Amazon's Echo and Google's Nest (formerly Home) are the dominant players in the smart speaker market. The Echo lineup of smart speakers is powered by Alexa, while the Google Nest speakers are powered by the Google Assistant. Amazon and Google are competing for superiority in the smart speaker market. In 2018, both players separately introduced a new product category of smart speakers with built-in displays in the form of the Amazon Echo Show and the Google Nest Hub (formerly Home Hub) respectively. The original 10.1-inch Echo Show was launched two-and-a-half years ago, and since then, the family has expanded with a 5-inch Echo Show 5. More recently, Amazon launched the 8-inch Echo Show 8 as part of a variety of product announcements in September. Now, the device is available for pre-ordering in India. Its official price tag is ₹12,999 ($183), but the pre-ordering price is discounted to ₹8,999 ($126), until the product's shipping date on February 26.
The Echo Show 8 comes with an 8-inch HD display, stereo sound with two-inch neodymium speakers and a passive bass radiator, Internet connectivity through Wi-Fi, and a camera with a built-in physical shutter to alleviate privacy concerns. It slots in above the Echo Show 5 and below the 10.1-inch Echo Show in Amazon's device portfolio in terms of screen size and pricing. The Echo Show 8 is more expensive than the Echo Show 5, which costs ₹6,999 ($98) in India (although it originally launched for ₹8,999), while being cheaper than the 10.1-inch Echo Show (₹12,999 vs. ₹22,999). The capabilities of all three products are the same, as they differ only in their hardware.
The Echo Show 8 can do all things Alexa-related, which includes search queries, watching content, hands-free voice calls, video calls with the built-in display, and more. The existence of the product itself can be explained in a single sentence: Amazon wants to build Alexa-enabled devices in every size, for most popular consumer requirements. The company aims to make its voice assistant ubiquitous in the lives of consumers, and to an extent, it is succeeding.