Echo Show 5 has a compact design but is still big enough to use in any room of the house to enjoy both video and audio content. The product offers a rich sound which makes it great for watching music videos or listening to music through Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, TuneIn and more.

The Amazon Echo Show 5 is an affordable little smart display that brings Alexa voice commands to your desk, shelf, or nightstand.

Affordable; Powerful voice assistant features; Useful touch-screen controls with web browser

Mediocre sound quality; Music streamed over Bluetooth is filled with artifacts

Amazon's Echo Show 5 is so much more than a smart alarm clock.

Compact size fits anywhere; Attractive design; Versatile features; Enhanced privacy controls; Entry-level price

Sluggish smart home touchscreen control; Alexa calling isn't easy enough yet; No Google Photos or YouTube

The Amazon Echo Show 5 will fit in nicely on your nightstand. It's a pretty good smart display and a pretty good smart alarm clock at an attractive $90 price that's well below the list price of the next lowest competition -- the $130 Google Nest Hub (formerly the Google Home Hub).

The Amazon Echo Show 5 packs a lot of features into a compact smart display that can easily fit on your nightstand; The sunrise alarms make getting out of bed easy; The new smart home control panel gives you a handy way to control your gadgets with a touch.

The similar Google Nest Hub is better at showing off your pictures, walking you through recipes and organizing your smart home; The Show 5's screen is a little too bright for a darkened room; You can't customize your snooze times, see your commands or set a sunrise alarm outside of certain hours

It wasn't that long ago that the idea of a voice-controlled smart alarm clock was little more than science fiction. Now, the smart alarm clock is not only a real thing, but there are multiple smart alarm clocks to choose from.

Compact design; Bright; colorful touchscreen; Loud; full-sounding speaker; Convenient alarm functions; Ability to block the camera with physical shutter

Limited video capabilities; No support for any Google services; Not as cute as Echo Spot

When Amazon introduced the second-gen Echo Show display last year, it was a huge upgrade over the original, with a built-in browser, better sound and more video options than before.

For the price, the Echo Show 5 is a great value device. Sure there are some compromises, such as in sound quality and no YouTube, but you are absolutely getting value for money and, knowing Amazon, the Echo 5 will soon be discounted further.

Enough size/volume for most rooms; Screen features are continuously improving; Ring doorbell integration; Great value

No YouTube; Not the best Echo option for music; Many Alexa Skills need further optimisation

The usefulness of Alexa, and integration with WikiHow, is enough to justify the low price of the Echo Show 5, even if the lack of some features grates on us. This isn't quite the definitive smart display, but it is one we can imagine in a lot of people's homes.

Low; low price; Integrated how-to videos; Camera shutter

Low resolution; No YouTube app; Frustrating UI; Makes Echo Spot redundant

In many ways, the Echo Show 5 isn't anything particularly special, then. It sounds okay, but its microphone array isn't great and it doesn't move the smart display paradigm on significantly over the Echo Show 2. It's essentially the same device, just smaller.

Great price; Privacy shield on camera; All the features of the Show 2 in a smaller package

So-so audio quality; Disappointing microphone sensitivity

Arguably, the Echo Show 2nd Gen gives the best overall Alexa experience, with the combination of a large touchscreen and voice responses making everything easier. If there's one problem, it's the expense. Amazon's answer: the smaller and far cheaper Echo Show 5.

Excellent price; Powerful speakers for the size; New dashboard and smart home controls

Some features really need a search option; Needs multiple settings for proper night control