Amazon Echo Hub
A dedicated wall panel for a serious Alexa smart home, and only for that. If you have a lot of devices and want a glanceable dashboard instead of a phone, it delivers. If you have a few bulbs, buy an Echo Show and save the money.
Our editorial rating, not aggregated user reviews
This is a narrow-case product, and we score it as one. The radios are real (Zigbee, Thread and Matter), a wall panel you glance at does beat reaching for a phone, and Ring integration is excellent. But reviewers openly disagree about it, the interface lags when you swipe rather than tap, it is expensive for what it does, and several conclude that an Echo Show is the smarter purchase. Below roughly a dozen devices it is hard to justify at all. It earns its keep in a large, committed Alexa household and nowhere else, which is exactly what a score in the sixes is for.
Pros
- Genuine hub radios: Zigbee, Thread, Matter and Bluetooth built in
- Wall-mounted panel is always visible and takes no counter space
- Ring doorbell integration is the most praised feature in reviews
- 8-inch touchscreen built around smart home control rather than as an afterthought
Cons
- Reviewers report lag with widgets and gestures; taps are fine, swipes less so
- Reviews are genuinely mixed. Several conclude an Echo Show is the smarter purchase
- Not worth it below roughly a dozen devices
- Alexa-only; a poor fit for Google Home households
- Hue control is limited compared with the Hue app itself
- No camera, so no video calls. Table stand costs extra
Specifications
- Display
- 8-inch touchscreen
- Protocols
- Zigbee, Matter, Thread, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2
- Voice assistant
- Alexa
- Mounting
- Wall or tabletop (stand optional)
- Connectivity
- Wi-Fi or Ethernet