Amazon Echo Show 11 Review

Design and build

• 11-inch screen
• Available in two colours
• Volume and mute controls

The Amazon Echo Show 11 is a followup to the Echo Show 10, which came out way back in 2021.

Back then, the large-screen Echo Show had a fancy motorised stand, with the screen spinning to face you. Clearly, that added a lot of complexity and expense to the product, so the Amazon Echo Show 11 is a standard smart display with a fixed base.

Here, the base is exactly the same as the one on the Echo Show 8 (4^th Gen, 2025). And, I do mean identical: it’s the same size, takes the same power input and has the same choice of colours (graphite or glacier white).

The difference is that the screen here is a larger 11-inch model. Using a similarly thin screen as on the 8-inch model, the Echo Show 11 looks great. Its display floats off the base, giving this smart display a sleek, modern look.

There’s no adjustment in the screen. While the fixed angle works in most situations, if you’d like to have screen adjustment, you’ll need to buy the optional stand, which is compatible with both of the new 11-inch and 8-inch Echo Show smart displays.

Around the back of the Amazon Echo Show 11 is the power input, which is the only port that you’ll find on this device. There’s no audio output any more, although that seems fair as this isn’t the kind of device that particularly needs one.

Physical controls are located on the side of the Amazon Echo Show 11. There are volume keys, plus a mute button that turns off both the microphone and the front-facing camera, lighting a red LED to let you know.

There’s no longer a physical camera shutter, which seems a shame. Sure, pressing the mute button (or using the on-screen control to turn off just the camera) cuts the webcam off, but the shutter was slightly more reassuring from a privacy perspective.

Features

• Zigbee, Thread and Matter support
• Omnipresence powers more powerful Routines
• Netflix and Amazon Prime Video built in

Given that the Amazon Echo Show 11 shares the same base as the Echo Show 8, the internals are exactly the same. That includes the AZ3 processor with its integrated AI Accelerator. That chip was designed for Alexa+, the Gen AI upgrade to the smart assistant. Sadly, Alexa+ isn’t available in the UK at the time of writing, so it’s hard to tell what difference this makes.

However, for day-to-day use, the chip does make a difference. Even with loud music on, and talking quietly, the Amazon Echo Show 11 responds to the Alexa wake word and picks up what I ask of it.

Otherwise, here, you’re currently limited to using the standard Alexa. In general, that’s not a terrible thing, as I think that Alexa is still the best voice assistant, particularly as it generally understands what you’re asking, and its smart home control is excellent.

As I’ve pointed out before, Alexa falls down when it has to pull in other information, such as looking up local shops; often, the data is wrong or just very out of date. Alexa+ may improve that, but I’ll have to wait and see.

As with all other Echo Show devices, the screen here is used to show additional information. Although the display is larger with a higher Full HD resolution than on the new Echo Show 8, the space isn’t used for anything. It’s more that the screen is a bit easier to read from further away.

By default, the screen will show a slideshow with a choice of using your photos or ones that Amazon has picked. Additional information can also be shown, such as news headlines and recipe ideas. It’s well worth diving into the settings to turn off the sections that you don’t want to see.

Visual ID is built in, using the camera to detect who’s standing in front of the Amazon Echo Show 11. With this, the device can show personalised information, such as specific calendar information. For multi-user households, it’s a nice touch.

I always think that the Echo Show is the best type of Alexa, combining voice responses with on-screen information. For example, with a weather report, the screen shows the current information and gives screens that you can swipe through to get more information, such as the hourly forecast.

Or, ask to control a smart thermostat or light, and the onscreen controls let me refine the response, such as adjusting a light’s brightness using the slider control.

Not that you have to use voice for everything. Via the smart home section, I can control my connected devices using just touch, although the control is sometimes a bit finicky. For example, I can adjust the brightness of all the lights in my office in one go, but I can only change the colour or colour temperature of one bulb at a time.

Cameras are also available to live stream to the device. Ring owners get the benefit of thumbnails, plus you can answer Ring doorbell presses straight from the device without needing to touch your phone.

Widgets give quick access to parts of the system, such as recent songs from Spotify or my Amazon Shopping List. I’d like the Smart Home widget to be more flexible. Currently, this widget shows only the favourite devices that I add in the Alexa app, but I’d like to be able to choose different devices for each Echo Show that I have, depending on where it’s located.

It’s good to see a full smart home hub inside, with Zigbee and Thread onboard, alongside Matter support.

In addition, Omnisense uses the camera and the device’s sensors to detect when there’s a person in the same room. This works brilliantly, and makes it easy to create powerful Routines that run when people are around (or they leave). And, I found that Omnisense is more reliable than using a traditional motion sensor.

This feature can also be used for Adaptive Content. When you stand far away from the Echo Show 11 it can show the slideshow. Come close, and the Widgets are displayed instead.

There’s also video support, with Netflix and Amazon Prime having their own apps. Disney+ and YouTube are only available via the slightly clunky web browser, which is less than ideal. If you want more choice of video service, than the Echo Show 15 is better, as it runs the full Fire TV experience.

Sound and video quality

• Deep bass
• Stereo sound
• Bright picture

With the same physical base as the new Echo Show 8, the Echo Show 11 has exactly the same audio performance, using a 2.8-inch woofer and dual full-range drivers. It’s a decent set up, although the slightly larger Echo Show 10 is marginally better in my opinion.

Still, that said, for most cases, the Amazon Echo Show 11 does well. It’s powerful enough to handle bass well at volumes up to about 75%, although beyond that and the speaker tends to distort a little.

Throwing the bass-heavy This Too Shall Pass, from OK Go, at it, and the drums do thump out with some power to them. 

Stereo separation isn’t perfect, as the two drivers aren’t that far apart, but they can handle stereo tracks properly, managing to get a sense of movement out of the opening guitar riff from Foo Fighters’ Enough Space.

Effectively, you’ll get decent audio for music out of this, but there’s no upgrade over the Echo Show 8, which has an identical sound system.

Video is a different matter, as here the screen’s not only larger, it has a higher 1080p resolution. There’s still no HDR support, but the larger screen does make it easier to watch videos and see what’s going on. Image brightness and uniformity is good, and blacks OK, although a touch on the grey side.

As with the smaller Echo Show 8, audio quality is good for films and TVs. Watching the latest Frankenstein film, the opening fight on the boat is delivered with the cracks of guns, and the impact of punches nicely enough.

Having a larger screen makes the experience slightly nicer, but I wouldn’t really watch much on this screen in terms of entertainment; cooking or instructional videos, perhaps, but then the screen size isn’t so important for this use.

A 13MP webcam is built in, which has auto-tracking and framing. Quality from it is good, but it’s only useful if you video call other people with an Echo Show, which I don’t. If you do, then the camera’s useful, but I suspect the webcam will go underused in a lot of homes.

Should you buy it?