Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) Review: Worth Buying in 2026?

The one-line verdict

The Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) is still a well-built 8-inch smart display for recipes, timers, video calls, and smart home control. It is no longer Amazon’s newest 8-inch model, a 4th Gen version launched in late 2025 with a bigger screen and Alexa+, and by mid-2026 new units of the 3rd Gen have become harder to find in stock as retailers wind it down. It is worth buying only if you catch it in stock at a genuine discount to the 4th Gen’s roughly $180 price.

Who this is for

• Anyone who wants a countertop display for recipes, cooking timers, and quick video calls, and can find this model in stock at a real discount
• Households already using Alexa-compatible smart home gear (Ring, Philips Hue, Ecobee, smart locks)
• Buyers who do not need Alexa+‘s conversational AI features yet and are comfortable checking current pricing before buying

Skip it if you are deeply invested in Google’s ecosystem (get the Nest Hub instead), you specifically want Alexa+ on day one (get the 4th Gen), you have no smart home devices and mainly want a speaker (a plain Echo is cheaper), or the 3rd Gen is out of stock or not meaningfully cheaper than the 4th Gen when you check.

A newer model exists, here is what that changes

Amazon released a 4th Gen Echo Show 8 in September 2025 alongside the Echo Show 11 and other new Echo hardware. It has an 8.7-inch screen, a faster AZ3 Pro chip, Dolby Atmos audio, a sharper 13MP camera, added temperature and presence sensors, and support for Alexa+, Amazon’s newer conversational AI assistant that handles more natural, back-and-forth requests. It launched at $179.99, roughly $30 more than the outgoing 3rd Gen’s list price.

The model in this review is the 3rd Gen (2023), sold under the same Amazon listing (ASIN B0BLS3Y632) that has been on the market since late 2023. Once the 4th Gen arrived, retailers dropped the 3rd Gen as low as $99.99. By mid-2026, though, new stock of the 3rd Gen has become intermittent, several major retailers have shown it as out of stock, and resale and renewed units have been trading closer to $120 to $130, narrowing the gap to the 4th Gen considerably. Alexa+ has not yet rolled out to the 3rd Gen as of mid-2026, though Amazon has suggested older devices may eventually receive it.

Because availability and pricing are shifting as retailers phase this model out, check the current price and stock before assuming it is the cheaper choice. If it is in stock near its post-launch low, it is still the better value for most people. If it is unavailable, or priced within $30 to $40 of the 4th Gen, the newer model’s larger screen and Alexa+ support make it the safer default.

Echo Show 8 vs Echo Show 5 vs Echo Show 11

	Echo Show 5	Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, reviewed)	Echo Show 11
Screen size	5.5 inch	8 inch	Larger, wall-mountable format
Typical price	Around $90	Around $99 to $130, when in stock	Highest of the three
Best fit	Nightstand, small desk	Kitchen counter, office	Larger rooms, wall mount
Sound quality	Weaker	Solid for the size	Best of the lineup

The Show 5 is too small to read a recipe from across a kitchen. The Show 11 is built for bigger rooms or wall mounting and costs more. For most kitchens and countertops, the Show 8’s 8-inch screen remains the size that makes sense.

What it’s actually good for

Cooking and recipes

Asking Alexa for a recipe pulls up step-by-step instructions and, for many recipes, a video walkthrough, hands-free while you are cooking. This is the display’s strongest use case and the reason it tends to end up on a kitchen counter rather than a bedroom nightstand.

Multiple named timers

You can set several timers at once (“set a timer for pasta, 11 minutes,” “set another timer for chicken, 18 minutes”) and see them all listed on screen. This is genuinely more useful than a phone timer once you are juggling more than one dish.

Smart home control

The Echo Show 8 works as an Alexa smart home hub and, per Amazon’s specs, supports Matter and Thread, so it can control Zigbee, Matter, and Alexa-compatible devices like Philips Hue lights, Ecobee and Nest thermostats, Ring cameras and doorbells, and August or Yale smart locks, by voice or by tapping the screen.

Video calls and the camera

The 13MP camera handles Alexa-to-Alexa video calls reasonably well, according to reviews from outlets like TechRadar and Reviewed. It sits at the top of the display, which several reviewers have noted creates an unflattering upward angle, a design quirk the 4th Gen’s repositioned, sharper camera addresses. A physical shutter slides over the lens for calls you would rather not have overheard or watched, a straightforward privacy feature that does not depend on trusting a software toggle.

The trade-offs

• No Alexa+. If Amazon’s newer conversational AI matters to you now, this model does not have it, and there is no confirmed timeline for when the 3rd Gen will get it.
• Behind the current flagship. The 4th Gen’s larger screen, better camera, and Dolby Atmos audio are genuine upgrades if you are buying new and price is not the deciding factor.
• Camera angle. Even reviewers who like this display flag the top-mounted camera as awkward for video calls, a limitation this generation does not fix.
• Getting harder to find. As of mid-2026, new units are no longer reliably in stock, which means the price advantage that made this model worth recommending can disappear depending on the week you shop.

Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) vs Google Nest Hub

The other real alternative in this price range is Google’s Nest Hub (2nd Gen), which has stayed on the market at a similar $90 to $100 price point and still receives updates, including Google’s newer Gemini AI features.

Echo Show 8 tends to win on: sound quality, third-party smart home integrations, and the physical camera shutter (the Nest Hub has no camera at all, which some buyers will see as a feature rather than a limitation).

Nest Hub tends to win on: screen sharpness, a more conversational Google Assistant, and YouTube playback, which Amazon devices still cannot show natively.

If you are already using Google or Nest devices, get the Nest Hub. If you are on Alexa or already own Ring, Hue, or other Alexa-compatible gear, get the Echo Show 8. For more on picking smart home gear that pays for itself, see our guide to smart home devices that actually save money.

Who should buy the 4th Gen instead

If you want Alexa+ now, the sharper 8.7-inch screen, or the improved camera, and $180 is comfortably within budget, buy the 4th Gen. It is the better display in isolation, and it is also the model you are more likely to actually find in stock right now. The case for the 3rd Gen is specifically about value: when it is available near its post-launch low, it does most of the same job for meaningfully less, and Alexa+ is a software feature that may eventually reach this hardware anyway. That case gets weaker the closer its price creeps to the 4th Gen’s.

Verdict: Buy the 3rd Gen if you find it discounted and in stock, otherwise buy the 4th Gen

The Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) is still a sensible buy for most people who want a kitchen or office smart display: it is the right screen size, it handles recipes and timers well, and it controls a wide range of smart home gear. But its availability has become inconsistent as of mid-2026, so check the current price before assuming it is the cheaper option. If you find it in stock near $99 to $100, buy it. If it is out of stock, or priced within $30 to $40 of the 4th Gen’s $180, buy the 4th Gen instead for the larger screen, better camera, and Alexa+ support.

This display also shows up regularly in our holiday and everyday tech gift picks, worth checking before buying at full price. If you are building out a smart home beyond the display itself, our Roborock Qrevo S review covers another device that plugs into the same Alexa and Matter ecosystem.

Check current price on Amazon

---

Grimtech may earn a commission from purchases made through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. This does not affect our verdict. This review is based on Amazon’s published specifications, pricing tracked across retailers, and testing published by outlets including TechRadar, Reviewed, and Digital Trends, current as of mid-2026.