Just weeks after Apple launched its first dedicated smart home hub, the HomeView, Amazon unveiled its own Echo Show 16 alternative.
Whether you’re looking for a smart home hub or are just curious to learn the differences between the two, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compared the specs of the Amazon Echo Show 16 to the Apple HomeView and highlighted the differences between the two below.
Read on to see what separates the Echo Show 16 from the HomeView and decide which one will likely suit you best.
Once you’re finished here, make sure you visit our best Echo devices and best smart speaker round-ups too.
Price and Availability
The Amazon Echo Show 16 is currently available to pre-order in the US, and has an RRP of $499.99. At the time of writing, we don’t know when the Echo Show 16 will officially launch in the US, nor if it will make its way to the UK.
Instead, the Apple HomeView can be pre-ordered across Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the UK and US and will launch globally on November 13th. It’s also, surprisingly, cheaper than the Echo Show 16, with an RRP of £299/$299.
Echo Show 16 has a larger, 16-inch display with two screen options
Both the Echo Show 16 and HomeView come as either a counter-top or wall-mounted iteration, though Apple HomeView is considerably smaller, with a seven-inch display compared to the Echo Show 16’s 16-incher. What’s more is that the Echo Show 16 comes with two display options: standard or nanomatte.
Also found on the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, nanomatte is an anti-glare technology that promises 90% less glare and better clarity, even in direct sunlight or under bright kitchen lights too.
Instead, the HomeView sports a Liquid Retina (LCD) display that features adaptive technologies such as True Tone which reacts to the changing light throughout the day. In addition, Apple explains that the HomeView’s interface adjusts based on the user’s distance, by showing simpler information that’s viewable from further away and richer detail as you come closer.
Speaking of the user’s distance, Amazon says it has “doubled the range of Visual ID” up to 17 feet, which means Alexa will be able to recognise you from further away too.
Alexa or Siri
Both the Echo Show 16 and HomeView are smart home hubs that are controllable by their respective AI-powered voice assistants – the Echo Show 16 has Alexa+ while the HomeView is fitted with Siri AI.
Alexa+ earned a glowing five-star rating from us, with our Home Tech Editor concluding the updated voice assistant as being “light years ahead of the competition”. Not only did we find Alexa+ to hold more natural conversations, but it provides accurate answers and relevant responses to queries too, allowing us to do everything from control paired smart home products and set timers, to asking for restaurant recommendations.
Alexa+ within the Echo Show 16 can also virtually organise your conversations into Cards, which means you can revisit the information at a later date.
So, how does this compare to Siri AI? Siri AI, like Alexa+, is an upgraded version of the older version that promises to hold more natural, free-flowing conversations. It also has its own Siri AI app that allows you to continue chatting away from the HomeView and store your conversations too – again, similar to the Alexa+.
We’ve so far been impressed with Siri AI and found it to be a much-needed upgrade over its predecessor. Generally it’s able to understand our prompts and provide relevant responses, so we have high expectations for the HomeView. However, Alexa will certainly be a tough assistant to beat.
Both have front-facing cameras, but the Echo Show 16 enables Live View
The Echo Show 16 is fitted with Amazon’s “most advanced” Echo Show camera yet, with a 13MP lens and a wider field of view the brand has ever offered. In comparison, the HomeView is fitted with a 12MP Center Stage camera that keeps everyone in frame, even as they move around or as more people join.
Both, unsurprisingly, are great for making video calls, but the Echo Show 16’s camera can also act as an indoor security camera. With Live View within the Alexa app, you can easily check in on your home – even at night time as the camera is now equipped with night vision too.
Echo Show 16 has Fire TV built in
Like the 15- and 21-inch versions, the Echo Show 16 comes with Fire TV, which means you can stream content from the likes of Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video and more. The Echo Show 16 also comes with a remote for more natural TV scrolling, or you can call on Alexa+ to search through the content.
At the time of writing, Apple is yet to confirm all the third-party apps that the HomeView will support, so we don’t know whether streaming services will be included. However, we do know the HomeView will support the Safari app, which could act as an easy workaround to accessing streaming services, should Apple decide against fitting the HomeView with native app support.
Up to six users can have their own profile on the HomeView
Apple says that the HomeView will be able to recognise up to six users, and each one will have their own personalised Home Screen while content will stay private and away from others.
You can, however, share albums with each user to add to, which will turn the HomeView into a digital photo frame. In addition, the Flow face will dynamically respond if you’re nearby too.
Similarly, the Echo Show 16 has three Screen Styles including Photos for a digital photo frame experience, and also Smart Home which turns the device into a dashboard for controlling your smart home and Family Organiser too.
As we’re yet to review either the Amazon Echo Show 16 or the Apple HomeView, we’ll refrain from giving a conclusive verdict. Having said that, with a larger 16-inch display, Fire TV built-in and Alexa+, the Echo Show 16 is undoubtedly a promising smart display that’ll suit most homes. It’s just a shame it comes with such a high starting price we don’t know whether it’ll even make it to the UK.
In comparison, the HomeView is a sleek-looking device that offers an easy way to control your smart home with Siri. However, its smaller display is undoubtedly more restrictive and Siri might struggle to compete with Alexa’s smarts.
We’ll update this versus once we review both models.