Voice In Canada Flash Briefing #470

Hello, it’s Teri Fisher here with your flash briefing for Monday. And today, really exciting, there is a brand new product that has just come out from Amazon, a brand new Echo device.

And, I’ve go to be honest, when I first saw the announcement, I thought, “Oh, oh. It’s going to be a while until it comes to Canada”, but the good news is, as of the date that it is being relaunched in the United States, it is also being launched in Canada and it is called the Echo Show 5.

Alright, so what is this? I actually really like the look of this product. I’m going to give you a quick overview. Here’s what it is. It’s like an Echo Show, that’s the first thing.

So as you may know, an Echo Show is the device that has a screen on it, so it’s a multi-modal device. But, here’s the thing, with the Echo Show, it’s a little bit smaller, and it actually fits, I think, quite nicely, say on a night table.

It’s actually about six inches in length by about three inches by about two inches, and it has a five and a half inch smart display. Of course, it’s got Alexa built in and all the features that Alexa has, but it’s got a rectangular display.

Unlike the Spot, you may have seen the Spot. The Spot is sort of a softball sized, visual, multi-modal device, but it’s got a very small screen because it’s round. This is again a rectangular screen.

Some of the things that’s really neat about this, first of all, is that you can use it just like a Show. It’s got all the functionality of the Show, except, and here’s the catch. It does not have the smart home hub.

So, if you are buying an Echo device specifically to control smart home lights, and that sort of thing, this one won’t do it on its own. You would have to have some other type of hub potentially.

Now, if you already have a hub, it’s not a problem, or if you have another Echo device that has a hub, then it’s not a problem. So if you’re looking for a great Echo device with a screen, this may be what you’re looking for. Here’s the real nice thing about it, is the price point.

If you’re looking for a great Echo device with a screen, this may be what you’re looking for.

Amazon Echo Show 5 in Canada

The Echo Show, so the one that already exists, the one with the little bit bigger screen, that one is priced at $300 typically on Amazon. Now, it does go on sale periodically, but $300 is the regular price.

The Echo Show 5, at least at this point, the introductory offer is priced at $99.99. It’s a third of it, and if you buy two of them, you actually get to save 30 bucks right now at the checkout.

This is going to be released June 26, 2019, but you can pre-order it right now. It comes in a charcoal color. It comes in a sandstone color, and I think it’s a great price point for a nice rectangular visual multi-modal Echo device.

The other differences, of course, is that, you know, because it’s smaller, it has a smaller speaker, so the sound is not quite as good as the larger Echo show, the camera built into it doesn’t have quite as high resolution, but one thing that they did do with this one, which is not on the Echo Show, is they actually have a physical camera shutter sliders.

You can actually physically close the camera. So if you are concerned about privacy with a camera being on the device, you can physically cover it by just sliding a slider, and that’s something new for Echo devices.

So there you go, that’s a quick overview. I’ll be talking a lot more about this in the future, but I want you to know that if you want to purchase this, and pre-order it, you can go to AlexainCanada.ca/Show5 and it’ll take you directly to the Spot on Amazon where you can order that.

That is an affiliate link, if you choose to order it through that, I do earn a small commission, there are absolutely no additional costs to you whatsoever. It’s exactly the same price whether you use the affiliate link or not, but of course, it does go to help us support the show and the efforts that I am doing to put into this.

So I really appreciate it if you do use that. There you go, enjoy the device. I’d love to hear your feedback if you choose to get one. And, like I said, I’ll be speaking a lot more about this in the future.

If you want to click on that affiliate link, you can click on the skills card on your mobile phone or just go to AlexainCanada.ca/Show5. Alright, talk to you tomorrow.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

Other Useful Resources

Listen on your Echo Device! Easy as 1-2-3!

Voice in Canada Skill Logo1. Open your Alexa app and click on the Menu button > Settings > Flash Briefing.
2. Click on “Add Content” and search for “Voice in Canada”.
3. Click on “Voice in Canada” and the Enable button.

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