The Amazon Echo Show 15 Is Your New (Underpaid) Personal Assistant—and It’s $50 Off Right Now
For far too long, I relied on a daily planner and a clunky wall calendar to get me through my day-to-day life. But with two kids, a full-time job, a side hustle, and a busy social calendar, it’s hard to keep track of all the different events, appointments, and commitments on my family’s ever-growing, overcrowded calendar.
I’ve always been hesitant to lean too much on things like phone reminders and email calendars to organize the chaos that is my life. Try as I may, I never keep track of these cloud-based tools well enough to make the leap over to digital-only organization, but all that changed when I found out about Amazon’s Echo Show 15—the newest in the Echo lineup, which just got marked down for the first time (was $250, now $200). Apparently, you don’t have to wait until Prime Day to score this personal assistant on sale!
I’ll admit that I’ve never owned an Echo before. Over the years, I’ve seen countless ads for this increasingly popular Amazon gadget, but I’ve always stopped short of buying one because the idea of having a listening device in my home was nerve-wracking for me. But as someone who has recently overlooked doctors appointments, social commitments, and even my own wedding anniversary because I failed to write the dates down in my paper-based calendar, I knew it was time to convert over to a fail-proof tool that could keep my hectic life in much-needed order. Enter: The Amazon Echo Show 15.
I was surprised by just how sleek the Echo Show 15 really is. At 15.6 inches, it’s Amazon’s largest smart display, and it honestly looks like a beautiful framed work of art the way it’s laid out. The visual appeal of the tool is one reason I chose to hang my Echo on a wall, though you can also purchase a tilt stand to prop it up on a surface if you don’t want to mount it.
Echo Show 15Down from $250
I appreciate that the Echo is the first thing I see in my kitchen every morning before getting my day started, and it’s become a check-in station for me and family to see what the day holds before we get the morning officially started, even before that first cup of coffee.
Buy Echo Show 15 at Amazon, $200
Setting up the Echo Show 15 is incredibly easy, even for someone like me who isn’t particularly tech-savvy. I used the Echo’s Visual ID set-up option, which allows the Echo to recognize my face with its built-in camera when I walk into the room. Though this may sound a bit invasive, this tool is actually rather nifty and works fully in your control.
With its face-recognition software, the Echo Show 15 creates a customized screen tailored to your individual needs and interests, such as calendar events, recently played music, personal notes, and preferred news sources. Each user in the house, even children, can set up a Visual and Voice ID, so the device will recognize the user when they walk into the room or command Alexa through the voice prompt. But for people like me who like to check-out from technology from time to time, there is also the option to turn off the camera and mic, which I do whenever I need a day or two away from technology.
My favorite feature of the Echo Show 15 is, no surprise, the shared family calendar and reminders, all of which are created by saying, “Alexa…” and asking her to work her organizational magic. Even when a thought pops into my mind that I’m afraid I’ll forget a minute later, I’ll ask Alexa to jot it down for me, which has been immensely helpful in creating to-do lists, shopping lists, running errands, scheduling appointments, ordering things off Amazon, etc. It’s like having a personal assistant at the ready.
The Echo Show 15 includes many more features than just the shared family calendar though. It also plays music through impressive speakers, streams your favorite shows and movies, makes video calls, displays beloved family photos, and links up with smart-home features like security cameras and baby-room monitors. It even notifies you when an Amazon package has been delivered to your door, which for someone like me who practically buys everything on Amazon, this is super useful.
Echo Show 15
This new-and-improved Echo Show is basically your new personal assistant. It’s worth any penny in my opinion.
Buy Echo Show 15 at Amazon, $250
Though I’ve resisted relying too much on technology in the past, I’m starting to see the beauty in surrendering myself to the streamlined organization and ease that something like an Echo can bring. And if you’re on the fence about holding on to that spiral-bound planner or outdated wall calendar, there’s never been a better tool to bring you into the 21st century than the Echo Show 15; it’s a one-stop destination for oh-so-many needs.
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