🔴 You Cannot turn off "Sponsored" cards. For the love of god, please people stop saying ads can be turned off in the settings. Only Amazon's chosen cards can be turned off in the Home Content settings. This is not true for "Sponsored" cards. Companies pay Amazon MONEY to show that sponsored card. They are not going to let you turn them off. Currently Ads are only available in the US and Canada. Just because you may not see "Sponsored" cards yet, doesn't mean you have turned ads off under home content. I am tired of seeing people saying you can turn off ads.
Correct. The settings that Amazon's "support" will tell you is that you can turn off the ads by going into settings and changing the preferences. They appear not to have seen the device, so they are using a script. That setting turns off targeted ads, not all ads. There is a trick. The light sensor is used to detect presence. Putting a piece of black electrical tape over it will stop most of the ads. The ads will not stop when you give it a voice command. It knows that you are there, so it shows you the ads. The tape trick will have several limits, including a 15, which I bought two for more than $500. I use it in the kitchen. I tell it to start a timer, and I get it an ad. I ask it to stop, and I get an ad. If I leave the room and come back, I get an ad. These are new on the 15th, so you may not have them yet. The 5s have started running animated commercials. Since I use it when cooking, I cannot see the full-screen timer, making it useless. The text is too small, and the tape trip takes it off altogether. This wasn't part of the deal. Using it for art 6' off the ground shows ads when it detects you. This is new for the 25 but not the 5 or 8. Try the tape.
I clicked on a slide on my Echoshow that read recipe for peanut butter cookie and it started playing a 7 minute workout. Not sure what it was trying to tell me with that.
Can I buy your Echo Show 15? Lol never had one, tempted to get the new Show 21.. but on the fence since I'm not sure if it will be better than my mango subscription of 5.99 per month
Clock+Music+Photo slide of my two little girls, until it insist on displaying ads to enable some random skill. I have disabled every single nano marketing option in the settings, it still won't go away.
Yep ... clock, music, photos, and weather on my Alexa capable Samsung fridge. All the other hubs I have are Nest Max hubs ... and I use them the same way.
I renamed my Echo Show "Ad Server" about a month or so before finally pulling the plug. It now sleeps with the fishes. When Amazon anounced they would include ads in their Prime videos, THAT was the final straw for me and I ended up dumping Prime altogether.
Just about there myself. I started with a dot then got 2 echos and three firesticks then two studios. Firestick worked fine till I added the studios now it freezes up all the time. I even have a USB fan on the stick. When I just set it up to run off the TV speakers it dosent lock up as much. I hate the adds on prime so yes I'm about done. I use to say FJB now I say FAP........PS they never once mention you need a smart phone to pair up and do many other things with blue tooth in settings!!!!!
There’s a hack that I found on Reddit to stop all the ads and it’s worked for me for over a year. Im not sure if I can post a link here but you must change your device’s language in settings from English (US) to English (Canada) and I also changed Alexa voice to American 1, that second part is optional though. Canada has much more strict SPAM laws so no more ads. I’m in the US btw.
I don't even use my Show to see the time and weather anymore because my ecobee thermostat displays it bigger than my Show, which has a larger screen! It's like Amazon never once talked to a real person who uses their devices.
Thank you so much for this video. I was just going to order an Echo Show 5, but you made me change my mind. The ad is an absolute deal breaker. Who wants to see ads on their alarm clock? 🤔 No way I can put up with ads on a device I'm buying to put in my bedroom.
You got that right. It is unfortunate that they create in their own little bubble. Instead of just stealing good ideas from Apple and Samsung. Google does the same thing.
Amazon cut much of their development staff for these devices. There's really no point in buying anything new, the devices are very limited in what they can do... Since Amazon makes no profit on these devices/Alexa, I suspect the whole ecosystem will start to decay... There needs to be an open source smart speaker option.
I unplugged my Echo show. I don't know where it was coming from, but someone was harassing me through my Echo show. So I unplugged it. They're Fire TV devices are slow in their performance too. I also put my Chromecast Google TV back action.
@@CraigsTechTalkdo you remember “Mycroft Mark II” unfortunately I backed this open source device. But in the end they failed to bring to market - they ended up wasting money on all the problems it had, and its interface and AI were just too slow. There version one that used raspberry pi would have done much better
Home Assistant is getting there. Hopefully soon Nabu Casa will release a commercial one. I do have an ESPHome based speaker/voice control and it works OK.
It's relatively easy to turn it into a clock. You have to turn off all the options in Settings/Home&Clock/Home Content and then MOST IMPORTANTLY, set the Night Mode to 00:00 - 23:55 Daily. Now go back to home screen and after a minute or less it will switch to clock and stay there. No ads. Each time you interact with it, it will always return to clock after a short (minute or less) time. I have mine next to my PC and the ads were driving me mad and I was going to dump it but now it does it's job. I've had it like this for about the last year.. Thanks for the video though, I agree with the majority of it.
Thank you, your video changed my mind. I was thinking of buying an echo show 10, but because of aggressive marketing, I changed my mind, I don't want to see ads on my device.
Tell me about it it’s freaking annoying the other week. I turned off some stupid shopping recommendation crap then I go to turn it on today then just showing me stupid shopping crap that I turned off previously. It’s bloody annoying but thankfully in the UK at the moment we’re not getting as many stupid adverts as people in America. So thank God for that saying that I’ve probably just gone jinxed it. It’s probably been jinxed.
Mines been telling me Lexus ads after doing something not even remotely related to driving or cars, like turning on a light! I wish I went with Google.
It’s great Amazon keeps adding new screens turned on by default. You get at least 1 or 2 new ones a month. The Lexus one is great since it is a paid sponsored ad. You can’t turn off anything with the word sponsored. Lexus is doing some dumb Alexa theme.
@@TransitAndTeslas it sure isn’t. Apple pulls the same crap when you do a firmware update. Suddenly things you never asked for; or had set exactly how you want them are back the way they would like. Example- I do not use iCloud for download folder or photos. But they both get switched back to iCloud when I update. I have gotten so I won’t update until crap quits working properly
i’m surprised you didn’t mention how crappy the voice recognition have been, mine may listen to me 50% of the time, and even then it will say it didn’t understand me. i’d rather tap a couple times on my phone than bother asking my echo to do something
Have 8 inch echo show in kitchen and used for years to show me my next appointment from google calendar. Cant get it to do that anymore and cant find a way to fix it. The updates do go into calendar but no reminders when they are nearly due. Bloody useless.
Basically I went all in on Apple. Google and Amazon - I spent too much money on them - never again, and yep, you pretty much nailed everything wrong with Amazon echo’s, they should be paying us to place billboards in our house…
I did too. I tried Google Home, Alexa and Homekit, and despite the dearth of products made for Homekit I’m genuinely much happier with it. I run Homebridge on an old laptop to keep my older devices integrated, and I’m reasonably satisfied. It’s not perfect, but it’s enough to get the job done with minimal fuss.
100% agree with you. I've had my Show since 2019 and in the past couple years the ads have become INSANE. Even when I ask for the weather, there is a tile on the right showing me an advertisement NEXT TO the forecast. I hate it so much. Only getting speakers if I upgrade in the future and that's all.
Packed mine away a year or so ago. I got tired of constantly having to change settings to block the ads and suggestions. I just wanted a display of the time and temperature. Instead, I paid for a device that allowed Amazon to advertise to me. I disconnected all echo devices in my home except for one. It sits in a remote bedroom and is only used as a hub to control my smart devices.
This is what has been pissing me off recently too. My $2000 TV has PUSH NOTIFICATION (text) ADS THAT GO OVERTOP OTHER CONTENT. Let alone their actual smart TV apps that are garbage, the only decent smart TV device is a roku anymore, and they are also starting to push more ads! It's absurd. Knock it off people!
As an older person I depend on my echo show to call for emergency should I not be able to reach a telephone. It much easier to say Alexa call my person for help if I can’t reach my telephone because of a fall for example my 911 alternative
You nailed every frustration I have with mine. Truely use it for time,date,temp, music, timer and ccasional spelling assist or dictionary. It used to show my ring doorbell camera when someone showed up but it stopped showing that months ago. The random resetting and ads is rediculous
Ads in my texts. Ads on all my streaming channels - that I pay subscriptions for. Ads on PBS. What happened to making money by giving customers what they want?
I appreciate this video Craig. For a while I stopped watching your videos because all these things have frustrated me and it seems all you posted was favorable videos about these devices. We need to come together as a community and find ways to take back our smart homes! Words can never describe how grateful I am for this shift in your channel, THANK YOU FOR FIGHTING FOR THE END USER!
Thanks for this video, Craig. I originally gave my Show5 a glowing review right after I first got it but for awhile now, every time I look at it for the current time or temp, all I keep seeing is ad after ad after ad and it’s pretty frustrating and I thought it was just me being fickle. But now I see I’m in good company. What a shame too because it really is (was?) a pretty cool device.
I appreciate your honesty and letting me know that you had stopped watching. I do try to be positive and share what a device can do. But I need to be better about coming back around to these features and let you know if they are worth keeping. I love the coming together as a community and putting out the frustrations. I appreciate the kind words. I don’t want to go negative, but I do think we need to raise the bar, not go backwards. I think we need to ask if these things are really worth spending more money on for upgrades. Thank you again. Have a great day.
Hello Dave, in my livestreams I kept hearing more frustration. That combined with my own and it was time to talk about it. You are not alone my friend. Like many others, we bought into something that was growing and positive for the user. Now it has become something that we didn’t sign up for. Amazon should give us users a kickback for the ad space they are using on my device.
I hate the ads! I don't like being tracked... I got it mainly for my ring doorbell so i can see who's at my door.. sometimes the ring on the phone is delayed and I don't know who's there until I get to the door. My echo show 5 does react much quicker.
I'm frustrated beyond belief with mine. I agree with everything you said, but I must add one thing: I have EVERYTHING turned off on my home screen, and about once a month Amazon either adds something new, or turns things back on that I previously turned off. I'll be sitting on my couch and see something flash in the corner of my eye, and sure enough, it's showing ads again. Infuriating. I finally bought a tablet with a stand that I plan on using in its place. I am also done with these pieces of garbage.
I did just that, I used a Tablet with an app that has smart functions such as alexa / google home, never made a better choice. I have any video and music app, without any restrictions ❣️
Just seeing this video today and I really could not believe how common the sentiment is with mine. The commenter who mentions renaming the device to “Ad Server” made me chuckle but was completely accurate. The one thing I would add to these frustrations is the news articles that pop up. Every once in a while I will see one about a national or international news event. Otherwise, it’s sports and celebrity news, topics that you couldn’t pay me to be interested in. The fact that I can’t curate news topics to things I care about adds to the paperweight status of mine.
100% agree with everything you've said. If I buy any echo devices going forward, none will have a screen because never once have I looked at their advertisements and said, "hey, I need that!" NOT ONCE. Why can't someone figure out a way to jail break these devices and let the end user decide what to put on the screen? Thanks for saying what everyone else is thinking. More smart home tech channels need to do the same.
Thank you very much 🙏 I have to keep it real with you all. I am glad to help be a voice for frustrated users. You have a Great point, I have never taken action after seeing one of the ads or their recommendation screens. I like the jailbreak idea.
As an Echo user who has 9 echo's throughout my home and car....I agree 110% - The only thing that has kept me from boxing up my echo's is that I need a good product to replace them...The echo's do provide an option to control my lighting throughout the house. Hoping your video on Apple products provides a greater insight to use SIRI. By the way I too am frustrated by the ads they are senseless and not in tune with the products I am most interested in. Amazon does ask for feedback from customers via their memberships- but still waiting for some of my feedback to take traction. Keep up the great videos and DON"T HOLD BACK...The only way Amazon is going to change is from video's like this one!!
Maybe a video on how to move from Amazon or Google to Apple Home and Siri would help a lot of people. I’ve put away all of my Amazon and Google assistant devices and I’m just using my iPhone instead since I always have it with me.
This is exactly why I'm replacing my Echo Show as well. It's useless for me, but hey, at least Amazon can show me ads for things I don't need. Because we all need to see more ads, right? Ads in email, ads on phones, ads on billboards, ads on the radio, ads, ads, ads. Enough already.
I have an Echo Show on my home office desk. I had hoped to use it to check the ring camera at the front door, but it is too slow to respond to be useful. The constant ads make me crazy. I listen to music on it, but the speaker is pretty crappy. I was just wondering if there was an alternative when I came across you channel. I am looking forward to what you have to say about HomePod.
Remember what a Prime Membership included? 1. 2 day shipping if they don't delay your orders. They've done that too me a lot 2. Prime video (no. Ads) to name a few. Now their employees in the packing and shipping department are stealing from customer's food orders. I've seen some of these videos. It's diccusting. My heart goes out to the customer's that have too put up with Amazon rotten conduct. They also have a mandatory return policy. A customer has to return a product that they don't want or is defective back to Amazon in order to get a refund. The bad part about this is, their return department is putting bad products back on the shelf. The reason I suspect this is because I've received damaged products from Amazon. It gets a lot worse. Amazon is not the company they used to be.
@@goozebump Returned food should never be re-stocked. I've worked as a shopper and seen management tell employees to put food items back ( fridge/freezer; fresh food;) It's all about making money!!
This is total BS. My wife and I average about two packages a day from Amazon and never once have had a problem. Amazon will either refund your money upon returning a defective item or item you don't like OR if the item is not too expensive just let you keep the item and STILL refund your money. Returns are ridiculously easy. We just take whatever it is (usually clothes that do not fit) to our local Kohls store and Kohls packages them up and send them back for us.
I've had multiple echo show devices over the years and literally just returned the echo 8 for the same reason you mentioned. All the advertising was making me crazy. Every time I walked into the room there was another advertisement on and I just couldn't deal with it anymore so they've all gone back and I'm using my regular digital alarm clock now. Amazon you need to smarten up and get rid of the advertising and listen to your customers!
Craig, Craig here! I am glad you made this video. I couldn't agree more. I was a beta tester for the first Alexa and have had several in my home with "upgrades" to Shows ever since. I now despise their intrusion in my home. The one feature I really wanted is the weather and time overlayed on my photos but oh, no all I get is ad's. Not just ad's, it is stupid stuff that most 5-year olds wouldn't want. I have replaced two Show's in my heavy use areas with Pixel Tablets, which to your point, do more useful things. I plan to add one more to replace all of my Show's which are now in Closets to turn on lights. It is hard to understand how tone def Amazon has become on this or how they have taken something with so much promised and squander it. Well I vented and thank you for your great channel and all of the hard work it takes to make such useful content.
me and my wife just bought our first house. she wants an alexa and i want a family calendar so we were going to get a Show 15. literally waiting for the store to open and just watched your video and now i wont be buying lol. powerful video, thank you.
It does feel like the ads have become worse and worse. I feel like most of the time when i look at it, it is either playing an ad or asking me whether i like the ad it just played.
My biggest use for our Echo Show 10 is music (Apple Music) and watching TV with the Fire TV Recast. It’s placed in our kitchen. Music is usually playing all day so we don’t see the Home Screen all that much. I’ve considered an Echo Studio instead. But with TV playability on it, that’s the only thing holding me back.
In addition to your well made points, I heard one of Amazon’s big wigs say that he fully expects that at some time Amazon WILL start charging for the Alexa services. I WILL get rid of ALL of my Echo devices at that point.
I removed all amazon dots and echo and everything. I got tired of the in house advertisements, the stupid attempts at conversation with me. The final straw was when I told it to shut off the white noise and it replied back something about " you really seemed like you needed sleep".
I’m really glad I found this video when I did! I was about to purchase an Amazon Show 8 for my (older) parents for Christmas, and I will not be now. I had no idea there were ads, and that’s a huge dealbreaker for me. The other cons you mentioned also don’t help.
Totally agree with the ads rant! The only thing I use the Shows for (once in a blue moon) is to see what's going on with my cameras. What ever happened to the development of the echos being able to communicate with other apps? Like... "Alexa, order my favorite coffee from Dunkin Donuts." Or more of the conversational features in general?
I have Echo Show 5s as alarm clocks and am happy with them. I have a recently purchased a Show 15 in my living room. In addition to regular Echo functionality, the nicest feature for me is being able to call up my security cameras and display a creen large enough that I can see it from across the room.
I originally used my Echo products for many features. The one I really liked was it would listen in while I was away and would alert me to sounds of entry, or my smoke detector going off. All of a sudden, with an update, that feature no longer worked. For well over a year, I’d get messages that they were still working on it. I have also since packed up my echos.
Hi Craig, I used to live in Agoura Hills and had a home computer/home theater company. I have stopped using my Echo Shows - have on in every room of my house. I have moved to using my Google devices. I get UA-cam TV native, better searches, faster integration with doorbells, cameras, thermostats, etc. I just used the Echos Shows for an OK Clock - so I wasted about $1000 on all of these shows.... And, don't get me started about stereo paired Echo Studios and Echos playing music filled with dropouts - pretty much stopped using those as well. I now use the Google Nest Speakers for three stereo pairs in some of my rooms. Since I am an audiophile snob, I use Sonos as background music in my two offices. Thanks for being real about the Echo Shows
Very cool David. I can understand having a home theater company, you need some good sound. Sonos are great. I can appreciate the switch to Google. The Nest hub has such a better interface.
Are you sure about Google being better? I have a houseful of Google products, they are getting dumber and dumber to a point that I just unplug them to save power. I also installed Google-based smart devices for my senior-aged mom at her home, to control lights, fan, thermostats, security camera, and so on... I've lost count of times she called me to go over and fix Google home products. Heck, I work on these technologies for a living and even I am embarrassed how bad things have gotten.
Okay this is weird I have two Echo.Show 8 3rd gen in different rooms in my home. The one in the living room shows ads constantly, but the one in the bedroom does not. Why would that be?
I agree totally with your rant! Thank you; I hope you are heard! I use mine for - time, weather, timer when cooking, FaceTiming family members. I use my Google mini to get answers to questions because the shows never seemed to answer the question asked.
FaceTime is an Apple video conference app on Apple devices. You can't use that on Amazon hardware devices. I think you mean just using the Amazon video calls feature.
I have an Echo Show 8 (still) , and "assumed" it had a Zigbee hub built into it, until I tried to add a smart device (some months later), and it wouldn't register. In addition, it would have made a terrific weather station if it were possible to customise the home screen - but there is very limited scope for doing so. I wonder how many of these things will finish up in landfill?
Don’t buy these products, they force ads through even if you turn them all off. It’s just an ad machine that shows the time and clock and plays music through its crappy speaker. I just threw two of mine away because forced ads are bs on a product I payed for.
hi just now i buy echo show 8 but when i see you now im think about sending back to amazon . i dont want waching move or somethink lie that i want conecting my tv my home theatre mi light in house . can you please recomenden one for me?? thx
I can't believe that no one commenting has mentioned the Ring doorbell integration. I will have to keep 1 show just for that. When you switch back to a non screen echo you quickly realize how much better it is to just press the action button seeing as the shows never had one.
Screw the shows…..put it on a tv with a fire stick….I got rid of my shows. Usless. I am just getting sick of Amazon itself. Next step to cancel the yearly subscription and just be done.
Not that it's even that good! Poor resolution especially at night and the delay???? The times I'm out, get a message that someone's rung my doorbell and by the time I've answered they're gone!
Great video and great comments, folks. The ads are just over the top annoying. I am finding the speakers are the best options...the screens just don't add enough value for the price. I actually think the Echo Dot with clock is the most useful in the line up. But I agree with a previous comment, the screen is convenient for checking on cameras and checking on the house while away. Bravo to the video, Craig. What is your thought on Goggle Hub Max? I have one and like it better. Very few ads.
Yep. My echo is off too, because of ads you can't turn off unless you unplug it. Too many billboards along the roads while driving. Now I got one inside my house? Nope!
I am surprised most of you get ads ?! Maybe an issue in USA only ? I live in Belgium, turned off ads in the settings 2 years ago and never see any of them. Use the device showings all my photos and for timers and reminders. All voice interactions are controlling my Home Assistant entities and it works perfectly fine. I can only agree on one thing: it is often too slow.
I believe it is US only and is expanding to Canada soon. I have been turning off the suggestion screens as they pop up. But in the US when it says Sponsored in the bottom right corner, it is an ad.
@@CraigsTechTalk Ads in UK as well but our Echo Show 8 lives in the kitchen and is only used as a clock and a kitchen timer but sometimes my wife has to shout since Alexa is half deaf........ I remember my annoyance at the original size of the tiny clock readout until Amazon finally decided to listen to the complaints! Great idea but lost the place with it.
Most ads on TV, Alexa, web browsers, etc. I "zone out" when they're on, as I could care less about what they're selling. Some ads are continually ran, and it drives me NUTS!!! I've started muting ads when they come on!
All 4 of mine went in a box the day ads showed up on them. The Fire Stick lasted three months before a banner ad showed up and I just put it in a bag for hacking later or something.
Amen brother! I bought an echo show 10 with the sub wolfer for my kitchen. I wanted it for 5 functions: A clock and timer, to scroll family photos as a photo frame, show me the weather, play music, display cooking recipes. I did not buy it to see advertisements, I do not want to see advertisements, I will never buy a product using it. Numbers need to be bigger so I don't have to put on reading glasses to read them. Recipes are available in apps but those a limited, the web browser function to see non-app recipes is horrible. The subwoofer is constantly loosing it's connection as it's not a Bluetooth subwoofer, it connects as part of a music group. The screen follow function get's lost and typically points to the far left or right and stays there, so I've turned it off. I've turned Ads off multiple times, but it seems like every update, they default back to on. A cheap Android tablet would have been a better choice for my needs combined with a cheap echo device for music and voice commands. I've been very disappointed by the product and like I you said, a cheap tablet is better. Why can't this device work like a cheap tablet? Amazon should take an echo and glue a cheap tablet to it. Then I'll be able to do everything I want to do with it.
I'm getting annoyed with Alexa in general - just turning the light on and she starts waffling on about finding a skill or turning the light automatically, keep getting Amazon Music notifications for new music from random artists and I've checked no favourites as I'm an Apple Music user! When I Wang my light on I often have to say "ALEXA ^£^#&# SHUT UP" and then she doesn't because you swore at her and hurt her feelings 🙄🙄🙄
I tried switching to HomePod but there was no "drop in" ability with Apple products. That one feature is the only reason I still have echo devices in my home.
I agree with most of your points but you didn't offer any alternatives. Without my echo shows I could not access my cameras or talk with my mother in a video chat. EVERYTHING is getting monetized, adapt to it or continue to use it to get more attention.
If you go to home and clock settings/home content you can basically shut off every option for the Echo to advertise to you and rotate screens. Granted there seems to be 40 options to check off though. LOL!!! My Echoes just serve as clocks and I see nothing else.
I see no adds. If you disable those 40 or so options its just a pretty great internet clock. Not having to worry about fixing the time or DST is great. On the downside if you depend on the alarm and you lose power you are screwed if the power does not come back in time. Many videos about disabling ads: ua-cam.com/video/QTXofDRSaMI/v-deo.html
@@dnoland77 Yes the ads can be disabled. Go into Settings, Home & Clock, Home Content, and shut off everything, particularly "Shopping Recommendations", and you will not see ads. I did this many months ago and have not seen a single ad since.
Hello, I don't know where you are located, or if you are just fortunate to not get them yet, but you can't turn them off if they are sponsored. All the examples that I show that say "Sponsored" in the lower right hand corner cannot be turned off. As for the Home Content, I turn those off all the time. I left them running during my video to show examples running across the screen. Supposedly Canada gets ads next.
That is strange, I have 3 Echo Show 5's running (gen 1, 2, 3) for at least a year and nothing shows up on any device after I disabled all those settings. Maybe it is a regional thing and its making its way to the East Coast sooner or later. I put off getting an Echo Hub for this reason. But I may have to get one now. LOL!!!
I got one free with a Ring and has to replace it twice in a year because they are always faulty / crap. I’ve given up now on the 3rd one (latest gen) as it still has bugs and still constantly flicks to another screen even when I have ALL other options off. They simply don’t work properly.
Well, I cheat. I use them for the screen. I have 6 shows. I have 12 Wyze cheap camera around my property. I have Alexa routines rotating the view of the camera every 15 minutes for a three hour session, then another routine starts. I crammed 6 camera "show cam x for each camera 15 minute apart to the point that I can't add another line to any one of the routines. But it works. It works for me. Oh yes, there is one catch. All of these Shows are 1st gen. The 2nd gen won't work. Craig probably knows why. I don't.. But I had to sell two 2nd gens on eBay and buy two used 1st gens to get them to work. But this way it does work. This is the only thing I use them for. AND I hate hearing her report status, so I took an Echo Dot, named it "muted", turned the sound down to zero, and plugged power into it, put it in a cabinet, in a room that I seldom use, and set that Dot as the "Hear Alexa from", so I don't hear her talking back to me.
Agree 100%. The old echo spot worked best as a clock. It was small, round and looked ok on furniture. Amazon realized this and quickly cancelled the spot to replace it with the show .
I’m about a year and a half or so into smart home life. Started off with Alexa integrated products. Seemed like more products worked with Alexa than anything else at the time so I went with it. Got sick of the interface on the echo shows. The ads. The useless info popping up. I had several shows in my house at one point. 5, 8, 10, 15 you name it. Blink cameras. Ring doorbell. All owned by Amazon. Started converting to HomeKit and will never look back. I have one device left from Amazon, the show 15 because it looks nice on my wall and I use it to control my roomba. All other Alexa/amazon owned devices are retired. good riddance
I've had the echo show 2nd gen for many years and have held off buying newer versions for around the house exactly for the reasons you stated. I like the regular smart speakers and have several but the echo shows regardless of version are nothing to write home about.
Home Pods don't have Bluetooth. This didn't cross my mind until I had cut my internet provider back in April. The last software update that Apple put out is causing battery drain on the watches and the phones.
I just bought an Amazon echo spot so I could use it with my Apple Music for alarms but the problem is that I need a subscription for Apple Music in order to link my account with Alexa which I think is stupid.
I agree. It was a fad. Some smart home UA-cam presenters are now talking about ripping everything out, but techies love complexity, and need to.pay more attention to simplicity. My Echo Dots still provide plenty of useful functions using their built in temperature and presence sensors. And routines are very useful for alarms and reminders and keeping me up to date with the stock market and the weather. I almost never use the Show screens, but find the Dots incredible useful, and they are inexpensive and can't bother you with ads.
The show 8 really needs a sound leveler . I use music to help me fall asleep ,however when songs change and the next song starts its way to loud or way to low. I have an old google home device so now i'm back to using it . I'm thinking about going to the google nest 2nd gen. will the google nest be a better upgrade ??
I had never thought of that. It does make sense and is a good idea. As for the Nest Hub with a screen, it does not sound better than the Echo Show 8. It is better than the smaller Nest mini. The larger Nest Audio does sound good. But for 8" smart displays, the Echo show is still the better sounding.
I loved my Echo show 10! I put it in my kitchen to watch my series or movies while cooking, but now its not working. The screen went black and nothing seems to fix it!😭😭😭
I am also sick of all the advertising, but I asked the question what is the alternative if you want to have voice control of your automated systems such as habitat or home assistant etc. what can you do to replace the Amazon echo in order to still have voice control?
Fortunately, here in Spain I see no ads on my Echo 5 (but found how to turn the occasional one off...that works and I get zero). It seems in the US/Canada that the ads are really invasive and difficult to keep off. Also, I have never seen a sponsered card on my Echo 5. Perhaps there is some sort of European regulation against that.
I am happy for you that you have not seen any ads. Right now ads are limited to the US and Canada. As for the suggestion cards that pop up, it's great to turn those off. With those off you can have just a screen and a clock. But they had to go mess that up here in the US. I hope regulations keep them from advertising in the EU.
I noticed that Kid Echos don't show ads. So, I set my Echo 5 settings to "kids mode" and BOOM, it made the ads stop. It just shows the clock, now. Every few seconds, you see the screen fade to black and then comes right back, but not enough for it to bother me. I believe it does the fading to black because that's when it's changing the screen to show an ad, normally. What I'd like to know is if this trick works on the Echo 8. I was going to buy one until you said it doesn't show the clock in full screen like the Echo 5.
I still use the 15 in my kitchen for Fire TV, and all the rest are still around the house because I have them linked and I can play music house-wide via Spotify. I'm not particularly attached to them though, and agree with all your points.
No other device in my house has an always on screen that can flash ads anytime it wants. That’s where I draw the line. I would have a problem if I glanced at my iPhone screen and saw an ad on the always on screen. Thanks for watching.
The reason I stopped using my Fire Tv is that the ads were ridiculous. I can watch regular TV and see fewer ads. I totally understand where you are coming from. I never bought into the Echo Show, thank goodness. Fire TV is bad enough.
As some one who has an echo show, some dots, 4 cameras, and the base station for alarms. I’m not sure what else I should go with that offers me the same package. Any suggestions?
I am doing research to try and find out what Alexa devices I need to buy! I wanted to buy an echo show just so that I could tell alexa to show me my security cameras! Is this the only option to see your Ring cameras?
This is the same for the Nest Hubs - totally useless apart from an alarm clock and playing music. Slowest of the slow UI, everything has to be done on the Google Home app on my phone - no benefit to having the screen at all (apart from seeing a timer!).
I use mine to voice control lights, listen to music, and ask quick reference information (ie, what temp is fish fully cooked). I am not sure what you expected to use you Echo for other than those things.
You can fix the ad thing by setting your region to Canada and changing the voice back to whatever you normally use, I haven't seen an ad since. Still, there are many things bad about the echo shows and the Google Nest Hub hasn't been great either since they announced they were taking away a lot of the useful features (also its way slower than the echo shows). APPLE PLEASE MAKE A HOMEPOD WITH A SCREEN.
0 I bought the echo show 10, messed with it for about 30 minutes packed it back up in the box and returned it. Completely useless and slow but ended up keeping the fire 11 $200. Not crazy about not having the play store app, I know it can be downloaded but I'm worried about updates interfering anybody have any experience with this?
🔴 You Cannot turn off "Sponsored" cards. For the love of god, please people stop saying ads can be turned off in the settings. Only Amazon's chosen cards can be turned off in the Home Content settings. This is not true for "Sponsored" cards. Companies pay Amazon MONEY to show that sponsored card. They are not going to let you turn them off. Currently Ads are only available in the US and Canada. Just because you may not see "Sponsored" cards yet, doesn't mean you have turned ads off under home content. I am tired of seeing people saying you can turn off ads.
Correct. The settings that Amazon's "support" will tell you is that you can turn off the ads by going into settings and changing the preferences. They appear not to have seen the device, so they are using a script. That setting turns off targeted ads, not all ads. There is a trick. The light sensor is used to detect presence. Putting a piece of black electrical tape over it will stop most of the ads. The ads will not stop when you give it a voice command. It knows that you are there, so it shows you the ads. The tape trick will have several limits, including a 15, which I bought two for more than $500. I use it in the kitchen. I tell it to start a timer, and I get it an ad. I ask it to stop, and I get an ad. If I leave the room and come back, I get an ad. These are new on the 15th, so you may not have them yet. The 5s have started running animated commercials. Since I use it when cooking, I cannot see the full-screen timer, making it useless. The text is too small, and the tape trip takes it off altogether. This wasn't part of the deal. Using it for art 6' off the ground shows ads when it detects you. This is new for the 25 but not the 5 or 8. Try the tape.
I clicked on a slide on my Echoshow that read recipe for peanut butter cookie and it started playing a 7 minute workout. Not sure what it was trying to tell me with that.
For me, this was the straw that broke the camel's back as it were. I got rid of all five of my echo show devices.
Sponsored is now a UK "feature" as well. AMAZON ARE SHITE
Can I buy your Echo Show 15? Lol never had one, tempted to get the new Show 21.. but on the fence since I'm not sure if it will be better than my mango subscription of 5.99 per month
No lies were told in this video. I use my Echo as an alarm clock and to play music. Otherwise its pretty useless.
Clock+Music+Photo slide of my two little girls, until it insist on displaying ads to enable some random skill. I have disabled every single nano marketing option in the settings, it still won't go away.
Thank you. I appreciate that. I try to keep it real, good and bad. Glad you are getting some use still.
Marcus, it’s so annoying to have to turn off the different screens. The deal breaker are those annoying ones you can’t turn off.
Yep ... clock, music, photos, and weather on my Alexa capable Samsung fridge.
All the other hubs I have are Nest Max hubs ... and I use them the same way.
Why did you buy an Echo device and not a music player with a built in clock? Could have saved a pretty penny...
I renamed my Echo Show "Ad Server" about a month or so before finally pulling the plug. It now sleeps with the fishes. When Amazon anounced they would include ads in their Prime videos, THAT was the final straw for me and I ended up dumping Prime altogether.
Good for you. Getting rid of Prime is a big one.
Me too! 😢
Just about there myself. I started with a dot then got 2 echos and three firesticks then two studios. Firestick worked fine till I added the studios now it freezes up all the time. I even have a USB fan on the stick. When I just set it up to run off the TV speakers it dosent lock up as much. I hate the adds on prime so yes I'm about done. I use to say FJB now I say FAP........PS they never once mention you need a smart phone to pair up and do many other things with blue tooth in settings!!!!!
The ads in mprime videos arent that bad, for me they only appeared sometimes in the start of the movies and i could just skip it immeadiatly
TOO FUNNY.
Finally someone is calling Amazon out on this BS
There’s a hack that I found on Reddit to stop all the ads and it’s worked for me for over a year. Im not sure if I can post a link here but you must change your device’s language in settings from English (US) to English (Canada) and I also changed Alexa voice to American 1, that second part is optional though. Canada has much more strict SPAM laws so no more ads.
I’m in the US btw.
Thank you for sharing and watching. That makes sense about the ads.
I just tried it. I'll report back to see if it works for me. if not, It'll be in the dump soon.
@@SoCalVipers cool. Let me know if it works for you.
Yes, please let us know if it still works!
It seems to have solved the problem. I have not seen any ads since I made the change. :)
I don't even use my Show to see the time and weather anymore because my ecobee thermostat displays it bigger than my Show, which has a larger screen! It's like Amazon never once talked to a real person who uses their devices.
That is a great point about the Ecobee display. You nailed it, Amazon isn’t taking input. They are in their own bubble.
Thank you so much for this video. I was just going to order an Echo Show 5, but you made me change my mind. The ad is an absolute deal breaker. Who wants to see ads on their alarm clock? 🤔 No way I can put up with ads on a device I'm buying to put in my bedroom.
I am frustrated. I had an echo 10. Piece of garbage
Amazon have never been about listening to their customers
I know right like it’s sad
I’ve had mine for the last 10 years and I was expecting to see more updates get pushed but no they clearly don’t care
I didn’t buy the echo show 8 to look at ads year after year
You got that right. It is unfortunate that they create in their own little bubble. Instead of just stealing good ideas from Apple and Samsung. Google does the same thing.
I expected more updates too. Not losing features behind a paywall.
Amazon cut much of their development staff for these devices. There's really no point in buying anything new, the devices are very limited in what they can do... Since Amazon makes no profit on these devices/Alexa, I suspect the whole ecosystem will start to decay...
There needs to be an open source smart speaker option.
I unplugged my Echo show. I don't know where it was coming from, but someone was harassing me through my Echo show. So I unplugged it. They're Fire TV devices are slow in their performance too. I also put my Chromecast Google TV back action.
An Open source option would be an interesting option. It doesn’t look good for the future with all their cuts.
That is crazy about your echo show. I do like the Google interface better than Fire TVs. Thanks for sharing.
@@CraigsTechTalkdo you remember “Mycroft Mark II” unfortunately I backed this open source device. But in the end they failed to bring to market - they ended up wasting money on all the problems it had, and its interface and AI were just too slow. There version one that used raspberry pi would have done much better
Home Assistant is getting there. Hopefully soon Nabu Casa will release a commercial one. I do have an ESPHome based speaker/voice control and it works OK.
It's relatively easy to turn it into a clock. You have to turn off all the options in Settings/Home&Clock/Home Content and then MOST IMPORTANTLY, set the Night Mode to 00:00 - 23:55 Daily. Now go back to home screen and after a minute or less it will switch to clock and stay there. No ads. Each time you interact with it, it will always return to clock after a short (minute or less) time. I have mine next to my PC and the ads were driving me mad and I was going to dump it but now it does it's job. I've had it like this for about the last year..
Thanks for the video though, I agree with the majority of it.
sweet lord almighty, thank you for this!
If you live in the US, you can switch the language to English - Canada and it gets rid of the ads too
Thank you, your video changed my mind. I was thinking of buying an echo show 10, but because of aggressive marketing, I changed my mind, I don't want to see ads on my device.
What's annoying is you turn stuff of and amazon turns crap back on.
Tell me about it it’s freaking annoying the other week. I turned off some stupid shopping recommendation crap then I go to turn it on today then just showing me stupid shopping crap that I turned off previously. It’s bloody annoying but thankfully in the UK at the moment we’re not getting as many stupid adverts as people in America. So thank God for that saying that I’ve probably just gone jinxed it. It’s probably been jinxed.
Mines been telling me Lexus ads after doing something not even remotely related to driving or cars, like turning on a light!
I wish I went with Google.
It’s great Amazon keeps adding new screens turned on by default. You get at least 1 or 2 new ones a month. The Lexus one is great since it is a paid sponsored ad. You can’t turn off anything with the word sponsored. Lexus is doing some dumb Alexa theme.
Thats not limited to Amazon. Windows users are more than familiar with things that were disabled or removed showing up again without notice.
@@TransitAndTeslas it sure isn’t. Apple pulls the same crap when you do a firmware update. Suddenly things you never asked for; or had set exactly how you want them are back the way they would like.
Example- I do not use iCloud for download folder or photos. But they both get switched back to iCloud when I update. I have gotten so I won’t update until crap quits working properly
i’m surprised you didn’t mention how crappy the voice recognition have been, mine may listen to me 50% of the time, and even then it will say it didn’t understand me. i’d rather tap a couple times on my phone than bother asking my echo to do something
Have 8 inch echo show in kitchen and used for years to show me my next appointment from google calendar. Cant get it to do that anymore and cant find a way to fix it. The updates do go into calendar but no reminders when they are nearly due. Bloody useless.
Basically I went all in on Apple. Google and Amazon - I spent too much money on them - never again, and yep, you pretty much nailed everything wrong with Amazon echo’s, they should be paying us to place billboards in our house…
You’re absolutely correct Apple’s business model is best for customers no advertising or selling your data to third parties
I did too. I tried Google Home, Alexa and Homekit, and despite the dearth of products made for Homekit I’m genuinely much happier with it. I run Homebridge on an old laptop to keep my older devices integrated, and I’m reasonably satisfied. It’s not perfect, but it’s enough to get the job done with minimal fuss.
1000%
What’s wrong with Google hub?
100% agree with you. I've had my Show since 2019 and in the past couple years the ads have become INSANE. Even when I ask for the weather, there is a tile on the right showing me an advertisement NEXT TO the forecast. I hate it so much. Only getting speakers if I upgrade in the future and that's all.
Packed mine away a year or so ago. I got tired of constantly having to change settings to block the ads and suggestions. I just wanted a display of the time and temperature. Instead, I paid for a device that allowed Amazon to advertise to me. I disconnected all echo devices in my home except for one. It sits in a remote bedroom and is only used as a hub to control my smart devices.
Thank you for sharing Terry. It makes sense to keep the one for the hubs. No reason to spend more money.
This is what has been pissing me off recently too. My $2000 TV has PUSH NOTIFICATION (text) ADS THAT GO OVERTOP OTHER CONTENT. Let alone their actual smart TV apps that are garbage, the only decent smart TV device is a roku anymore, and they are also starting to push more ads! It's absurd. Knock it off people!
Samsung tvs. Even work with my echos.
As an older person I depend on my echo show to call for emergency should I not be able to reach a telephone. It much easier to say Alexa call my person for help if I can’t reach my telephone because of a fall for example my 911 alternative
You nailed every frustration I have with mine.
Truely use it for time,date,temp, music, timer and ccasional spelling assist or dictionary. It used to show my ring doorbell camera when someone showed up but it stopped showing that months ago. The random resetting and ads is rediculous
Ads in my texts. Ads on all my streaming channels - that I pay subscriptions for. Ads on PBS. What happened to making money by giving customers what they want?
This is what I've been saying!
PBS is woefully underfunded, hence the donations n campaigns.
Still can’t understand the Alexa app, it's AWFUL. echo dot is OK, since it was 10$. I totally agree with Craig...
It’s crazy after all these years the app is not much better. Thanks for watching.
I appreciate this video Craig. For a while I stopped watching your videos because all these things have frustrated me and it seems all you posted was favorable videos about these devices. We need to come together as a community and find ways to take back our smart homes! Words can never describe how grateful I am for this shift in your channel, THANK YOU FOR FIGHTING FOR THE END USER!
Thanks for this video, Craig. I originally gave my Show5 a glowing review right after I first got it but for awhile now, every time I look at it for the current time or temp, all I keep seeing is ad after ad after ad and it’s pretty frustrating and I thought it was just me being fickle. But now I see I’m in good company. What a shame too because it really is (was?) a pretty cool device.
I appreciate your honesty and letting me know that you had stopped watching. I do try to be positive and share what a device can do. But I need to be better about coming back around to these features and let you know if they are worth keeping.
I love the coming together as a community and putting out the frustrations. I appreciate the kind words. I don’t want to go negative, but I do think we need to raise the bar, not go backwards. I think we need to ask if these things are really worth spending more money on for upgrades. Thank you again. Have a great day.
Hello Dave, in my livestreams I kept hearing more frustration. That combined with my own and it was time to talk about it. You are not alone my friend. Like many others, we bought into something that was growing and positive for the user. Now it has become something that we didn’t sign up for. Amazon should give us users a kickback for the ad space they are using on my device.
What is the brand of the Alarm Clock at @6:32
I hate the ads! I don't like being tracked... I got it mainly for my ring doorbell so i can see who's at my door.. sometimes the ring on the phone is delayed and I don't know who's there until I get to the door. My echo show 5 does react much quicker.
I'm frustrated beyond belief with mine. I agree with everything you said, but I must add one thing: I have EVERYTHING turned off on my home screen, and about once a month Amazon either adds something new, or turns things back on that I previously turned off. I'll be sitting on my couch and see something flash in the corner of my eye, and sure enough, it's showing ads again. Infuriating.
I finally bought a tablet with a stand that I plan on using in its place. I am also done with these pieces of garbage.
I did just that, I used a Tablet with an app that has smart functions such as alexa / google home, never made a better choice. I have any video and music app, without any restrictions ❣️
Just seeing this video today and I really could not believe how common the sentiment is with mine. The commenter who mentions renaming the device to “Ad Server” made me chuckle but was completely accurate. The one thing I would add to these frustrations is the news articles that pop up. Every once in a while I will see one about a national or international news event. Otherwise, it’s sports and celebrity news, topics that you couldn’t pay me to be interested in. The fact that I can’t curate news topics to things I care about adds to the paperweight status of mine.
100% agree with everything you've said. If I buy any echo devices going forward, none will have a screen because never once have I looked at their advertisements and said, "hey, I need that!" NOT ONCE. Why can't someone figure out a way to jail break these devices and let the end user decide what to put on the screen?
Thanks for saying what everyone else is thinking. More smart home tech channels need to do the same.
Thank you very much 🙏 I have to keep it real with you all. I am glad to help be a voice for frustrated users. You have a Great point, I have never taken action after seeing one of the ads or their recommendation screens. I like the jailbreak idea.
As an Echo user who has 9 echo's throughout my home and car....I agree 110% - The only thing that has kept me from boxing up my echo's is that I need a good product to replace them...The echo's do provide an option to control my lighting throughout the house. Hoping your video on Apple products provides a greater insight to use SIRI. By the way I too am frustrated by the ads they are senseless and not in tune with the products I am most interested in. Amazon does ask for feedback from customers via their memberships- but still waiting for some of my feedback to take traction. Keep up the great videos and DON"T HOLD BACK...The only way Amazon is going to change is from video's like this one!!
Maybe a video on how to move from Amazon or Google to Apple Home and Siri would help a lot of people. I’ve put away all of my Amazon and Google assistant devices and I’m just using my iPhone instead since I always have it with me.
This is exactly why I'm replacing my Echo Show as well. It's useless for me, but hey, at least Amazon can show me ads for things I don't need. Because we all need to see more ads, right? Ads in email, ads on phones, ads on billboards, ads on the radio, ads, ads, ads. Enough already.
I have an Echo Show on my home office desk. I had hoped to use it to check the ring camera at the front door, but it is too slow to respond to be useful. The constant ads make me crazy. I listen to music on it, but the speaker is pretty crappy. I was just wondering if there was an alternative when I came across you channel. I am looking forward to what you have to say about HomePod.
Which model do you have?
Remember what a Prime Membership included? 1. 2 day shipping if they don't delay your orders. They've done that too me a lot 2. Prime video (no. Ads) to name a few. Now their employees in the packing and shipping department are stealing from customer's food orders. I've seen some of these videos. It's diccusting. My heart goes out to the customer's that have too put up with Amazon rotten conduct. They also have a mandatory return policy. A customer has to return a product that they don't want or is defective back to Amazon in order to get a refund. The bad part about this is, their return department is putting bad products back on the shelf. The reason I suspect this is because I've received damaged products from Amazon. It gets a lot worse. Amazon is not the company they used to be.
Yes I’ve gotten a bunch of products recently you can immediately tell was a return/refurbished but they charge full price
@@goozebump Returned food should never be re-stocked. I've worked as a shopper and seen management tell employees to put food items back ( fridge/freezer; fresh food;) It's all about making money!!
This is total BS. My wife and I average about two packages a day from Amazon and never once have had a problem. Amazon will either refund your money upon returning a defective item or item you don't like OR if the item is not too expensive just let you keep the item and STILL refund your money. Returns are ridiculously easy. We just take whatever it is (usually clothes that do not fit) to our local Kohls store and Kohls packages them up and send them back for us.
You can't make an absolute statement like that just because you SUSPECT it happens because you got some faulty goods.
I've had multiple echo show devices over the years and literally just returned the echo 8 for the same reason you mentioned. All the advertising was making me crazy. Every time I walked into the room there was another advertisement on and I just couldn't deal with it anymore so they've all gone back and I'm using my regular digital alarm clock now. Amazon you need to smarten up and get rid of the advertising and listen to your customers!
Craig, Craig here! I am glad you made this video. I couldn't agree more. I was a beta tester for the first Alexa and have had several in my home with "upgrades" to Shows ever since. I now despise their intrusion in my home. The one feature I really wanted is the weather and time overlayed on my photos but oh, no all I get is ad's. Not just ad's, it is stupid stuff that most 5-year olds wouldn't want. I have replaced two Show's in my heavy use areas with Pixel Tablets, which to your point, do more useful things. I plan to add one more to replace all of my Show's which are now in Closets to turn on lights. It is hard to understand how tone def Amazon has become on this or how they have taken something with so much promised and squander it. Well I vented and thank you for your great channel and all of the hard work it takes to make such useful content.
Amazon could care less about what the customer says, because Jeff has made SO MUCH MONEY now he doesn't give a rat's ass!
me and my wife just bought our first house. she wants an alexa and i want a family calendar so we were going to get a Show 15. literally waiting for the store to open and just watched your video and now i wont be buying lol. powerful video, thank you.
just get a tablet tied to your ecosystem at this point. echo is is beyond frustrating
It does feel like the ads have become worse and worse. I feel like most of the time when i look at it, it is either playing an ad or asking me whether i like the ad it just played.
My biggest use for our Echo Show 10 is music (Apple Music) and watching TV with the Fire TV Recast. It’s placed in our kitchen. Music is usually playing all day so we don’t see the Home Screen all that much. I’ve considered an Echo Studio instead. But with TV playability on it, that’s the only thing holding me back.
In addition to your well made points, I heard one of Amazon’s big wigs say that he fully expects that at some time Amazon WILL start charging for the Alexa services. I WILL get rid of ALL of my Echo devices at that point.
Glad I held off on ever getting one. Sounds like my Echo dot with clock does everything any of the Show's do.
I removed all amazon dots and echo and everything. I got tired of the in house advertisements, the stupid attempts at conversation with me. The final straw was when I told it to shut off the white noise and it replied back something about " you really seemed like you needed sleep".
I’m really glad I found this video when I did! I was about to purchase an Amazon Show 8 for my (older) parents for Christmas, and I will not be now. I had no idea there were ads, and that’s a huge dealbreaker for me. The other cons you mentioned also don’t help.
Totally agree with the ads rant! The only thing I use the Shows for (once in a blue moon) is to see what's going on with my cameras. What ever happened to the development of the echos being able to communicate with other apps? Like... "Alexa, order my favorite coffee from Dunkin Donuts." Or more of the conversational features in general?
my show acts up !! i ask alexa the weather and she shows me the front door camera! smh any one else having this problem
I have Echo Show 5s as alarm clocks and am happy with them. I have a recently purchased a Show 15 in my living room. In addition to regular Echo functionality, the nicest feature for me is being able to call up my security cameras and display a creen large enough that I can see it from across the room.
You get faster load times with their tablets?! Those things are worse than the echo shows.
😂 That’s funny. Maybe it feels like the payoff is better with the tablets. Thanks for watching.
I originally used my Echo products for many features. The one I really liked was it would listen in while I was away and would alert me to sounds of entry, or my smoke detector going off. All of a sudden, with an update, that feature no longer worked. For well over a year, I’d get messages that they were still working on it. I have also since packed up my echos.
Hi Craig, I used to live in Agoura Hills and had a home computer/home theater company. I have stopped using my Echo Shows - have on in every room of my house. I have moved to using my Google devices. I get UA-cam TV native, better searches, faster integration with doorbells, cameras, thermostats, etc. I just used the Echos Shows for an OK Clock - so I wasted about $1000 on all of these shows.... And, don't get me started about stereo paired Echo Studios and Echos playing music filled with dropouts - pretty much stopped using those as well. I now use the Google Nest Speakers for three stereo pairs in some of my rooms. Since I am an audiophile snob, I use Sonos as background music in my two offices. Thanks for being real about the Echo Shows
Very cool David. I can understand having a home theater company, you need some good sound. Sonos are great. I can appreciate the switch to Google. The Nest hub has such a better interface.
Are you sure about Google being better? I have a houseful of Google products, they are getting dumber and dumber to a point that I just unplug them to save power. I also installed Google-based smart devices for my senior-aged mom at her home, to control lights, fan, thermostats, security camera, and so on... I've lost count of times she called me to go over and fix Google home products. Heck, I work on these technologies for a living and even I am embarrassed how bad things have gotten.
Okay this is weird I have two Echo.Show 8 3rd gen in different rooms in my home. The one in the living room shows ads constantly, but the one in the bedroom does not. Why would that be?
I agree totally with your rant! Thank you; I hope you are heard! I use mine for - time, weather, timer when cooking, FaceTiming family members.
I use my Google mini to get answers to questions because the shows never seemed to answer the question asked.
FaceTime is an Apple video conference app on Apple devices. You can't use that on Amazon hardware devices. I think you mean just using the Amazon video calls feature.
I have an Echo Show 8 (still) , and "assumed" it had a Zigbee hub built into it, until I tried to add a smart device (some months later), and it wouldn't register. In addition, it would have made a terrific weather station if it were possible to customise the home screen - but there is very limited scope for doing so. I wonder how many of these things will finish up in landfill?
Don’t buy these products, they force ads through even if you turn them all off. It’s just an ad machine that shows the time and clock and plays music through its crappy speaker. I just threw two of mine away because forced ads are bs on a product I payed for.
So what your recommendation? Now i have google home and i add echo show 5 for my ring doorbell! What you think about apple echo system? Any thoughts?
Thanks - was considering replacing my Google Nest Max with an Echo Show, helped me make up my mind.
Glad to help. Nest Hub Max is a much better screen interface.
I just got mine and the thing struggles with connecting to the app
Enough said... I will not be purchasing an Echo Show!
hi just now i buy echo show 8 but when i see you now im think about sending back to amazon . i dont want waching move or somethink lie that i want conecting my tv my home theatre mi light in house . can you please recomenden one for me?? thx
I can't believe that no one commenting has mentioned the Ring doorbell integration. I will have to keep 1 show just for that.
When you switch back to a non screen echo you quickly realize how much better it is to just press the action button seeing as the shows never had one.
I can appreciate that. I am so used to grabbing my phone. Thanks for mentioning this.
Screw the shows…..put it on a tv with a fire stick….I got rid of my shows. Usless. I am just getting sick of Amazon itself. Next step to cancel the yearly subscription and just be done.
Not that it's even that good! Poor resolution especially at night and the delay????
The times I'm out, get a message that someone's rung my doorbell and by the time I've answered they're gone!
Great video and great comments, folks. The ads are just over the top annoying. I am finding the speakers are the best options...the screens just don't add enough value for the price. I actually think the Echo Dot with clock is the most useful in the line up. But I agree with a previous comment, the screen is convenient for checking on cameras and checking on the house while away. Bravo to the video, Craig. What is your thought on Goggle Hub Max? I have one and like it better. Very few ads.
Yep. My echo is off too, because of ads you can't turn off unless you unplug it. Too many billboards along the roads while driving. Now I got one inside my house? Nope!
I am surprised most of you get ads ?! Maybe an issue in USA only ? I live in Belgium, turned off ads in the settings 2 years ago and never see any of them. Use the device showings all my photos and for timers and reminders. All voice interactions are controlling my Home Assistant entities and it works perfectly fine. I can only agree on one thing: it is often too slow.
I believe it is US only and is expanding to Canada soon. I have been turning off the suggestion screens as they pop up. But in the US when it says Sponsored in the bottom right corner, it is an ad.
@@CraigsTechTalk
Ads in UK as well but our Echo Show 8 lives in the kitchen and is only used as a clock and a kitchen timer but sometimes my wife has to shout since Alexa is half deaf........
I remember my annoyance at the original size of the tiny clock readout until Amazon finally decided to listen to the complaints!
Great idea but lost the place with it.
I agree with everything you said, which is why I JUST unplugged and put away my five Show 5’s. Like you said…. “Enough Is Enough”!
I make a point of not buying anything I see on an ad that is shoved in my face for. I think if everyone did that then these companies would wake up.
Most ads on TV, Alexa, web browsers, etc. I "zone out" when they're on, as I could care less about what they're selling. Some ads are continually ran, and it drives me NUTS!!! I've started muting ads when they come on!
All 4 of mine went in a box the day ads showed up on them. The Fire Stick lasted three months before a banner ad showed up and I just put it in a bag for hacking later or something.
Amen brother! I bought an echo show 10 with the sub wolfer for my kitchen. I wanted it for 5 functions: A clock and timer, to scroll family photos as a photo frame, show me the weather, play music, display cooking recipes. I did not buy it to see advertisements, I do not want to see advertisements, I will never buy a product using it. Numbers need to be bigger so I don't have to put on reading glasses to read them. Recipes are available in apps but those a limited, the web browser function to see non-app recipes is horrible. The subwoofer is constantly loosing it's connection as it's not a Bluetooth subwoofer, it connects as part of a music group. The screen follow function get's lost and typically points to the far left or right and stays there, so I've turned it off. I've turned Ads off multiple times, but it seems like every update, they default back to on. A cheap Android tablet would have been a better choice for my needs combined with a cheap echo device for music and voice commands. I've been very disappointed by the product and like I you said, a cheap tablet is better. Why can't this device work like a cheap tablet? Amazon should take an echo and glue a cheap tablet to it. Then I'll be able to do everything I want to do with it.
Is there a comparison of the Echo Show 5 and the Google Nest smart displays?
I'm getting annoyed with Alexa in general - just turning the light on and she starts waffling on about finding a skill or turning the light automatically, keep getting Amazon Music notifications for new music from random artists and I've checked no favourites as I'm an Apple Music user! When I Wang my light on I often have to say "ALEXA ^£^#&# SHUT UP" and then she doesn't because you swore at her and hurt her feelings 🙄🙄🙄
I tried switching to HomePod but there was no "drop in" ability with Apple products. That one feature is the only reason I still have echo devices in my home.
I have Home Assistant fire a routine every 3 hours to show photos. That's ALL I use them for now.
I love that you have Home Assistant keeping them in check.
I agree with most of your points but you didn't offer any alternatives. Without my echo shows I could not access my cameras or talk with my mother in a video chat. EVERYTHING is getting monetized, adapt to it or continue to use it to get more attention.
I agree 1K % ..... we should be able to customize to show what the users want to "SHOW" not what Amazon wants as a play/display list.
They don't care what we want to see. It is disappointing. Thanks for watching.
is there a copy of the routine to stop the popups
I have the original and I use it for a clock as well!!!😢
Nice that you have the original. It would be nicer if it could do a full screen clock now. Thanks for watching.
Great video! The problem are also the Ads on Amazon Prime.. in 40 minutes video 3 or 4 ads long nearly 2 minutes (in Italy(... please !
If you go to home and clock settings/home content you can basically shut off every option for the Echo to advertise to you and rotate screens. Granted there seems to be 40 options to check off though. LOL!!! My Echoes just serve as clocks and I see nothing else.
You must be new here. No, the ads can't be disabled.
I see no adds. If you disable those 40 or so options its just a pretty great internet clock. Not having to worry about fixing the time or DST is great. On the downside if you depend on the alarm and you lose power you are screwed if the power does not come back in time. Many videos about disabling ads: ua-cam.com/video/QTXofDRSaMI/v-deo.html
@@dnoland77 Yes the ads can be disabled. Go into Settings, Home & Clock, Home Content, and shut off everything, particularly "Shopping Recommendations", and you will not see ads. I did this many months ago and have not seen a single ad since.
Hello, I don't know where you are located, or if you are just fortunate to not get them yet, but you can't turn them off if they are sponsored. All the examples that I show that say "Sponsored" in the lower right hand corner cannot be turned off. As for the Home Content, I turn those off all the time. I left them running during my video to show examples running across the screen. Supposedly Canada gets ads next.
That is strange, I have 3 Echo Show 5's running (gen 1, 2, 3) for at least a year and nothing shows up on any device after I disabled all those settings. Maybe it is a regional thing and its making its way to the East Coast sooner or later. I put off getting an Echo Hub for this reason. But I may have to get one now. LOL!!!
I got one free with a Ring and has to replace it twice in a year because they are always faulty / crap. I’ve given up now on the 3rd one (latest gen) as it still has bugs and still constantly flicks to another screen even when I have ALL other options off.
They simply don’t work properly.
Well, I cheat. I use them for the screen. I have 6 shows. I have 12 Wyze cheap camera around my property. I have Alexa routines rotating the view of the camera every 15 minutes for a three hour session, then another routine starts. I crammed 6 camera "show cam x for each camera 15 minute apart to the point that I can't add another line to any one of the routines. But it works. It works for me. Oh yes, there is one catch. All of these Shows are 1st gen. The 2nd gen won't work. Craig probably knows why. I don't.. But I had to sell two 2nd gens on eBay and buy two used 1st gens to get them to work. But this way it does work. This is the only thing I use them for. AND I hate hearing her report status, so I took an Echo Dot, named it "muted", turned the sound down to zero, and plugged power into it, put it in a cabinet, in a room that I seldom use, and set that Dot as the "Hear Alexa from", so I don't hear her talking back to me.
Agree 100%. The old echo spot worked best as a clock. It was small, round and looked ok on furniture. Amazon realized this and quickly cancelled the spot to replace it with the show .
I’m about a year and a half or so into smart home life. Started off with Alexa integrated products. Seemed like more products worked with Alexa than anything else at the time so I went with it. Got sick of the interface on the echo shows. The ads. The useless info popping up. I had several shows in my house at one point. 5, 8, 10, 15 you name it. Blink cameras. Ring doorbell. All owned by Amazon. Started converting to HomeKit and will never look back. I have one device left from Amazon, the show 15 because it looks nice on my wall and I use it to control my roomba. All other Alexa/amazon owned devices are retired. good riddance
I've had the echo show 2nd gen for many years and have held off buying newer versions for around the house exactly for the reasons you stated. I like the regular smart speakers and have several but the echo shows regardless of version are nothing to write home about.
Oh no, say it ain’t so. I agree, but I primarily use my show 5 and 10 as an alarm clock to play music.
Sorry Reggie, it must be done. But I will check out whatever is next with them. Thanks for watching.
Hi! Any recommendations for a Hub and video doorbell instead?
Home Pods don't have Bluetooth. This didn't cross my mind until I had cut my internet provider back in April. The last software update that Apple put out is causing battery drain on the watches and the phones.
I just bought an Amazon echo spot so I could use it with my Apple Music for alarms but the problem is that I need a subscription for Apple Music in order to link my account with Alexa which I think is stupid.
It's just the entire smart home ecosystem. Even Google home has gone to s***t.
My Google home's aren't showing me forced ads... Yet
I think Google and Amazon wanted to grow the smart home and hope they would find a business in the process. Glad to hear you have no ads on Google.
@@robertclark8546 exactly why I don't have Amazon screens.
I agree. It was a fad. Some smart home UA-cam presenters are now talking about ripping everything out, but techies love complexity, and need to.pay more attention to simplicity. My Echo Dots still provide plenty of useful functions using their built in temperature and presence sensors. And routines are very useful for alarms and reminders and keeping me up to date with the stock market and the weather. I almost never use the Show screens, but find the Dots incredible useful, and they are inexpensive and can't bother you with ads.
The show 8 really needs a sound leveler . I use music to help me fall asleep ,however when songs change and the next song starts its way to loud or way to low. I have an old google home device so now i'm back to using it . I'm thinking about going to the google nest 2nd gen. will the google nest be a better upgrade ??
I had never thought of that. It does make sense and is a good idea. As for the Nest Hub with a screen, it does not sound better than the Echo Show 8. It is better than the smaller Nest mini. The larger Nest Audio does sound good. But for 8" smart displays, the Echo show is still the better sounding.
The only thing I use my echo show for is the clock and I can't see it half of the time because it always has ads on it when I look.
I loved my Echo show 10! I put it in my kitchen to watch my series or movies while cooking, but now its not working. The screen went black and nothing seems to fix it!😭😭😭
I’m interested in getting a scho show to view my new blink camera but if it really that pushy with the ads then I’m really second guessing my purchase
I am also sick of all the advertising, but I asked the question what is the alternative if you want to have voice control of your automated systems such as habitat or home assistant etc. what can you do to replace the Amazon echo in order to still have voice control?
Fortunately, here in Spain I see no ads on my Echo 5 (but found how to turn the occasional one off...that works and I get zero). It seems in the US/Canada that the ads are really invasive and difficult to keep off. Also, I have never seen a sponsered card on my Echo 5. Perhaps there is some sort of European regulation against that.
I am happy for you that you have not seen any ads. Right now ads are limited to the US and Canada. As for the suggestion cards that pop up, it's great to turn those off. With those off you can have just a screen and a clock.
But they had to go mess that up here in the US. I hope regulations keep them from advertising in the EU.
I noticed that Kid Echos don't show ads. So, I set my Echo 5 settings to "kids mode" and BOOM, it made the ads stop. It just shows the clock, now. Every few seconds, you see the screen fade to black and then comes right back, but not enough for it to bother me. I believe it does the fading to black because that's when it's changing the screen to show an ad, normally.
What I'd like to know is if this trick works on the Echo 8. I was going to buy one until you said it doesn't show the clock in full screen like the Echo 5.
I still use the 15 in my kitchen for Fire TV, and all the rest are still around the house because I have them linked and I can play music house-wide via Spotify. I'm not particularly attached to them though, and agree with all your points.
I understand but on the other hand.. In what device that own and pay for are you not being advertised to constantly anyways?
No other device in my house has an always on screen that can flash ads anytime it wants. That’s where I draw the line. I would have a problem if I glanced at my iPhone screen and saw an ad on the always on screen. Thanks for watching.
my echo is confused!!! i ask alexa a question & it shows me the front door
Yea. Try asking it what day of the year it is. Or when Mc Connell is up for re-election. Somehow I don't think 1 bc is the right answer.
You do have some confused Echos. I am sorry to hear that.
The remote no longer takes questions or requests. It only is good for volume control for music.
What’s best to hook security cameras too if not echo ?
The reason I stopped using my Fire Tv is that the ads were ridiculous. I can watch regular TV and see fewer ads. I totally understand where you are coming from. I never bought into the Echo Show, thank goodness. Fire TV is bad enough.
As some one who has an echo show, some dots, 4 cameras, and the base station for alarms. I’m not sure what else I should go with that offers me the same package. Any suggestions?
I am doing research to try and find out what Alexa devices I need to buy! I wanted to buy an echo show just so that I could tell alexa to show me my security cameras! Is this the only option to see your Ring cameras?
This is the same for the Nest Hubs - totally useless apart from an alarm clock and playing music. Slowest of the slow UI, everything has to be done on the Google Home app on my phone - no benefit to having the screen at all (apart from seeing a timer!).
I use mine to voice control lights, listen to music, and ask quick reference information (ie, what temp is fish fully cooked). I am not sure what you expected to use you Echo for other than those things.
You can fix the ad thing by setting your region to Canada and changing the voice back to whatever you normally use, I haven't seen an ad since. Still, there are many things bad about the echo shows and the Google Nest Hub hasn't been great either since they announced they were taking away a lot of the useful features (also its way slower than the echo shows). APPLE PLEASE MAKE A HOMEPOD WITH A SCREEN.
0 I bought the echo show 10, messed with it for about 30 minutes packed it back up in the box and returned it. Completely useless and slow but ended up keeping the fire 11 $200. Not crazy about not having the play store app, I know it can be downloaded but I'm worried about updates interfering anybody have any experience with this?