Calendars. Our family does shared calendars, and everything shares over to our Echo Show, including announcing events and times to leave.Drop in: It’s amazing! The camera will zoom and adjust automatically. Our Echo Show 10 does this, but it’s on a swivel and always runs into things. This one is much smarter! You can drop in from another Alexa device, or simple the Alexa app on a smart phone.Photos: We have all of our Echo Shows displaying photos that I have uploaded to Amazon photos and then select which photos to show using the Alexa app. Screen is so clear and large, better than any smart frame I’ve ever seen. And friends/family can share photos to it.Announcements: Announcements will show on the screen and announce (I also have push notifications to my watch/phone). Echo hears them perfectly and announces them correctly (our Echo 8 has stopped properly listening and announcing). You can also announce from the Alexa app if you are not home, very convenient for parents :)Widgets: Widgets are easy to add and adjust, just be patient and go through the process.Ads: To remove (most) ads, go into settings on the screen and turn everything to off! I barely get any. If you are still getting those annoying “Wicked” ads, it’s because you have on the “Theme” setting. Once I turned that off, no more “Wicked” (or other future sponsored theme movies), even though we do like the theme setting (Mario is my favorite!).Pricing: Look for a sale. I got the 21″ for $350 on the Black Friday Sale. Would have cost me more than that for a TV, sound bar, and Apple TV for our kitchen (which was our old setup).I LOVE all of our Echo devices. Our Gen 1 is still working amazingly, and glad to add the Echo 21″ to our home.

We enjoy our Alexa!!
We have so many Echo devices in our house. We really love all that they are capable of doing, from locking doors, to turning lights off and on, to playing music, trivia games, asking for information, alarm clocks, timers, reminders, calendar events, photo displays and so much more. We have several dots, a show 5, show 8, show 15 and now the 21. I think that speaks for itself. We have different expectations from each of them and they all usually perform the way that is expected. We have no issues with the sound quality. Sometimes what she hears, or doesn’t hear isn’t perfect, but we work around that. We even gave one to my dad to use in his own home. He really enjoys it and with his account, he has the Alexa +. That is one thing I wish we could have with our account, but is not available yet.

Finally, a Kitchen Smart Home Hub that doesn’t look like one
The good:Our kitchen used to have an Echo Show 10 in it that we used for music, cook timers, and to ask Alexa to questions. What an upgrade Echo Show 15 is. The first thing you notice is it looks like a photo frame and not a big screen taking up counter space. I’m not sure if the display is upgraded or not from our old Echo Show 10, but the text is very crisp and easier to read.My favorite feature has been the widgets. It has a widget for my Tempest home weather station (was surprised as it has very few widgets overall and did not know it had it when I purchased), a widget for my wife’s commute (Address is set from the Alexa App on your phone), a smart home favorites widget that has our top 3 smart devices (front door Ring, Nest downstairs and upstairs thermostats that you can control), and a recent playlist showing our Spotify history. You can add a calendar, but with guests frequently in the Kitchen I didn’t opt to advertise my schedule.The runner-up best feature is the built-in fire tv. Works/acts just like a normal fire tv and was nice to be able to stream live tv or a TV show from Hulu or Netflix while cooking. My wife and I love music and particularly old music videos. To be able to use the Prime Channels like Vevo 80s or XITE 90s is awesome if you’re having happy hour in the kitchen. If you don’t want to mess with it, Pandora or Spotify all work well, except you use them through Echo’s Alexa interface and can’t use their downloadable fire tv apps as of this writing.The bad:Why in 2024 Amazon is still using the round DC power port type and not using USB-C is why it’s 4 stars and not 5 stars. This will take some lengthy explanation, but hopefully save a lot of headaches as the install for this Echo is involved. Because this is designed to be wall mounted and it uses an AC/DC power module aka a wall wort, it makes the installation far more involved than it needs to be.Like your TV if it’s wall mounted, it needs the power supply placed behind it if you want a clean install. Because the included wall mounting bracket (did not use) has little clearance between the device body and the wall and, perhaps even more annoying, Amazon can’t seem to make literally millimeter adjustments to the size of its wall wort to fit into a recessed AC outlet (Tried Leviton’s, so close) that works with the existing 1 gang outlet boxes we all have in the U.S., you are left with two options. Option 1, you cut open the drywall where you want it and install a large recessed box that can fit an electrical outlet and your wall wort (for adventurous DIYers or hired electrician). Option 2 (which I did for a couple reasons), is purchase a VESA mount.The back of the Echo Show 15 has standard VESA mounting holes like those used for TVs and computer monitors. If you opt for Option 2, find a VESA mount compatible with this screen size and should be ok. I went this route for a couple reasons. The first is it lets me adjust the display left to right or up and down to adjust viewing angle (only slightly because of how close it is to the wall) and 2, because its above my kitchen counter, I want access to the AC outlet behind it should I need to plug something in on that side of my counter.A third option exists, which is an under counter mount, which is probably more ideal if your going to use it in a kitchen more as a TV and want a very adjustable viewing angle, but I opted for the wall mount since it looks cleaner and its used as a TV on a very limited basis.Back to my 4 out of 5 star rating. If they would have simply included a USB-C power port like virtually all devices now do including Amazon’s own Eero routers, I could have simply installed a USB-C/AC wall outlet like I already have on another Kitchen wall and not have to use the included wall wort at all. Possibly letting me and a lot of people use existing outlets and their included bracket, saving time and money.