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Echo Hub vs Echo Show 8

Updated: 23 October 2026

Amazon.co.uk is offering both an Echo Hub and an Echo Show as a smart home hub with a screen of about eight inches. The radios overlap. The job on the wall does not. This Echo Hub vs Echo Show 8 page is that choice: a dashboard without a camera, or a kitchen display that can already carry hub radios and a lens. Tapo and the infrared bridges stay on the [smart home hub comparison](/hub/electronic-surveillance/smart-home-hub). Prices were noted on 21 October 2026. We did not lab-test either screen. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Amazon.co.uk is offering both an Echo Hub and an Echo Show as a smart home hub with a screen of about eight inches. The radios overlap. The job on the wall does not.

Our top picks

Amazon Echo Hub

Best overall

Amazon Echo Hub
5.0/10about £89.99
View offer
Amazon Echo Show 8 3rd gen

Alternative

Amazon Echo Show 8 3rd gen
4.7/10about £149.99
View offer
Amazon Echo Show 8 newest gen

Alternative

Amazon Echo Show 8 newest gen
4.5/10about £119.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Same radios, different job
  2. 2.Camera, apps, and speakers
  3. 3.Wall, stand, and extras
  4. 4.When the reviews sour

Same radios, different job

Echo Hub, at £89.99, is an 8 inch control panel. About Amazon UK lists Zigbee, Thread, Bluetooth, and Matter, and says some lights, switches, and plugs can still be controlled when the internet is down. The Echo Show 8 (3rd gen), at £149.99, names Zigbee, Matter, and Thread, plus a camera. If you buy Echo Hub because you think that Show has no hub, you are paying twice for a radio stack the Show listing already claims. Z-Wave is outside both boxes. The newest Echo Show 8 is £119.99 and 8.7 inch, with a camera and a built-in hub role. Those bullets do not spell Zigbee, Matter, and Thread. Do not treat the two Show 8s as the same hub with a price cut.

Camera, apps, and speakers

Echo Hub has no camera. Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 do. If you want to glance at a doorway or take a call on that panel, the Show is the one with the lens. The Hub can still show camera tiles from other devices. That is a window onto a feed, not a recorder. Reviews mention four live tiles, and a tile that drops is a software fault, not proof the Hub is filming. Echo Show is the screen for video and music apps, and some of those services need their own subscription. Echo Hub does not take on that job. If the kitchen panel is also the Netflix screen, buy the Show. If the hall panel should open onto lights and then go quiet, the Hub’s narrower interface is the point. Ring summaries on the Hub need Alexa+ and a compatible Ring subscription.
Amazon Echo Hub

Testsieger

Amazon Echo Hub
5.0/10about £89.99
View offer

Wall, stand, and extras

Echo Hub is the one designed to be mounted. The table stand, the in-wall cable pass-through, and the Power over Ethernet adaptor are sold separately, so a clean plaster install costs more than £89.99. Do not cut a chase until one light responds. If the tidy route needs a new mains spur or a PoE cable you cannot terminate, that is an electrician’s job. An Echo Show is the easier kitchen object because it is meant to stand on a worktop. In this scrape the Hub is £89.99, the newest Show 8 is £119.99, and the 3rd-gen Show 8 is £149.99. It is still the wrong saving if you then buy a stand, a PoE adaptor, and a separate camera. About Amazon UK limits the internet-down case to some lights, switches, and plugs.

When the reviews sour

Echo Hub reviews describe a frozen screen and taps that do not register. If a freeze in the first weeks is unacceptable, the Show is the safer screen, and you accept a busier home screen. Neither listing has an average-star line. First power-on is the how to set up a smart home hub page. If you already have a 3rd-gen Show 8, do not buy Echo Hub for the radio. Buy the Hub only for a wall dashboard with no camera, after you have priced the stand. If the screen has to play video or take calls, buy a Show. Prefer the 3rd-gen listing when Zigbee, Matter, and Thread are the reason. If the house is not an Alexa house, use the smart home hub buying guide.

Common questions

Do you need Echo Hub if you already have Echo Show 8?
Not for the radio, if your Show is the 3rd-gen Echo Show 8. That listing already names Zigbee, Matter, and Thread. Echo Hub at £89.99 repeats the control job in a wall layout and removes the camera and the Show apps. Add it only for a separate hall dashboard. Check a newest Show 8 on its own bullets.
Does Echo Hub have a camera?
No. Echo Hub has no camera in the listing bullets we used. Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 include a camera. The Hub can display tiles from other devices, but it does not record those streams and it does not film the room. If video calls matter, buy the Show.
Which one is better on the wall?
Echo Hub is the wall dashboard. It is sold to be mounted, and the stand, cable pass-through, and PoE adaptor are extra. Echo Show is the better worktop screen. The Hub is the better wall choice only if you want device tiles without a camera and without Show apps.
Which one plays Netflix?
Echo Show is the screen sold for video apps. Echo Hub is not that product. Reviewers describe the Hub as a dashboard without the Show’s entertainment software. Some Show services need their own subscription. If the evening in that room is a film, choose the Show.
Is newest Show 8 the same hub as 3rd gen?
Not on the paperwork in this comparison. The 3rd-gen Echo Show 8 at £149.99 names Zigbee, Matter, and Thread. The newest Echo Show 8 at £119.99 is an 8.7 inch display with a camera and a built-in hub role, and we are not copying those three radio names onto it. Neither Show file has a listing-line star average.

Related pages

Best smart home hub UK

Smart home hub

Smart home hub buying guide: radios, Wi-Fi and box

Smart hub for cameras UK: Tapo storage or Echo tile

How to set up a smart home hub without a 5 GHz fail

Sources

Public UK sources from the digest first, then the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Prices and stars are the figures already stored for this set. The digest does not date that shelf check.

  1. GOV.UK, consumer connectable product security (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. GOV.UK, product security laws in force (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. NCSC, smart devices law (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. ICO, home CCTV systems (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. CSA-IoT, Matter hub and Thread border router (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. About Amazon UK, Echo Hub (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. TP-Link UK, Tapo H200 (retrieved 22 October 2026)