Best Kitchen Smart Display in 2022 (It’s Not Even Close!)

by Michael Xavierupdated on January 2, 2022April 21, 2020

The best kitchen smart display in 2022 is the Amazon Echo Show. I prefer the 10 inch display, but you can get by with the 8”, or even the 5” displays as well. From built in recipes, integrated grocery lists, HD movies, TV, music and more, the Echo Show really is a cook’s best friend. It’s a borderline sous-chef!

Best Kitchen Smart Display

My wife and I love to cook and we’re always looking up new recipes to try together.

So when we started our smart home last year, we knew we wanted a smart display in our kitchen. But which one?

At a minimum it had to be able to quickly find and display great recipes, add items to our grocery list, and entertain us while we cooked.

Ultimately all of our research pointed us to one product: the Amazon Echo Show. After just 6 months of using it in our kitchen, I honestly can’t imagine cooking without it.

	Echo Show 5”	Echo Show 8”	Echo Show 10”
Product
Screen	5.5” with 960 x 480 resolution	8.0” with 1280 x 800 resolution	10.1” with 1280 x 800 resolution
Speakers	1 x 1.7” @ 4W	2 x 2.0” @ 10W per channel	2 x 1.0” tweeters + 3.0” woofer
Camera	2MP	13 MP with auto-framing	13 MP with auto-framing
Alexa Built In	Yes	Yes	Yes
*Price (Amazon)*	Check Price on Amazon	Check Price on Amazon	Check Price on Amazon

Here’s what makes the Echo Show a must add to every kitchen…

Display

It’s obvious but when looking for the best smart display, finding one with a quality display is a must.

We’ll cover some of the reasons why below, but I’ve found using a smart hub speaker just doesn’t cut it in the kitchen. The display is what makes all the difference.

The Echo Show comes in three different sizes: 5”, 8” and 10”. Personally, I own the 10” screen.

I wanted something that could double as a TV in the kitchen (in addition to a sous-chef), so spending the extra money on the 10 inch HD screen was more than worth it.

Especially considering a TV alone would have cost $150 minimum anyway (the Echo Show offers much more than a standalone TV).

Both the 8” and 10” Echo Show offer HD quality video. The 5” doesn’t.

If the 10” is out of budget and you’re debating between the 5” or 8”, I highly recommend coughing up the extra 30 bucks and getting the 8” display.

Don’t get me wrong, the 5” display is better than no display at all, but I find it a bit too small to watch TV or read/watch recipes on it. Just my opinion.

Timers

Every cook needs a good timer and as silly as it sounds, I’ve found the Echo Show to really excel here.

(NOTE: The videos below were filmed on my Echo Show 10, 2nd gen. Amazon has since come out with the 3rd gen and it’s even better!)

For starters, being able to start a timer hands free while you’re cooking is a game changer. No more washing your hands first, or stopping what you’re in the middle of prepping to get a timer going.

You can also run multiple timers simultaneously, which comes in handy just about every time I cook. A lot of nights I have at least two timers going at once, usually three.

You can check in on these timers on the Echo Show display or just ask Alexa to tell/show you how much time is left on timer 2, for example. She’ll then read out the time remaining for you.

Recipes

The Echo Show has really stepped up its recipe game and the format options in which it presents them.

Just ask the Echo Show the following: “Alexa, give me a recipe for for eggplant parmesan” and you’ll get a ton of different recipe options to choose from.

The best part is all of the recipes the Echo Show shares are tried, tested, and top rated.

Once you select the one you like you can either follow the step-by-step instructions on the screen or you can watch a video of someone showing you exactly what’s involved.

You can even click a single button, “Add this to shopping list”, and the Echo Show will automatically add everything you need for that specific recipe directly to your shopping list.

You can then access this shopping list through the Alexa app on your phone the next time you go out grocery shopping.

If you find a recipe you end up really loving, make sure to “Save it to favorites” so you can easily call it back up the next time you want to cook it!

Grocery List

The Alexa grocery list has become a natural part of my wife and I’s daily routine.

Whenever something is running low or we’ve run out of an item (food or otherwise) we simply say “Alexa, add such-and-such item to our grocery list”. Alexa then automatically adds that item to our list.

This grocery list can then be brought up through the Alexa app on either of our smart phones so that the next time one of us is out we can get make sure we get the things we need.

After we get an item, we just strike it off the list so that we both know it’s longer needed.

It’s a simple, yet highly effective and extremely convenient process.

It definitely beats our old approach of frantically searching the fridge once a week right before we went to the grocery store and hand writing a list. We would always forget something!

We’ve found that adding to our grocery list in real-time, as we run out of stuff, ensures that doesn’t happen.

Movies, TV Shows and Live TV

Often times I already know what I’m cooking, and how to cook it, so I just want something to keep me company while I’m in the kitchen for an hour or so.

Being able to play movies, shows, and live TV using the Echo Show is a really nice option to have.

While there are some limitations on what you can watch (for instance no Netflix – UPDATE: as of Dec 2020 Netflix is available on the Echo Show!), it’s been more than enough for me. And there are plenty of free options too!

Steam Player, for example, costs nothing and can be used to watch over 215 live channels, including ABC, CBS News, CBS Sports, Bloomberg, Fox, and PBS Kids. Just say, “Alexa, play CBS Sports using Stream Player“.

If you’re interested instead in watching a specific TV show or movie, Tubi offers thousands of titles for free, including The Big Short, Blood Diamond, The Road to Perdition, and Shrek. Just say, “Alexa, play The Big Short on Tubi“.

For those who already have paid subscriptions to Amazon Prime Video or Hulu, you can link your accounts and watch everything those services have to offer directly on your Echo Show.

Pretty awesome.

Music

Other times you just want to vibe to some music while you cook (and sip wine, lot’s of wine).

The Echo Show has a ton of music readily available (although there are occasional ads). Just ask Alexa for the song, album, or artist of your choice, and you’re good to go.

Don’t worry if Amazon Music doesn’t have the exact song you’re looking for, you can always connect your Echo Show to a third party music service. These are some of your options:

Spotify (requires Premium)
Pandora
iHeartRadio
TuneIn (no sign-in required)
Apple Music
Deezer
SiriusXM
Tidal
Gimme
Vevo

If you’re looking for more details/instructions on how to set these up, here’s a great post.

Beyond the Kitchen

The capabilities of the Amazon Echo Show go far beyond just the kitchen. It also serves its primary function as a smart hub extremely well.

I have a lot of other smart home products and automations around my home that integrate seamlessly with the Echo Show.

For example, I’m able to control all the lights in my house and lock the front door simply by asking the Echo Show.

I can even view live feed from the Blink Home Security cameras set up around the outside of my house.

For instance, when I say, “Alexa, show me the lake”, a live feed of the lake (my back yard) pops up on the Echo Show display.

Amazon continues to build out integrations with a ton of other smart products, so as you build out your smart home beyond just your kitchen, the Echo Show will grow with you.

Conclusion

So, if you’re looking for the best smart display for your kitchen, look no further than the Amazon Echo Show.

It’s not just a slick looking product, it actually delivers.

Hand free timers, endless recipes, integrated grocery lists, movies, shows, live TV, music and more. The Echo Show has everything you could possibly want out of a smart display for your kitchen.

I’ve used this product for over 6 months now and other than wishing I could get Netflix on it (UPDATE: as of Dec 2020 Netflix is available on the Echo Show!), I have zero complaints.

What do you think? What’s the best smart display for cooking?