• 

  Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen)

  Amazon's newer Echo Show 5 is a little faster, but crucially sounds a lot better.

  Pros

  • Beefed-up sound
  • Great Alexa integration
  • Handy display

  Cons

  • Very slightly boosted price

  See at Amazon $89.99 at Best Buy

• 

  Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen)

  $50.99 $84.99 Save $34

  The older Echo Show 5 is still highly capable, albeit with less powerful audio.

  Pros

  • A little more affordable
  • Same great display
  • Works just as great with Alexa

  Cons

  • Sound is weaker

  See at Amazon $50.99 at Best Buy

If you're looking to pick up an Echo Show smart display from Amazon, you've got multiple to pick from, and there's also more than one version of each, due to older generations that you can still buy.

If you're particularly taken with the Echo Show 5, one of its smaller options, you might like to compare the newest version with the previous model - after all, this is the best way to work out which is best for you. Check out all the relevant comparisons, below.

Price, specs & availability

Amazon has long been a fan of keeping around some stock of its older-generation smart devices to make sure that people have the option of a lower-priced, slightly lower-specced version if they want to save some cash.

That means you can still easily pick up the second-generation Echo Show 5 even though the new model is now available and, in some ways, there are some huge similarities between them, as you'll see in the tables below.

The two smart displays are near-identical in size and weight, and the display hasn't changed size or fidelity at all.

Instead, the main differences come in the form of redesigned and boosted sound for the newer model, along with a 20 per cent uplift in processing power and speed.

The pricing has seen a small boost, though - up from £75/$85 to £85/$90 for the new model, and as time passes you'd expect the second-generation Echo Show 5 to fall further as discounts are applied.

• 	Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen)	Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen)
  Chipset	MediaTek MT 8169 B	MediaTek MT 8163
  Display	5.5in touchscreen	5.5in touchscreen
  Sound	1.75in speaker	1.65in speaker
  Dimensions	147 x 91 x 82mm, 456g	148 x 86 x 73mm, 410g
  Weight
  Camera	2MP camera with built-in shutter	2MP camera with built-in cover
  Integrations	Amazon Alexa	Amazon Alexa

Amazon Echo Show 5 3rd Gen vs 2nd Gen: Hear the difference

These are unsurprisingly two very similar smart displays - both extremely compact and therefore great for spaces like bedside tables or the kitchen - there are some details that have changed, though, as we'll run through in the sections below.

Design

The two generations of Echo Show 5 look very similar to each other at first glance, but there are some key differences. At their heart, though, they're both wedge-shaped smart displays with fabric covering behind the display.

However, the third-generation brings this fabric right up to the display's bezels, whereas the second-gen model has this meeting a band of metal that runs around the back.

The new look is a lot cleaner, therefore, and a bit slicker too. Those bezels are also a little different - the newer version has rounder corners on its display, whereas the older model had sharper corners.

The newer generation does also have a couple more colour options to pick from, in the form of white-bezelled blue and white versions that might fit into certain rooms and decor setups more naturally, which is welcome.

However, with almost the exact same dimensions, either will fit in the same space as the other, and with your ability to customise their wallpaper it's up to you to style them as you like.

It's also worth noting, though, that you can now get a third-generation Echo Show 5 in a Kids' variant (for an extra $10) that has a fun galaxy-themed design and some neat parental features, something that isn't available for the second-generation version.

Display and camera

There's only a very subtle change in the display between these two models - both are 5.5 inches in size (a little bigger than the name would actually have you believe), and both are touchscreens.

The difference comes in the corners, as mentioned above - the newer Echo Show 5 has rounder corners to its display.

Still, you won't get any newer tech or a higher resolution by opting for the more recent mode, and the same is true of the display's camera, which sticks at a lowly 2MP, making it not much use for anything other than basic video calling. To be fair, though, it does excel on that front.

Sound

The biggest upgrade that Amazon has made for the third-generation Echo Show 5 is where sound is concerned - this is a smart display that will sound much beefier and more accurate than its predecessor.

This means significantly louder volumes are possible, but also bass that's hugely boosted. Amazon says it has twice the bass of the older model, so if you think you'll be using the display as a speaker often enough that's a clear point of difference.

Which is right for you?

Amazon often doesn't make it easy to pick between generations of its Echo devices, unless total redesigns have taken place (and they sometimes do). However, since the pricing is so close in this case we do think that the third-generation Echo Show 5 is the one to go for - it's that boosted audio that's the real clincher.

After all, half the allure of the Echo Show line is that you have a display melded with an Alexa smart speaker, so being able to rely on that speaker sounding great when you ask it to play some tunes is a pretty big deal.

However, that's not to say that the Echo Show 5's second-generation model is worthless, not by a long shot - this is still a great little smart display, and we'd anticipate that its price will see some lovely cuts in the coming months (especially during sale events like Black Friday). So, if you're looking to snag a bargain, it's well worth keeping your eye on this older bit of kit.