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Two-minute assessment
The Echo Present 15 is again, with some reasonable {hardware} upgrades and quality-of-life enhancements that make for a barely extra rounded providing. The unique Echo Show 15 sat somewhat on the periphery of Amazon’s good show vary, with the extra in style Echo Show 8, Echo Show 5 and the extra snazzy Echo Show 10 taking heart stage. So, does the brand new Echo Present 15 (2024) earn a spot alongside its siblings on our checklist of the best smart displays you should buy at present?
The primary Echo Present 15 discovered itself on the sidelines following a barely lackluster launch and early efficiency – at the least that was the case till Amazon launched a Fireplace TV replace. Regardless of its weak sound and underwhelming show, that improve made the Echo Present 15 a much more attention-grabbing proposition as a wise show for kitchens, workplaces and different rooms the place even a small TV is perhaps too obtrusive.
The 15-inch good show has all the time suffered from a little bit of an id disaster, having been designed to cater to the comparatively small area of interest market of “small TV-shaped good hubs” by providing app help for varied streaming providers along with the usual array of music streaming platforms supported by the best smart speakers, in addition to some fundamental good house controls.
Nevertheless, following the discharge of the Echo Hub in early 2024, which arrived rocking a brand new person interface and options particularly designed for smart-home management, I had excessive hopes that some improved smart-home… properly, smarts, from the Echo Hub’s person interface would make an look within the second-generation Echo Present 15 in addition to the all-new Echo Present 21.
Sadly, that’s not the case. As a substitute, the Echo Present 15 as soon as once more serves the twin objective of being an leisure and smart-home hub, this time made full with built-in Fireplace TV at launch, widgets, and an Alexa Voice distant and some added {hardware} upgrades. It additionally totes an improved digicam, show and audio, in addition to connectivity supporting Matter, Thread and Zigbee, all in response to buyer suggestions from the primary technology and to make sure that the {hardware} meets present good house and leisure wants.
By and enormous, Amazon has addressed the naked minimal upgrades wanted to make the Echo Present 15 a extra engaging choice; sadly, not sufficient has modified for me to advocate the system as a must have good show. Particularly with the discharge of the all-new Echo Show 21, the Echo Present 15 would not even have “being the most important Amazon Echo Present” going for it anymore. It’s, nevertheless, a nice-to-have display screen that may fill a comparatively small hole in your smart-home ecosystem, and is a lot succesful for what it’s.
Echo Present 15 (2024): Design
- Easy image body design
- Tremendous simple setup
- Contains Fireplace TV distant
Echo Present 15 (2024): Specs
Display dimension: 15.6 inches
Dimensions: 15.8 x 9.9 x 1.4 inches / 40 x 25 x 3.5cm
Decision: 1080p decision
Connecivity: Matter, Wi-Fi, Thread, Zigbee, Bluetooth
Voice assistant: Alexa
Digital camera: 13MP
Weight: 4.85lbs / 2.2kg
The design of the Echo Present 15 (2024) is suitably unassuming for a tool that’s meant to be useful reasonably than being a centerpiece, retaining the straightforward, image frame-esque type of the unique mannequin. The primary body is black, with a white matte surrounding the 15.6-inch display screen.
It’s wall-mountable out of the field, with an excellent simple sub-five-minute setup – or, when you owned the unique mannequin, you’ll be able to swap it straight out because it makes use of the very same body – and it’s additionally appropriate with standardized VESA mounts, that are extensively obtainable. It may be arrange in both a horizontal or vertical orientation, however you’d have to re-fit the included bracket to do change the orientation. It’s a pleasant choice, although I’d think about most customers would go for horizontal to make use of its display screen for TV and movie, and you’ll decide to purchase a third-party rotating wall mount when you recurrently wish to swap between the 2.
Quite a lot of stands are additionally obtainable, together with the official stand made by Sanus (offered individually for $33 / £34; it’s not but offered in Australia) which lets you use the Echo Present 15 in tabletop mode. Whichever manner you set it up, the primary factor to contemplate aside from visibility is the digicam area of view – this has seen a major improve within the newer mannequin, however if you wish to make use of Imaginative and prescient ID and video calls you’ll want to verify the digicam is unobstructed and has a very good view of the room.
Alongside the highest edge are the guide controls: a bodily swap for the digicam’s privateness shutter, in addition to quantity and mute buttons. At 15.8 x 9.9 x 1.4 inches / 40 x 25 x 3.5cm, its footprint is appreciable, and that solely will increase when you decide to make use of the lean stand, which provides an additional 7.5 inches / 19cm to its depth. Alongside the highest edge (in horizontal orientation), the digicam is seated centrally within the white matte as a substitute of within the top-left nook per its predecessor.
Additionally included is the Alexa Voice Distant, which can be utilized to manage the brand new Fireplace TV interface – that is simply an ordinary Alexa distant, which you’ll be aware of when you personal one among Amazon’s Fireplace TV sticks.
Echo Present 15 (2024): Efficiency
- Brilliant and vivid display screen
- Improved audio and digicam specs…
- … nevertheless audio high quality remains to be missing
Due to some reasonable {hardware} upgrades, efficiency is the world the place the Echo Present 15 (2024) stands above the first-generation system, though sadly not by sufficient to make it a significant improve if you have already got the unique Present 15.
Let’s begin with the show. It’s vivid and clear, and the 1080p decision is completely satisfactory for a display screen of this dimension, and is well-suited to streaming, net shopping and studying from any distance. Nevertheless, the shortage of HDR is one thing we had a grievance about within the unique mannequin, and, sadly, Amazon didn’t deign to improve the show specs for the second technology to spice up distinction and shade saturation. Nonetheless, black ranges are a lot ok, and provided that this isn’t the form of display screen I’d count on customers to have their eyes glued to, it’s a forgivable omission.
Audio specs noticed a major improve within the second-generation Echo Present 15, with the newer mannequin housing twin 2-inch woofers along with two 0.6-inch tweeters, versus the unique mannequin’s two 1.6-inch full drivers.
Does this modification have a noticeable influence? Completely – the brand new Echo Present 15 is definitely louder than the first-generation mannequin, and the bass is extra pronounced. Nevertheless, it suffers from points that appear widespread to a lot of Amazon’s audio system: a scarcity of element within the highs, muddy bass that’s missing in dynamics, and boosted mid frequencies which principally serve to create appreciable distortion at excessive volumes.
Listening to Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain, there’s an entire lot of bass – sufficient to overpower the already-subdued vocals – however the audio lacks the drive and meat wanted to go with the observe. Advanced and textured tracks like Radiohead’s 15 Step are all too simply muddied, with the Echo Present 15 missing the constancy and stereo separation to deal with the combo. The scratchy electrical guitar strums and bass sit proper up entrance alongside Thom Yorke’s mournful vocals for a lot of the observe, which might be nice have been it not for the truth that the remainder of the observe feels muddy and directionless, with uninteresting highs and flat percussion letting down the Echo Present 15.
Whereas its dealing with of music won’t be probably the most balanced, I’ll say that the Echo Present 15 is properly suited to the spoken phrase, and on this regard it’s once more leaning into its position as a small good TV reasonably than a wise show. Nonetheless, I’d have hoped to see somewhat extra enchancment and bang to your buck on this second-generation mannequin, and somewhat extra vary.
Additionally upgraded on this new mannequin is the now-13MP wide-angle digicam, which is primed for improved Alexa video calls, utilizing Amazon’s Drop In function, in addition to for calls utilizing Zoom or Skype. It’s a notable step up from the earlier mannequin’s 5MP digicam, particularly because of the brand new auto framing and three.3x zoom, and as with all camera-equipped Echo gadgets the Echo Present 15 doubles as an in-home safety digicam which you could verify in on while you’re away.
Echo Present 15 (2024): Software program
- Fast and clear Alexa responses
- Fireplace TV help out-of-the-box
- Customizable widgets make good house management faster
Alexa’s responses are zippy, providing all the standard Alexa Skills and commands we’ve come to count on from Amazon’s good speaker and shows because of its Octa-core AZ2 system-on-chip. Very like different obtainable Echo Present gadgets, by default the Echo Present 15 shows a customizable widget management heart, framed by a rotation of content material from default pictures to your individual pictures, information, and content material ideas.
In an analogous vein, the display screen UI is fairly clear and runs easily, benefitting from years of Echo Present software program improvement regardless of utilizing the identical {hardware} as the unique Echo Present 15. By comparability, the Echo Hub’s newer, good home-first interface was somewhat on the buggy facet, however I’d nonetheless have a lot most popular to have the choice to change to a extra good home-device-oriented different.
The included Alexa Voice Distant is a pleasant contact that serves to drive house the truth that this display screen is properly suited to streaming, however a slight niggle I’ve is that it could actually solely management the Fireplace TV interface and music. Particularly in the course of the night, once I don’t wish to quarrel loudly with Alexa, I prize guide management options that don’t contain me standing; I’d love if the distant was configured to manage your entire UI, inclusive of smart-home gadgets to this finish.
Nevertheless, the distant is useful for Fireplace TV navigation, particularly provided that the show doesn’t all the time play ball with contact controls. The Echo Present 15 comes pre-loaded with lots of the best streaming services and help for a variety of platforms, however Amazon once more misses a trick hereby not leaning additional into its good TV performance and incorporating Miracast/WiDi help for display screen mirroring.
Widgets are nice, however as soon as once more they’re underutilized in Amazon’s good show interface. With woefully few customization choices to reshape, resize, configure or create your individual widgets, this function nonetheless feels half-baked. Amazon’s first-party widgets are naturally probably the most helpful, and there are a good quantity to select from, but it surely’s not the magic bullet the Echo Present 15 very a lot wants for its smart-home providing.
Nevertheless, I actually respect the choice to customise widgets and interfaces primarily based on person profiles, that means entire households and households alike can profit from the assistive tech on board the Echo Present 15. Throughout my testing, I switched out with my companion a number of occasions in an hour, and Imaginative and prescient ID appropriately recognized every time who had simply walked in, displaying them their customized content material ideas.
Echo Present 15 (2024): Worth and availability
- Launch date: December 2024
- Worth: $299 / £299 / AU$549
The Echo Present 15 is out there from Amazon within the US, UK and Australia for $299 / £299 / AU$549 respectively. That’s a small worth improve over the unique mannequin, and whilst you do now get an included distant and barely higher specs, I’m very a lot ‘whelmed’ by Amazon’s efforts right here, by way of worth for cash.
That’s very true of the stand scenario; it could have been completely cheap, given the amount of consumers who don’t have the choice or need to wall-mount their screens, to incorporate a small, steady kickstand. As a substitute, it’s important to go for both the official Sanus stand (offered individually for $33 / £34. It’s not but offered in Australia) or for one of many many different – and sometimes expensive – VESA mounts.
Ought to I purchase the Echo Present 15?
Purchase it if…
You desire a small, good TV
For those who match into the comparatively small area of interest of people that desire a good leisure hub that additionally homes Alexa, that is the display screen for you.
You principally wish to stream video
Between its reasonable audio and show specs and the included Fireplace TV distant, the Echo Present is properly suited to streaming TV reveals and films.
Do not buy it if…
You wish to improve your unique Echo Present 15
Until you’re actually determined, not sufficient has modified nor improved from the unique mannequin to justify this improve.
You desire a smart-home-first show
The Echo Present 15 leans extra in the direction of leisure than it does granular, accessible smart-home management.
Amazon Echo Present 15: additionally contemplate
For those who’re unsure the Amazon Echo Present 15 is the precise good hub for you, listed below are additional choices to contemplate:
How I examined the Echo Present 15 (2024)
- I used the Echo Present 15 as my major good house hub for one month
- I examined its show, audio, and digicam specs with real-world testing
- I used all of its varied smart-home management options
To place the Echo Present 15 by means of its paces I examined all of its important function and {hardware} upgrades in opposition to the first-generation mannequin, different Echo shows and audio system in my house, and Google Nest gadgets.
I watched and listened to a wide range of media to check the vary and efficiency of the good show, in addition to making an attempt out the entire varied options and distinctive promoting factors. I included the Echo Present 15 into my wider good house ecosystem, which can also be populated with good safety cameras, lights and home equipment, and used it to manage my house.
I’ve been testing smart-home gadgets for 3 years and utilizing them personally for even longer, throughout which era I’ve realized every part there’s to learn about what makes a very good good show or speaker. I exploit Alexa and different good assistants on daily basis to run my house.