It arrived a few days ago as a preview on our … third generation Amazon Echo Show kitchen peninsula and immediately became the attraction and the polarization point of the house not only for the voice commands we are now used to but for the fact that , unlike his predecessors he likes to follow us in our movements and always show us his best side … … but let's proceed in order:
Packaging and Unboxing
The third generation Echo Show arrives in the classic Blue package of all the Echos accompanied by two photos, one cut out on the front with name and logo and one set on the back while on the sides we find a multilingual writing with all the indications of the main functions.
Opening it gently we find the now classic 30 Watt power supply with the same characteristics as the model for the second generation Echo Show 10
The classic Amazon logo separates us from the new Echo Show 
Here is the New Echo Show. There is no third generation written but the difference from the previous model is immediately understood 
And here is the main feature: intelligent screen with movement. 
On the back the ideal location: recipe companion in the kitchen able to follow you in the preparation of food 
Here you will find the basic characteristics : it also has bluetooth, Zigbee to work as a home automation hub, a woofer and two tweeters, the camera has 13 MP with zoom 
Obviously the possibility to disable camera and microphone is also mentioned and use the touch screen 
As soon as it is opened, the cardboard box is shown that closes everything and has the feeder jammed inside 
Here is the power supply 
It is the classic 30Watt as in the previous model 
Echo Show 10 is stuck in this cardboard shape with the screen protected by a synthetic fabric cloth 
The contents of the manuals and a strange folded sheet … 
It is the template used to understand the size of Echo Show 10 and to place it on a table, a peninsula, a corner of the kitchen with the Help or software
Installation and activation
Once the third generation Echo Show is unpacked, the installation takes a few minutes and is all described in the sequence below. Total time, including firmware and software updates 20 minutes. We also took advantage of it for a comparison with the previous model which will also serve us to understand how the communication between the two works.
We place it exactly in the center before clearing the screen 
The screen is free to rotate around the base: at the top we see the button to deactivate the screen, the holes for the microphones, the volume buttons and the slider to close the camera lens 
The bottom that remains fixed houses the power cable that ends in the socket in the center 
Here is the connected cable 
Obviously the interface is also in Italian. Notice the hole for the microphone and the large 13 Mpixel lens in the backlight 
Echo show 10 turns on immediately and starts its configuration procedure 
A detail of the connection between the screen and the base with the speakers 
Compared to the second generation white model. The form factor is obviously different 
The screen is rotating and can do it automatically but also powerfully tilt it manually according to your viewing angle or according to the function (e.g. re-book a pet) 
One more vista 
At the first start Echo Show 10 looks for updates and updates the software immediately after you have entered your Wi-Fi password 
The screen starts to rotate … 
It is not only a smart speaker but also a camera and as such it can be seen by others Echo Show or the Alexa app … but get warned … 
You are now ready to let you follow … (or deactivate the camera with the appropriate cursor at the top) 
Since the screen can rotate it is good to limit the excursion if you do not have 360 ° available 
You can check the rotation in preview 
And also limit it later 
The resting position can be established 
Here we see it from the “old” Echo Show 10: the camera frames the opposite wall … 
And we can zoom in on a particular and / or disable the microphone 
Obviously, it will also communicate through the app that allows you to adjust the movement of the screen and activate the camera 
This is motion control 
Here we can control the movement by touching the screen to both rotate and zoom 
Here we have zoomed in on a particular
First impressions
Surely the use of this product at first leaves you confused: to be followed in every movement by the screen (even if only on a plane) is really strange but slowly you get used to dialogue with the screen under your eye and if you go back to a model fixed this type of interaction you will miss it …
Comfort is above all in the preparation of recipes in a medium-sized kitchen where you move between stoves, cutting boards and containers and want to have an eye on the details of the recipes and ingredients.
It is equally convenient to answer video calls while you are busy in the kitchen or at home without having to stay fixed in front of the camera or without having to hold a phone in your hand: in fact, it is not only the shooting part of the camera that moves but also that. microphone integral with the screen that will always be in the best angle to understand your speech.
In addition, the ability to zoom in on subjects, both in video chat and in surveillance “camera” mode, is really convenient, especially in terms of home control: we no longer have just a screen with a camera for dialogues but a 360 ° camera that can be operated remotely. simply by touching the screen of your phone or another Echo show.
We have also placed the Echo Show 10 at the center of the table of our veranda-office so that we can be followed while we work as a team … even here the convenience of the rotating screen in a group meeting is interesting at least if you respect the silence while the others talk: how we said the screen does not necessarily follow the camera / movement but it seems to (rightly) give priority to the voice above all to position itself better than those who speak or want an interaction with the screen. In any case, if we close the camera, not only the shooting is deactivated but also the movement itself.
We must say that after some time we no longer pay attention to this sort of semi-robot that is placed in the kitchen and the convenience of always having the screen in favor (especially in the suggestions from reading at the bottom of the screen for the recipes (see the opening image) has somehow also limited the voice interaction and is a plus of the Echo Show series version that here is enhanced to the maximum.
The installation continues …
The ones you see above are the installation screens of the product per se but obviously being a home automation hub you can connect thousands of home automation peripherals, cameras, thermostats, lights etc either directly with the Wi-Fi or the Blueooth (see the lamps and strips Philips Hue LEDs) and with third-party gateway extensions such as those of Bticino or Vimar.
In addition, the third generation Echo Show 10 is, like the previous model, a Zigbee hub and can directly connect peripherals compatible with this standard such as the most recent products from Sonoff, Vimar wireless home automation and many other companies.
Keep it going…
Echo show 10 third generation is available for booking on Amazon for about € 249 (with possible discounts) starting from this page.
