Amazon Echo Show removed from stores

Tom Bedford September 4, 2018

In an unexpected move, Amazon has taken down the Echo Show from all UK retailers, including Amazon UK and high street stores.

We warmly recommended the Amazon Echo Show when it came out, particularly the video-calling feature and the great sound quality. The use of a touch-screen on a smart speaker made it functional and easy to use, and we enjoyed our time with it.

That was over a year ago now, in which time we’ve seen the Echo Spot and the Echo Plus released, but now Amazon has surprised customers by removing their Echo Show from sale. The Echo Spot and Echo Plus remain on sale from various outlets —it’s only the Echo Show that’s gone.

Amazon has released no statement on the absence of the Echo Show from stores —in fact, they haven’t acknowledged it at all. The device still has a page on the Amazon Store page (where it is Out of Stock) but isn’t being advertised alongside other Echo devices on banners.

It’s likely that Amazon has done so to foreshadow an upcoming announcement, hopefully of an Echo Show 2. The original Echo Show was well-received, so it would make sense for the company to create a follow-up device that capitalises on newer tech.

The move follows a large update of competitor Google’s range of Google Home assistants, adding a plethora of new languages, which shows the giant targeting a wide range of new audiences. Contrastingly, Amazon’s devices have only been able to speak three languages —although there was a feature to teach Alexa new ones.

To see our original review of the Amazon Echo Show, click here