Echo Show 11 review: a new, bigger screen size but less for the privacy-conscious

Two-minute review

The Echo Show 11 is Amazon’s latest mid-size smart display, releasing alongside the latest Echo Show 8, Echo Studio and the new Echo Dot Max. It’s a new screen size for Amazon’s smart displays, but it’s technically the successor to the Echo Show 10 (2020) with a slightly larger screen.

That being said, its positioning isn’t quite as secure as some of its siblings, nor its predecessor. It lacks some of the features we loved from older generations (and in particular from the Echo Show 10 (2020)), and it’s largely packing the same specs as the Echo Show 8, with the main difference being the larger screen.

Still, it’s far from a bad smart display, and still sees improvements over older devices; it’s powered by the latest AZ3 Pro chip, the screen is now 1080p, audio performance is decent, and there are ample smart home features and connectivity benefits, including the addition of Matter and Thread support.

The refinements to the Echo Show 10’s floating display design are small but mighty, making the whole speaker feel more sleek and less clunky. That is, of course, barring the removal of the rotating screen and a physical camera privacy shutter – but these two features might just be the deciding factor for some customers when choosing the best smart display.

As of writing, it’s also worth noting that there seem to be some software issues when it comes to streaming. I tested the Echo Show 8 alongside the 11 and had no such challenges, so it seems like a bug, albeit one I have seen a fair few consumers complain about online. Still, it’s early days for the product, and I’d expect this to be ironed out within the coming weeks.

Overall, it’s a great option for kitchens and offices, and I’m delighted to see Amazon paying more and more attention to aesthetics with its newer smart speakers. I just wish that didn’t come at the expense of utility.

Echo Show 11: Specs

Echo Show 11: Design

• Refines on Echo Show 10 (2020) design
• Bright and beautiful floating display
• No physical camera shutter

Much like the Echo Show 10, the Echo Show 11 sees a thin and light display mounted on a rounded speaker stand. While the Echo Show 10 may have introduced Amazon’s newer floating display design language, the Echo Show 11 refines it, squashing the height of the speaker a little into a pill shape and expanding the screen to a lovely 11.95-inches. These subtle changes make an impact, making the latest Echo Shows much more appealing for the home versus the older wedge-shaped devices.

The net size is still pretty minimal at 26 cm x 18 cm x 13 cm, comprised of the mesh fabric-covered speaker base and affixed screen. This marks a slightly negative departure from the Echo Show 10, which allowed you to adjust the screen for optimal viewing; it’s an important feature if you’re often using the device in your kitchen and don’t want to stoop down every time you need to check a recipe.

Otherwise, the screen is a solid upgrade; as well as the size boost, the screen now offers a resolution of 1920 x 1200 (versus the Echo Show 10’s 1280 x 800 pixels). In use, the color HD display is rich and bright, easily enjoyed even from wider viewing angles.

At the center of the top of the screen is its 13 MP camera with auto framing, but there’s no physical privacy shutter this time. This is likely due to the design constraints of thin screens, but privacy-conscious buyers might not like the change. You can kill the camera feed in-app or use the on-device mute button, but you can also just as easily grab an affordable stick-on shutter or a bit of tape.

Located on the screen’s right side are the mute buttons and volume rocker, and the rest of the controls are touch-based on the screen. The speaker houses a 2.8-inch woofer and two front-facing, full-range drivers that can deliver spatial audio.

Overall, it’s a great all-around upgrade for Amazon’s mid-sized screen, and I doubt anyone will disagree that it’s a much-needed improvement, visually. The whole unit feels a lot more premium and of better build quality, but it’s taken a long time for Amazon to come this far. It’s a shame that two really useful, functional design features had to come at the cost of a fresh look, too.

• Design: 4.5/5

Echo Show 11: Performance

• Zippy and bright touch screen, decent audio
• Sensors are accurate and help with home automation
• Streaming features didn’t work very well

So we know the Echo Show 11 looks good, but how is it in use? In short, it’s fast, facile and feature-filled, but it doesn’t always stick the landing.

Let’s start with the display. It’s bright and beautiful, perfect for enjoying TV and movies up close or to glance at your calendar or reminders from across the room. It is, of course, cluttered with suggested content a lot of the time, but that’s par for the course with Echo Shows (as well as other smart displays), and it becomes far less of a problem if you set up an album of your favorite photos to display throughout the day.

The user interface (UI) is generally quite clean and easy to navigate, with widgets rendering nicely on the large canvas screen. Recipes are easy to follow, video content is bright and vibrant, and animations are pretty slick, barring the occasional stutter.

Touch controls are quick and responsive most of the time, though I have had to reboot it a few times after it becomes unresponsive. Some users have also reported some mild to moderate issues with input delay; however, I couldn’t replicate these issues myself. Interestingly, I’ve not faced these issues on the Echo Show 8 I tested in parallel to the 11-inch model, so I have to assume it’s an issue with the UI’s screen optimization. The touch interface is easy to navigate, though; swipe down for the control center and left for your widgets. The screen hasn’t got any smudge-proofing, though, so it becomes grubby rather quickly with regular use.

Audio performance follows suit with other Amazon Echo devices I’ve tested; it’s not one for audiophiles (those would be better off with the Echo Studio or even the new Echo Dot Max) but the performance is nonetheless decent for its price category.

I tested the speakers by streaming lossless tracks through Spotify, starting with Laufey’s Falling Behind, which was rendered warmly through the Echo Show 11’s speaker base. It had lost some of the crunch from the bossa nova-style acoustic guitars, but Laufey’s voice shone through with great clarity. Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain was muddy, losing the vocals a little more than usual, but still packed a good punch with clear highs.

Overall, it lacks drive, and some tracks make that clearer than others; Jeff Buckley’s haunting vocals get lost in the weaving higher layers of Last Goodbye, while Portishead’s Glory Box felt flat overall, compressing those wonderfully breathy vocals and the big fat bass into a thoroughly clipped mid-range. Still, the clarity and volume are impressive, especially at its size and price point, and the speakers really are room-filling; I had to stand a good 5m away before I felt the volume drop become noticeable.

The Echo Show 11 houses a range of sensors, too. The camera, centered at the top of the screen, is the same as the last generation; a 13MP auto-framing peeper that works as described, accompanied by microphones that offer great, clear audio pickup for video calls or quick drop-ins to check on your pets and loved ones. Elsewhere, its temperature, motion and brightness detectors all work as expected, and can be used for Alexa Routines. Facial recognition, personalization and screen scaling all work smoothly in the background, just the way all smart devices should.

As always, the range of compatible software and services is great, with a native app for Netflix and Prime and browser-based access to most of the more popular streaming services. For some reason, however, the Echo Show 11 I tested had an issue with launching and searching on streaming services via voice control at first. Using the control center to manually open apps worked fine, so I had to perform a hard reset before I could summon streaming apps hands-free.

Speaking of Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa is faster than ever with the AZ3 Pro chip on board, and replies come incredibly quickly – once or twice, before I’d even finished speaking. Asking for recipes elicits lightning-quick responses, music loads quickly even through third-party services, and all of Alexa’s standard commands work as expected. I’m based in the UK, so I couldn’t test Alexa+, but we’ll have a full separate review soon.

• Performance: 4/5

Echo Show 11: Price and availability

• List price: $219.99 / £219.99 / AU$429
• Announced September 2025, launched in November.

Priced at $219.99 / £219.99 / AU$429, the Echo Show 11 is the middle child of Amazon’s smart displays inbetween the Echo Show 5 and 8 and the larger, wall-mountable Echo Show 15 and 21. It’s available in black or white, and there's also a stylish optional stand, which costs $34.99 / £34.99 / AU$69.95.

The Echo Show 11 largely packs the same specs as the smaller Echo Show 8, rather than carrying over some of the defining features from the Echo Show 10 such as its rotating screen. That does make it marginally more affordable than the Show 10 ($249.99 / £239.99 / AU$399.99), but it’s still $40 / £40 / AU$80 more than the latest Echo Show 8.

I’m not entirely convinced that the larger screen alone justifies the price difference between the Show 8 and Show 11; I'd have hoped to see one or two extra premium features exclusive to this slightly larger screen to convince me it has a reason to exist beyond offering more real estate (often swallowed up by suggested content in standby mode). Plus, the price drop from the Echo Show 10 comes at the expense of features I’d really like for this more functional screen. Still, fundamentally it’s still a relatively affordable smart display and a huge upgrade if you have a 5+ year-old Echo Show 5, 8 or 10.

Value: 3.5/5

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Echo Show 11?

Buy it if...

You’ve got an older Echo Show

Whether you just fancy a change or specifically want one that makes you more Alexa+ ready, the Echo Show 11 is a solid purchase that brings some much-needed attention to design and performance.

You use a lot of smart home features

Packing in a range of smarts from Omnisense technology to its smart home connectivity, the Echo Show 11 is well-equipped to help you automate and monitor your home.

Don't buy it if...

You want a physical camera privacy shutter

For peace of mind, that physical shutter is a must-have, and while you can mod your own, it’s a shame to see this dropped from the design.

You don't desperately need the screen size

You can save some money by opting for the slightly smaller Echo Show 8, which packs pretty much identical features and perforance barring the screen size.

Amazon Echo Show 11: also consider

If you're not sure the Amazon Show 11 is the right Alexa smart display for you, here are further options to consider from Amazon:

How I tested the Echo Show 11 (2024)

• I tested it at home for a week
• I tested its smart home features and sensors
• I performed our standard audio and movie streaming tests

To test Amazon’s Echo Show 11, I tried all of the advertised features over a week of testing, from Alexa queries to Omnisense monitoring and automations to streaming.

I played music from a variety of genres, as well as the spoken word, to test the speakers and examine how well the Echo Show 11 replicates sound, and also watched movies and TV through streaming services like Netflix and YouTube, as well as Amazon Prime Video to test out the display’s performance and general user experience.

I’ve been testing smart speakers and other smart home devices for years, and my home runs on an Alexa-based setup. While well-acquainted with Amazon’s system and its features, I’ve also tested other ecosystems to learn the differences, strengths and weaknesses.