Echo Show 10 vs 5 (2021): Is A Larger Smart Display Simply Better?

Adding a touchscreen to voice control devices was a brilliant move, as it gives us visual interaction to enhance overall experience. Amazon’s Echo Show (2nd Gen) earned acclaim for being one of the best smart displays around so the company made new versions to give us more options. The smallest of them is the Echo Show 5, a compact smart home screen that packs all the essentials in its relatively tiny frame. How does it stack up against the bigger version? Check out our breakdown of features below.

Echo Show 10 vs 5 Smart Display Comparison Chart

Model	Echo Show (2nd Gen)	Echo Show 5
Price	Check Price	Check Price
Dimensions	9.7″ x 6.9″ x 4.2″	5.8″ x 3.4″ x 2.9″
Weight	62.2 oz	14.5 oz
Display	10.1″	5.5″
Resolution	1280 x 800	960 x 480
Processor	Intel Atom x5-Z8350	MediaTek MT 8163
Speakers	2 x 2.2″	1 x 1.7″
Dolby Processing	Yes	No
Camera	5 MP	1 MP
Camera Shutter	No	Yes
Smart Home Hub	Zigbee	Certified for Humans
Wi-Fi	Yes	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
Amazon Alexa	Built-in	Built-in

Design

The Echo Show 5 is a lot lighter and more portable than the Echo Show 10.

As you can see, the size difference between the Echo Show 2nd Gen (which we’re calling Echo Show 10 here for easier reference) and the Echo Show 5 is substantial. The former is able to show a lot more and is easier to view from farther away. That means it’s also a lot heavier; it’s roughly four times as heavy as the Echo Show 5. You’ll want to find a nice spot for the Echo Show 10 in the room whereas you should be able to freely move the latter around.

Both smart displays have a sort of triangular shape in that they’re thicker at the base. This adds sufficient stability to keep them upright all the time. The displays themselves are slightly tilted for an optimal viewing angle and better balance. Their backs are covered in grill cloth to allow speakers to radiate a wider sound.

With its smaller profile the Echo Show 5 can easily fit in your nightstand, where it’s going to look like a modern alarm clock. It can do that too, since you can ask Alexa to set up alarms for you. In any case, it can easily blend into everything else wherever you put it, while the Echo Show 10 is going to stand out no matter what.

One notable design difference between the Echo Show 10 and 5 is that the latter has a camera shutter that can cover its front camera. It can give concerned users certainty regarding their privacy more effectively than the on/off button that the Echo Show 10 has.

Video and Audio Quality

The Echo Show 10 has a larger display and better sound quality than the Echo Show 5.

Watching movies, playing interactive apps, and looking up information will be a lot more fun on the larger Echo Show 10. It has a higher resolution touchscreen than the Echo Show 5 apart from simply having a 10-inch display. With just a 5.5-inch screen, the Echo Show 5 is adequate for video calls, security cam checks, recipe videos, and such, but other more engrossing content is going to be challenging on it. You’ll also have trouble reading text and

Moreover, Amazon also cut back on the Echo Show 5’s speakers. It uses a single 1.7-inch 4-watt speaker which is sufficient for the most part. It simply sounds basic once you hear the dual 2.2-inch 10-watt speakers of the Echo Show 10, which also uses Dolby processing for extra bass punchiness. Together with a crisper, larger display, the Echo Show 2nd Gen is definitely the better choice if you’re after an entertainment device.

Camera

The Echo Show 10 has better camera image quality than the Echo Show 5.

Amazon’s smart displays are equipped with a front-facing camera and mics to allow users to make video calls. The Echo Show 10 comes out ahead once again here as it has a 5 megapixel camera while the Echo Show 5 has a 1 MP camera. You’re going to be noticeably clearer making calls on the Echo Show 2nd Gen than on its smaller version. This likely won’t be too much of an issue so long as you’re able to understand each other without lag, but it’s quite nicer to speak to a sharp image than a blurry one.

You can turn off the camera and mic on either smart display with the press of a button for privacy. However, Amazon added a shutter to the camera of the Echo Show 5 so you can manually put a physical cover on it. That’s likely going to appeal to users who need more security than a simple off button.

Smart Features

The Echo Show 10 and 5 provide voice-enabled control for your smart home devices.

Of course, smart displays are voice-enabled speakers first and foremost. The Echo Show 10 and 8 both come equipped with Amazon Alexa which, as you well know, is great for controlling smart home devices. The addition of a touchscreen does wonders for interaction as well as variety, since you can check security cam feeds, browse image galleries, stream video content, etc. Alexa has thousands of skills that are nearly all enriched by the presence of a display.

In terms of capabilities, the smaller Echo Show 5 can perform the same voice assistant functions as the Echo Show 10. That means it’s more of an upgraded smart speaker while the 2nd Gen Echo Show is more of the other way around, an interactive display with voice control. As such, there’s no real difference between the two when it comes to enabling Alexa for your home.

Amazon originally chose to integrate Zigbee smart home hub on the Echo Show 10 as it made pairing and controlling smart home devices easier. Over time they were able to develop the Certified for Humans program, which essentially makes setup and updating as painless as possible. You’ll likely not have to worry about whether your new smart product will work with Alexa and the Echo Show thanks to this new tech.

Verdict

The Echo Show 5 offers better value than the Echo Show 10 (2nd Gen).

Echo Show (2nd Gen)

Buy at Amazon.com

Echo Show 5

Buy at Amazon.com

Our key takeaway from this comparison is this: if you don’t need a large, secondary display, you’ll easily make do with the Echo Show 5. It has all of the necessary voice-related features you’ll want, and its display only enriches what you can do with it. Those who simply want a nicer looking smart speaker to control all of their smart home gadgets in the house will love how inexpensive the Echo Show 5 is compared to other options. It’s a third of the price of the Echo Show 10, so if you’re not going to watch shows on it (which you’ll admit is much better reserved for your living room TVs), you can save a lot while still getting essentially the same smart display.

That said, splurging for the Echo Show (2nd Gen) isn’t out of the question, as the larger display, better sound, and clearer camera are pretty nice enhancements to an already very useful device. If you particularly like being able to watch content in rooms where your TVs normally aren’t, setting up the Echo Show 10 there will be fantastic. Imagine cooking while following video tutorials you can pause and play with spoken commands, or enjoying a movie out in your backyard patio. You can easily get these and more with the larger Echo Show smart display.