The smart display serves as the control center for Alexa-connected devices, accessible to anyone in the household
Amazon’s latest Alexa device feels like the missing piece in achieving a fully smart home, serving as a hub for controlling lights, doors, cameras, timers, and heating.
The Echo Hub comes ready to be the touchscreen controller for your smart home, offering a cost-effective option that avoids the high expense of professional installation or the complexity of a DIY job.
Whether wall-mounted or placed on a stand, the Echo Hub is priced at £170 (€200/$180). When idle, it functions as a clock and digital photo frame, displaying a variety of stock images or pulling photos from your linked Amazon account or Facebook on its 8-inch LCD screen.
Upon waking up, the Echo Hub’s interface is filled with buttons and widgets for controlling various aspects of the home. A list of rooms on the left displays all devices connected to Alexa, while a row of buttons at the bottom provides quick access to categories like security devices, cameras, thermostats, and lights.
Users can program and activate routines, such as dimming the lights in the evening or opening the curtains in the morning. Widgets can be added to the home screen to display weather, to-do lists, and other small items, though I found that a simpler home screen layout worked best.
The new device stands out for its affordability and ease of setup. Previously, setting up a similar hub would have required a system from companies like Control4, which can cost thousands. While it’s possible to create a DIY project with a tablet, this approach comes with its own challenges, and achieving the same smooth functionality as the new Echo Hub can be difficult.
Notably, the new Echo Hub lacks the advertisements that have recently become common on Amazon’s equivalent Echo Show smart displays, although Amazon did not confirm that this would remain the case in the future.
Reducing dependence on phone applications
The Echo Hub effectively consolidates controls for various devices into one accessible location for all household members. I found the ability to easily check recent camera activity and heating temperatures, as well as quickly turn on groups of lights, particularly useful, reducing the need for multiple phone apps or unreliable voice commands.
While button taps are responsive, swiping to other sections can be slow, especially when loading rooms with many devices. Despite its tablet-like appearance, the Echo Hub is not as fast as a typical tablet.
The home screen is well laid out, starting with a widget panel for the room where the Hub is located. Each room features a master light switch with a dimmer slider. However, only seven other buttons are displayed in the smart panel, and they are locked in alphabetical order, with the rest of the devices hidden behind a “show all” button. If you have numerous individual lights or other devices, this layout can result in more taps and swipes than desired. One way to work around this is by creatively naming groups of devices within rooms, such as “A Kitchen Spotlights,” so they appear higher up in the alphabetical order. However, this workaround can feel like an unnecessary hack.
Switching between room panels via voice is unreliable, often resulting in accidentally turning on a light instead. The Echo Hub is equipped with Zigbee, Thread, Matter, and Bluetooth, allowing it to directly connect to various smart home devices if you haven’t already set them up with a different hub or gateway. It comes with a standard USB-C power plug but can be connected to Power over Ethernet with an adapter for a neater setup, especially for advanced home networking.
In addition to smart home control, the Hub can perform most functions of a typical smart display, such as playing music and videos. It features stereo speakers that deliver sound similar to that of a smartphone rather than a high-quality speaker, making it suitable for Alexa’s voice but not ideal for prolonged music listening. The Hub can be grouped with other Echo speakers, displaying convenient playback controls, or it can stream to a Bluetooth speaker. However, I found that the Hub struggled more than the equivalent Echo Show to hear me over ambient noise, often requiring me to speak directly at it.
Sustainability
The Echo Hub is designed to be easily repairable and will continue to receive security updates for a minimum of four years after it is discontinued. It is made with 27% recycled materials, and the company provides trade-in and recycling programs.
Price
The Amazon Echo Hub is priced at £169.99 (€199.99/$179.99) and comes with a wall mount. The stand is available for £29.99 ($29.99).
For comparison, the Echo Show 8 is priced at £150, the Echo Show 15 is priced at £280, the Google Nest Hub is priced at £90, and Brilliant’s plug-in Smart Home Control is priced at $299 (US/Canada-only).
Verdict
For many users, the Echo Hub may serve as the ready-to-use smart home controller they’ve been seeking. It requires all your smart home devices to be connected to the Alexa ecosystem and functions best with Amazon’s own devices, such as Ring devices or Alexa speakers. However, it offers a superior central control hub that allows all household members to manage devices without requiring specialized knowledge, app access, or relying on unreliable voice commands, unlike other available options.
Despite its advantages, the Hub has some drawbacks and minor issues, such as occasional sluggish performance, limited customization options, and less impressive speakers and microphones compared to the equivalent Echo Show 8. Although priced lower than some competing smart home controllers, the Hub may still be considered somewhat expensive for some users, especially since it costs more than the equivalent Echo Show.
Therefore, the Hub may not be suitable for everyone. Nevertheless, it seems to be the crucial component of Amazon’s smart home strategy, potentially revitalizing Alexa as a platform, even if user enthusiasm for engaging with voice assistants has waned.