Amazon adds new Echo Show devices to its home hub range

Alongside a slew of other products at its latest hardware event, Amazon has unveiled a pair of new Echo Show devices. The Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 mark a new era for the brand's smart home hubs.

Let's start with the displays, which offer improved clarity and picture quality thanks to a reworked design. Those pack in over a million pixels, while being topped with a 13MP camera for taking video calls. Amazon also says it has maximised the viewable screen area, though its worth noting that there are still some fairly chunky bezels on these devices.

It's not just about the viewing experience, either. The brand has also employed an all-new audio engine, which is designed to make these Echo's sound as good as they look.

Both of the devices use new front-facing stereo speakers, paired with a custom woofer. The result is said to be room-filling spatial audio, which makes these the best sounding smart displays the brand has available. Notably, the official wording is "our best-sounding smart displays available when they launch" – something better in the pipeline, perhaps?

Those speakers are also mounted beneath the display, and are designed to fire straight towards the user. That should help to ensure the best possible audio experience.

There's also a new adjustable stand coming to market, which is designed to complement the colour and design of each device. That's sold separately, at a cost of £34.99 (approx. €40 / US$47 / AU$70).

Speaking of cost, the two devices feel pretty reasonable in the grand scheme of things. The Show 8 will cost £179.99 (approx. €205 / US$240 / AU$365) while the Show 11 costs £219.99 (approx. €252 / US$295 / AU$447). That seems fair, and if you think it's a touch on the pricey side, it's worth keeping an eye out for deals when sales events roll around.