# Amazon Echo Show

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Amazon Echo Show and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a cheap video-calling and clock display, once set up. Most common caveat: it shows ads, sometimes even when set to no ads.

## Why people recommend it

- Cheap compared with alternatives (2 comments): "They offer more or less this, but do so at a fraction of the price" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50073159)) "Devices that were $50 for a lot of their useful life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50077149))
- Useful beyond Alexa after setup (2 comments): "I turned an Echo Show from an annoying ad machine into the device a Chumby always could have been" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48828117)) "I can finally retire this ad machine and be Alexa free." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50072091))

## What people warn about

- Shows ads most of the time (6 comments): "The Alexa's with video screen will start to show ads no matter now many times you set it to no ads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47065548)) "the show shows ads most of the time, when I really want it to show the clock face instead" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47065600)) "It's horrible as it just shovels advertisements at you all the time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50080044))
- Pushes Alexa and Alexa+ features (2 comments): "So far it's exactly as crappy as Alexa, but only because I haven't waded deep enough into configuration." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46545795)) "Now it's getting aggressive about pushing the Alexa+ stuff" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46503028))
- Limited functions, no sideloading (2 comments): "I direly wish I could sideload an actually useful UI onto it, but there aren't any methods of doing so yet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48407081)) "it's almost unable to do anything else most of the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48559790))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Amazon Alexa](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-alexa.md): 45 recommend
- [Apple HomePod](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-homepod.md): 30 recommend
- [Google Home](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-home.md): 19 recommend
- [Meta Portal](https://hackerapproved.com/p/meta-portal.md): 17 recommend
- [Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition](https://hackerapproved.com/p/home-assistant-voice-preview-edition.md): 14 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Amazon+Echo+Show+8+%283rd+gen%29+smart+display&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Amazon Echo Show", https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-echo-show/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).