If you’re looking for a versatile gift for Valentine’s Day that can be sentimental and practical, Amazon’s fourth-generation Echo Show 8 can serve as both a digital photo frame and a smart home controller. And right now, it’s on sale at Amazon for $149.99 ($30 off) — a new low price — as part of the retailer’s ongoing Super Bowl sale, which also includes discounts on the Echo Show 11 and Echo Dot Max. You can also currently grab it at Best Buy and Target for the same price.
The latest Show 8 features a slimmer, sleeker profile than its predecessor, with a sharper, more responsive 8.7-inch display and an attractive fabric-covered design. It features a 13-megapixel camera with improved zoom, and can adapt on-screen content based on who’s using it. It also features wider viewing angles and new front-facing stereo speakers, allowing for superior sound. Combined, these upgrades make it better for displaying photos, listening to music, checking your calendar, streaming video, and making calls with loved ones.
It’s an even better smart home controller, too. The latest Show 8 still supports Zigbee, Matter, and Thread protocols, so you can use it to control an array of smart home devices without the need for a separate hub. It also features support for Alexa Plus, a faster AZ3 Pro processor, and Amazon’s new Omnisense sensor system. Together, these upgrades — along with more responsive voice recognition — help it handle more complex, context-aware tasks and better track routines.
In our initial testing, Alexa Plus hasn’t always been reliable, and some existing smart home routines don’t behave as consistently as before. When the voice assistant works as intended, though, it can be genuinely useful. For example, if someone in your family usually feeds the dog every morning but forgets one day, Amazon’s upgraded assistant can send a reminder when they walk into the room.
Just keep in mind that non-Prime customers will need to pay $19.99 a month for Alexa Plus. If your giftee’s already a Prime member, though, Alexa Plus is included, making it easy to recommend.