Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsLeaves a lot to be desired - opt for the Show 8 instead
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 18 April 2020
I was in the market for an Echo Show to put in my kitchen. Unfortunately, I have an obsession with big screens. This led me to look at the 10” version but was put off by the £200+ price tag. Being an existing Fire 10 tablet owner, the Show mode charging dock appealed to me as it would give me the screen size I wanted at a fraction of the cost.
I was impressed with how the product arrived; it was well packaged and felt sturdy.
On setting the product up, I was reasonably happy as it was unobtrusive, and gave me a voice controlled screen in my kitchen. As time went on, I felt like I was forcing myself to like it.
The main drawback to utilising the Fire 10 with the Show Charging Dock is that the stock speakers are dreadful on the tablet - the dock doesn’t have any additional speakers (which I knew before I purchased). I also found the microphone sensitivity poor, and found myself shouting at the tablet if there was any background noise. I had to change the wake word to Amazon as my lounge echo heard me clearer!
This product is essentially a wireless charger on my bedside table. It’s nice to have a screen next to my bed for visual alarms in the morning, and great that I always have a fully charged tablet, but I am not using the product for the purpose I bought it.
In the end, I purchased a Show 8 in the sale. I am very happy with this despite the smaller screen. It is so much easier to use as a wireless voice assistant and I’d recommend this route over the Show Dock.
To summarise, the Show Dock is reasonably useful in certain situations but if you want a screen assistant in an area of the house that can have background noise, this is not the choice. The speakers leave a lot to be desired, but this can be rectified by hooking up to Bluetooth. The wireless charging for your Fire 10 is the most useful feature, and if the room is quiet, it’ll perform reasonably well.
