Amazon Echo Show 15 review: bigger Alexa is good, but not yet better

It can be bought with a stand for £30 more if you would rather not screw 2.2kg of technology into your wall.

It has buttons on the top for volume, muting the microphones and camera, plus a physical privacy shutter for the camera.

Unlike its siblings, the Show 15 can display more than one thing at once, supporting multiple widgets on its home screen alongside the usual time, information and photo display. Widgets can include a yellow sticky note for leaving messages, shared to-do lists, calendars, the weather, Amazon Music controls, recipe ideas and smart home controls.

Video feeds from security cameras can stream in a floating picture-in-picture window so that you can see who is at the door while doing something else, such as following a recipe, which is handy.

You can play music from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer or Spotify as well as BBC Sounds and various other radio stations through TuneIn. The Show 15 can also be used as a Bluetooth speaker from your phone or tablet or connected to a third-party speaker.

The Echo Show 15 is generally repairable and will receive security updates for at least four years after the device is discontinued. It contains 99% recycled aluminium plus at least 35% recycled plastic. Amazon has also pledged to offset the electricity used by Echo devices with renewable energy. The company offers trade-in and recycling schemes.

The Amazon Echo Show 15 costs £239.99 ($249.99/A$399) or £269.98 ($279.98/A$448.95) with a stand. The stand can be bought separately for £29.99.

The Echo Show 15 is a good smart display with a lot of potential to be a really great one.

There is nothing else quite like it on the market, with that big 15.6in screen, picture-frame surround and wall-mounting or stand options. But Amazon has yet to really take advantage of its size, with only a few limited widget and multitasking options. It feels as if it could do so much more as the central digital hub of a home.