Amazon Echo Show 21 21"

The Echo Show 21 tries to be your kitchen TV and smart hub, but fumbles on the basics. Its 21-inch 1080p screen and weak audio can't compete with actual TVs at this price, and even its smart home chops are underwhelming. At $350+, it's hard to recommend unless you absolutely need a big Alexa display and nothing else.

The 21-inch Full HD 1080p display is fine for casual YouTube clips or pulling up a recipe, but the moment you kick back for a movie, the panel's shortcomings show. Picture quality lands in the 36th percentile in our database, so expect muted colors and contrast that doesn't pop. It's not a good HDR experience either, sitting near the bottom at the 13th percentile. Audio from the built-in 2.0 speakers is similarly underwhelming, placing in the 33rd percentile, meaning you'll likely want a Bluetooth speaker for anything beyond voice replies. Gaming is a lost cause, scoring just 11.3 out of 100, and the connectivity, while Wi-Fi 6E is fast, the slightly below average overall performance (29th percentile) hints at hiccups under load. The smart home integration, supposedly a flagship feature, only manages a middling 28 out of 100 in our testing, which is disappointing for a device built around Alexa.

Stacked against the Sony BRAVIA 5, Hisense U7, Samsung QN85D, LG QNED, or TCL QM8K, the Echo Show 21 isn't even in the same game. Those are real 4K televisions with vibrant panels and room-filling sound, starting at similar prices. If you're shopping for a kitchen TV that can handle movie night or the big game, even a budget TCL model will crush this. The Echo Show 21 is better compared to other smart displays like the Echo Show 15, but in that arena, the larger screen is the only real upgrade. If you want a dedicated streaming screen for the kitchen, a Fire TV stick and a cheap monitor might be a smarter play.

At $350 to $479 depending on the deal, the Echo Show 21 is a tough sell when you can buy a 43-inch 4K TV that'll look and sound better for the same money. If you find it on the low end of that spread, around $350, it stings less, but you're still paying a premium for the Alexa integration and form factor. For a kitchen counter device that doubles as a smart hub, we expected much stronger performance, especially in smart home control, where it falls flat. It delivers convenience, not quality, and that's a hard trade-off at this price.

The Echo Show 21 is Amazon's biggest smart display yet, aiming to be your kitchen's all-in-one TV, digital assistant, and family organizer. It packs a 21-inch 1080p screen, Fire TV for streaming apps, Alexa voice control, and a 13MP camera into a device that's designed to sit on your counter. The idea is neat, but the execution at this price point leaves a lot to be desired. We found that for what it costs, you're making some serious sacrifices in picture quality and sound.

Rather than nail the basics, Amazon banked on the Alexa ecosystem and a large screen to win you over. And if you're deep into smart home routines or want a big display for video calls and recipe widgets, it might just work. But treat it like an actual TV for movies or sports, and the low-resolution panel and weak audio become hard to ignore. There's a gap between the promise and the delivery here, and it's bigger than the bezels on this thing.

Skip this if you care even a little about picture quality or immersive sound. It's not a real TV replacement, and for less money you can get a much better 4K screen that will outshine it in every way. If your kitchen needs a display mostly for recipes and timers, a $100 Echo Show 8 does the same job and leaves cash in your pocket.

The Echo Show 21 is for a narrow slice of shoppers: households fully bought into Alexa, who want a big, always-on display for kitchen organization and video chatting, and won't watch much beyond quick shows while cooking. If that's you, and you can stomach the mediocre picture and sound, it fits a niche. For everyone else, it's an overpriced, underpowered TV with a voice assistant bolted on.