Primary reason for purchase was to have ringer for doorbell / connection even if i’m not home, smarthome hub for smartlights. Added bonus is music speaker for Amazon music.
Testing both Ring & Blink doorbells, & both announce on it within seconds. No need for a ringer- this does that plus! My smartlights show on hub. Took off a star because it’s not easy to control things from device screen. Find it necessary to setup on Alexa app on phone. Then it all works! Also, though Music sounds great! the Show isn’t linking to ‘my music” on my Amazon - if i tell it it to play an album from my music, It chooses something from Amazon music instead. Then goes to next thing on Amazon, not next on my device”s Amazon music. Workaround is to cast from phone to echo show- that works. Until I stop it. When i want to restart & say “play” it will play last thing that Show itself played (News, Weather), not what was playing. Even though phone shows am connected via bluetooth to Show. My very old echo dot linked to my music - this may be a more recent software update. Other than these annoyances, it does what i need, plus so much more! Alexa Show device - echo calls, announcements, video camera (which can be covered), music speaker, plus smarthome hub. A bit rough around the edges, - & not the same as show 15, but substantially les expensive- A very nice little hybrid device that does all i need and more than I expected at an affordable price!

I give the Echo Show 5 2 1/2 stars. I have tried to adapt to it, wanted to like it, but was going to return it until I learned Best Buy only allows a FIFTEEN DAY return window!
This will be my last electronics purchase from Best Buy. I should have purchased this from Amazon directly, as their return policy is generous. Fifteen days is just not enough time to decide if you want to keep something, especially when you are leaning towards returning it but wanting to give it a chance.
So, what makes me want to return it, or I guess now smash it with a hammer? First, it has to be told twice many time. It will acknowledge your selection, but the station won't play until you command a second time.
I have rather ancient Dots, so I thought this would be an upgrade, and it is in terms of sound quality. But even there, because it is more powerful, the loudness variation from say level 2 to level 3 is much greater than with the Dot. This matters to me because I use level 2 or 3 when listening to Pandora at night, but with this unit, 2 is sometimes too low, but 3 is too loud.
Another example: I'll command it to Pandora and at some point it will switch, without any command or prompting, to something else.
Did I mention I wish I could return it?

The Echo Show 5 is now on its third iteration of Amazon’s smart home device, with incremental improvements to the smallest Echo with a display. The exterior looks cleaner and modern with the fabric covering the entire device, apart from the 5.5” touchscreen with rounded corners.

Out of the box, setup was quick and easy with the option to provision the device on your phone by scanning a QR code or setup on device if you prefer. Though Amazon pushes their sidewalk program to generously share your internet with strangers during setup, it is optional. Standard privacy features include a mute button as well as a physical camera shutter.

Although I do not have a 2nd generation device to compare with, Amazon claims the sound has been improved partially thanks to a slightly larger internal speaker. I found the sound to be clear and pronounced, with fairly decent sound when listening nearby. The petite device is also quite capable of higher volume than expected, making it easy to hear from across the room. Though you lose the depth of the sound when not in close proximity, this should not be a surprise considering the diminutive size. Fortunately, it’s small foot print affords versatility in placement and the design blends in to an extent. I found sound quality is best when the back of the speaker is close to a wall, allowing the audio to reflect off the surface. The 5.5” touch display is sharp and clear, though sometimes the interface can be a little laggy. the display is a also a fingerprint magnet, so probably best to interact with this device primarily through voice. The display is quite useful, from showing visual results when asking Alexa a question to displaying on-screen lyrics when playing music, it offers a nice visual interface to accompany the voice assistant. My family has been enjoying the “Price is Right” mini game, which would not be possible on an Echo without a display. The device can also be used to keep in touch with family members if you choose, allowing you to video call each other from compatible devices.

For the size and price, the Echo Show 5 is a nice entry level device so long as you know it’s purpose. It will not fill your home with rich audio nor will it be the best device to watch videos on due to the size, but it offers a small, discrete smart home device that is capable of a large variety of tasks. I think it is a great device for kids, gift to a family member, or add to your home where you do not need a larger, more capable speaker or display.

The Amazon Echo 5 is a amazing device I highly recommend it, it has so many features that make you feel as though you have a personal secretary on call around the clock .I had the ability to use the echo to watch Netflix and some other video apps like YouTube and tik tok. it also has the ability to connect to the internet for web browsing, extremely easy to set up and having a Amazon account makes it even better because it gives you the freedom to be able to keep track of your purchases or to make purchases, it also notifies you if you return an item that you purchase so that way you know when your refund is on its way. It allows you to receive notifications so you can know when you're purchases are in route to you and when they have arrived. It can link to my security system which is a great feature you just have to give permission for it to do so, I love the fact that I can access my doorbell so I can see who's at my door and you can speak to them clearly. By the way you don't have to have all your devices be Amazon or Alexa for it to work with other cameras or doorbells. It will work with Google and it will also work with ADT and other cameras that you probably can purchase from other websites and I know this for a fact. I also like the ability to be able to access my other blink cameras in my home so that way I can know what's going on and also keep track of my pets which is a great ability to have. You can also make video calls and receive video calls or have someone drop in once the permission is granted to receive information like if I want to tell my children dinner's ready I can drop into the intercom or I can tell them to go check the mailbox or go walk the dog so that's what the drop-in feature allows .you also have your privacy because the echo comes with a switch that blocks the camera so you don't have to worry about thinking anyone is watching you plus you can mute the device so the device cannot hear you, you can even change the name so instead of calling it Alexa you can call it names like echo or Amazon. Schedule appointments find out what the weather is going to be, get reminders of anything like planning future vacations the list goes on. One of my relaxing enjoyments is telling Alexa to play meditation music or to watch soothing Shoreline water crash up against the shore or even having it display a aquarium when i go to bed. So honestly the list of things you can do is Limitless so I highly recommend it, give it a chance you'll enjoy it and remember you don't have to get the newest one to reap all the benefits some of the older models can do a lot of the same things and they come in bigger sizes which is why I purchase two more. Yeah it's a great display and you can use it for alarm clock one of my children had trouble sitting there alarm clock so now to be able to just tell it what time you want to be up or to remind you to work out make things so much easier plus if you are not available to your child and your child need help with homework you can ask the device questions and more than likely it will have the answer.