Amazon's Echo Show 5 smart display takes on the Google Nest Hub with a smaller screen

From CNET: Amazon didn't wait long after Google announced the Nest Hub Max at its May developer conference to introduce its latest smart display, the $90 Echo Show 5.

But unlike the 10-inch Hub Max -- a direct competitor to the 10-inch second-gen Echo Show -- the Echo Show 5 is aimed at the entry level side of the smart display category. With a 5.5-inch display, the Echo Show 5 is smaller than the Echo Show, but only slightly smaller than the the seven-inch screen on the Google Nest Hub (formerly the Google Home Hub), the popular smart display Google released last fall.

An even smaller Google Assistant-based display called the Lenovo Smart Alarm Clock debuted at CES 2019 with a four-inch touchscreen, and is expected to hit the stores this spring for $80. The Echo Show 5 appears to want to split the difference between that product, and the larger Nest Hub.

Like Amazon's other smart displays, the Echo Show 5 has a built-in camera, but this time the tech giant included a camera shutter that's integrated into the hardware, as well as a separate, dedicated camera and microphone off-button.

Amazon also says it has added a privacy-oriented feature wherein you can say "Alexa, delete everything I said today," and it will purge the audio recordings of your Alexa conversations from Amazon's servers. This comes after reports that Amazon holds onto text recordings of your voice conversations with Alexa, even after you've deleted those audio clips. A US senator has asked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for more information about its privacy policies, including how it stores information.

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