Amazon Echo Hub - Smart Home Dashboard | My Honest Opinion...

Just got my hands on the Amazon Echo Hub and I'm spilling the beans on everything you need to know. 📢 From unboxing to getting it all set up, I'm taking you through every step, sharing my honest, unfiltered thoughts. This isn't just another review; it's a candid chat about what makes the Echo Hub a hit or a miss for your smart home setup. 🏠💡
Is it the smart home dashboard we've all been waiting for? Or is it just another gadget to add to the pile? I'm breaking down the good, the bad, and the techy in this 12-minute tell-all. Whether you're a seasoned smart home enthusiast or new to the game, you'll want to hear this before making your move.
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[@bradkrekelberg8624]

Yeah, this setup of smart home control would be awesome on the Show 15.

[@eden20111]

They do have a widget you can put on the screen, but I don’t like it because it’s too small and it doesn’t show all the switches just the ones you use the most

[@RicksTechReviews]

It’s good that they are focusing on a dedicated smart home hub, It looks like it still needs some work, hope they improve on it in future generations.

[@michaelmaliga815]

So the big news is that this can be powered by POE and have a wired ethernet connection. This should be an improvement over the lag you see when trying to use other Echo products as an automation hub. No ads and being able to define the view you see on the home screen when it wakes up as you approach it further distinguish this as an actual automation dashboard and not a general purpose product trying to adapt to an automation role.

[@johnszatkowski6898]

Great video! I've been subscribed to your channel for some time and am really interested in this product. Thanks to your video I will be holding off on buying this until more bugs are worked out and the software is more stable. Since I have and use Ring this will integrate well with my home. Looking forward to your follow-up video on this product. Thanks!

[@gtrimbl1]

I bought three. So far so good. Just what I’ve wanted for years now. Hard wired them for seamless look

[@scottmcclenahan6681]

Why didn't you use a fire tablet?

[@billmulcahy3594]

My experience with a fire tablet is it is too slow. This looks faster.

[@0xxHADESxx0]

How did you hardwired it? I thought other power adapters or connections don't work on this device, and that it only works with the included power adapter.

[@deepakvrao]

So, each in a different location and each controls everything?

[@lasongablackwell6535]

I got mines today and so far I like it having everything in 1 place

[@miguelprada5465]

Got mine today. I'm still playing around with it. So far, so good. Which light bulbs do you use with the echo system?

[@730Frankr]

Excellent review...I have more than 10 echo devices throughout my house, so interested in this type of a desktop / hub to control my cameras, lights, tv's...etc. I think I am going to hold off on purchasing this version...and look forward to your next review in a month of so later...Thanks again for your review …very helpful.

[@hs_alduri]

Does it work with vivint cameras ? If no which one do you prefer vivint or ring for security

[@tomgriffin286]

I've been waiting for Amazon to bring out a dashboard. I agree with you a 10 or 15 inch version would be better because as someone with a disability I may have difficulty navigating the screen.

[@whocarescraig]

I have low vision so I definitely understand. I think, for me, this is something I need to see in person before I can really decide to invest in it. The delay also disturbs me

[@tomgriffin286]

@@whocarescraig I agree with you. I am thinking about getting one as I could return it in thirty days.

[@whocarescraig]

@@tomgriffin286 well if you remember this thread and are about to give it, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[@CriticAtBest]

Great review! Highly considering purchasing the Hub but wanted to see an in depth review. I am curious to see how this will work with my Blink cameras. Right now, I have an echo show 8, which works great but I’m wondering - would this hub be able to show live feed when someone rings the blink doorbell or if it detects motion from one of the cameras? That’s one of my biggest problems right now. Have any advice?

[@alfrede.newman1838]

Seems basically nice **for a single home** but we like many people have a winter home and a summer home with Ring doorbells in both, Alexa Dots in both, and the Ring app nicely lets you allocate camera's by Location BUT the Alexa app seems to lump all the devices under Home. Am I missing something? Thanks

[@Markymark1408]

Steve, if you had multiple nest thermostats, could you control each of them through this?

[@user-hd9mh3fu8n]

Hi Steve! Can you help me setup a smart home? Right now thinking about ring, some kind of thermostat, some kind of smart lock, and then basically a hub. Can you help suggest best package?

[@tbaymyhome]

Telus smart home security and Lorex WiFi 4k Camera together for Echo things not bad. Never get better.

[@karLcx]

still don't understand why this isn't better as an app on an existing device. why is having to walk up to a device with a dangling wire on a wall a better usage experience than flicking between apps on the ipad you already have? not sure i get it at all.

[@armandocastro1129]

the delay may be due to the response time of the smart devices themselves and the response of the cloud server that controls those devices.

[@gtrscort1]

Agreed Amazon should bring the to Show 15. Buying the Echo Show 15 is the only Amazon product I regret purchasing.

[@henrykiser8880]

Will it show my SmartThings devices?

[@moreyru]

Good review. One question...I create routines to announce when a door or window is opened. The routines work in every one of my echo devices, with the exception of the echo hub because it isn't listed on the routines devices list. Can it be possible to create a routine on the alexa app and announce on the echo hub? Thanks,

[@hotlou2]

You have to add to the list. It won't auto populate

[@moreyru]

@hotlou2 Thanks. Did you know how to do it? I didn't saw the option to add the echo hub in the routine.

[@jamieb9168]

Got mine here in Canada yesterday. Amazon had asked me if I wanted it linked to my account and I checked off that box. So that would explain why I went to go enter in my WiFi password and it suddenly jumped to saying setup was complete. I was a bit confused with the screen display features. I chose an animated picture with an island, water and stars moving in the sky. But I couldn't get it to come on for some reason. Then I selected to have a dim clock display when it's not in use. A first it worked and then it didn't. When I got up this morning, the animated screen was showing with the clock, date and temperature. So hopefully the dim clock appears at 11pm tonight (which is the schedule I set for it). I am happy it did find my SwitchBot curtains and thermometers as well as my Govee life devices. I need to figure out how to make it show my Blink video doorbell when someone walks up to it. It is a little wonky and I do agree a larger screen would be better. I'm used to setting up my smart device routines in Smartthings so I'll have to go in and change some things in my Alexa app. I also want to see if they have a Smartthings widget.

[@sandrocutajar9865]

The wire is not nice out of the wall. Can the wire be hidden inside the wall?

[@JedEckert]

Mine defaults to a black screen when idle. No matter how I adjust the settings. When the screen wakes you can see for a split second my photos before it goes to the home screen, but it won't cycle through my photos or any other idle screens when the device is idle.

[@kennymurphy4493]

Is your room dark?

[@garethdavies9141]

It's a decent piece of kit. It's expensive but there's no adverts, so I guess you are paying a bit extra for that. It's already had 2 updates in 2 days, each just over 1gb, so they're hopefully making it a bit smoother and faster.

[@AyahuascaDataScientist]

Go Pack Go!

[@jeffoliver1000]

I wish they would just make this an app you could run and install on an existing tablet.

[@jeremyfinney7247]

Agreed regarding the Echo Show 15. I use that one every day, but wish it was more user friendly. Worst part about echo show products are all the damn ads. I’ve turned off every single home content option and sponsored ads still show up.😡

[@robert7592]

Really? All of them have ads and you can’t turn them off? I was considering the Echo Show 15 and if there are ads, I’m not buying it. Ads on your phone are one thing but it’s tacky beyond comprehension that homeowners should be subjected to them when they’re, in essence, part of the décor of the home.

[@Bill-IONS]

Nothing spells out "I'm returning this POS to Amazon" like double side taping it to the wall!

[@AlGggeee]

This or an 8 inch fire tablet used as a hub??

[@SteveDOES]

I'd like the portability of the Fire Tablet.

[@coriel2597]

Alexa is getting slower and very quirky lately. I have to reboot the echo router daily!

[@joshuahaney1135]

Great idea but does not look good Apple needs something like this. I have two wall-mounted iPads that are basically this just wish it was more customization.

[@scottmcclenahan6681]

Apple will just rip them off like they do everything else

[@markweber5278]

Not really seeing the purpose of this when you can just use voice commands through with a regular echo ? No wifi 6 ,slow processor, and doesn't come with a stand.

[@johnnygoni7402]

170$ is this some sort of joke?? I pass

[@joshdemott7919]

Is it just me or does it look ALOT like Darwins Dashboard on Home Assistant?

[@Wsmith247]

This would be passable at $59-$69 but I would rather use my Fire Tablet, just another Amazon money grab.

[@tnorman1065]

My thoughts exactly! I have a Fire Tablet and use it like a hub.

[@lindamastropietro4429]

What is a fire tablet and what is it used for?

[@KenniRaba]

​@@lindamastropietro4429It is a fairly inexpensive Android tablet and can either be used as such or you can tinker a little and build a smart home hub out of it, similar to what you can see in this video

[@tonyeaster4544]

Looks cheap! Ill stick with my echo shows!👍

[@gm2543]

Meh cant stand that gient bezal it should be small cant seen it much its 2024 not 2000 ussless amqzon lazy to make it smaller bezals 😢

[@hometechUK]

What an absolute waste of space on the home screen, way too much empty space at the top, the home screen & routines could & SHOULD have 3 rows not 2 that would reduce the scrolling to find what we are looking for , unfortunately Amazon won't listen though.

[@coriel2597]

Waste of $179.00! The app on your phone is free.

[@effrem123]

Whoever software engineer should be demoted or fired, not battery back up on it, too pricey for 7 inch fire HD tablet to look like, too laggy and Alexa should be more customizable. Needs a front cam also needs a black version of it!!

[@genepitney155]

Way overpriced.

[@Ant-dx8yt]

Who's been waiting for this?? Probably the paid "influencers" because its absolutely garbage.

[@philipperostin]

Thats what the Alexa app should be, on ANY device ! I will not pay 250 canadian roupies to have this thing ! The camera grouping has been available on Google Home for over 6 months and on any device via the app. I dont understand what Amazon is doing. Is it cheapper to produce a new device or to update some shitty software ???? We still dont have the echo show 8 3rd gen in Quebec but we can already buy the Amaon Hub ? WHY ????? This is all pure bullshit. Putting advertising on Amazon video to make us pay more if we dont want it, producing new and useless devices, not updating nothing that already exists, etc.... Really a total deception from Amazon.