Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsForget using it with Alexa
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 2 December 2021
The cameras and the image quality are great using the app BUT I also have to say is not the easiest to use even for a geek like me. The biggest gripe is that its marketed as compatible with Alexa and that is true, if you accept up to 60 to 120 seconds delay between real time and when the Echo show actually has it on screen. On of the worst tests took nearly 2 minutes to update with buffering in between.
I tested by moving in front of the camera, on the app it was about a 1 second delay. I could almost go and make a cup of tea and drink it before the image of me moving showed on the Echo Show 8. Very poor performance and is not made obvious in the marketing. I am very unhappy with it on that basis as it was bought specifically for use with Alexa. I could have bought a cheaper non compatible with similar video quality if all I wanted was a phone APP camera. Ask it to view the front door and by the time it does, the visitor has gone or died on the pavement of old age. I wanted to give this a better review but the exceptionally poor video latency performance has totally let it down for me. Its also not my internet speed as I have a wifi system with up to 100mb/s download and 10mb/sec upload so there is no issue there. The Echo Show is the latest generation too. Its the delay in the cloud and through the Alexa Skill/Echo that lets it all down. Amazon, this is not good enough! Either sort out the latency or stop the lies that its compatible when it clearly is not. It shows on the echo when asked for yes, but as to being actually usuable and useful..... it is not. I am still debating whether to return the cameras and buy non compatibles as these are useless for the purpose they were bought for. I expected better when buying a "compatible". Lesson learned there so be advised folks. Oh, there I go across the Echo screen.......thing is I did that when walking to the laptop to start writing this review.
