Amazon Announces Echo Show 21 and New Echo Show 15

Amazon is refreshing its Echo Show lineup today with a new version of its Echo Show 15 and an even bigger Echo Show 21. The new smart displays start at $299, and they bring better audio quality, new smart home hub features, and an improved camera for video calls.

“Echo Show 15 has a global star rating of 4.5 on Amazon—but customers told us they wanted better audio quality, and a larger screen to deliver an enhanced entertainment experience and provide even more room to see important information at a glance,” Amazon said today. With its 21.4-inch Full HD display, the Echo Show 21 is Amazon’s largest wall-mountable smart display, and just like the 15” version, it can be controlled via touch, Alexa voice commands, or the included Alexa remote.

Compared to the 1st-gen Echo Show 15, the new Echo Show 21 and 2dn gen Echo Show 15 come with a better audio system with two 0.6″ tweeters and two 2″ woofers, with Amazon promising double the bass and crisp vocals. There’s also a new 13 MP centered camera with more than double the field of view, a 3.3x zoom, and noise reduction technology. However, there’s still a microphone/camera off button and camera shutter for people who don’t plan to use these devices for voice or video calls.

The new Echo Show 21 and Echo Show 15 also support Wi-Fi 6E, and thanks to Thread, Matter, and Zigbee support, they can be used as smart home hubs. When playing media, the new smart displays also make it easy to stream audio across other Echo speakers in the house.

The smart displays run a modified Fire TV interface, so that means you can expect to see ads. However, the UI can be customized with widgets including to-do lists and a family calendar. “Soon, you’ll be able to add even more relevant information to your home screen, like sports scores, leading news headlines, and stock prices,” Amazon said today. The devices can also be used to showcase photos stored on Amazon Photos with a dedicated photo frame mode.

The new Echo Show 15 ($299.99) and Echo Show 21 ($399.99) are now available for purchase on Amazon, and both models come with an Alexa Voice Remote and wall mounting equipment. Amazon is also offering a $99 counter stand and other accessories to customize the smart displays.