The kid's edition Echo Show 5 in the galaxy color looks pretty snazzy and colorful, perfect for a kids room or even in the living room but easily identifiable as a kids device. Unlike some other Amazon kids specific items, this is not ruggedized or wrapped with a protective case but still looks pretty solid. Looking straight on at the 5" screen, it really looks like a normal Echo Show. Setup is pretty straightforward to connect to your Amazon account and link kid's profiles. Then you're up and running.

With my children being preschool and elementary school age, they mostly used the Echo Show the same way they use a normal Echo speaker. There's a lot of song playing, asking questions like "what's the largest number" or "what's the fastest animal". For that, the response is about the same as they get, except with kid specific assistant voices. Music playback is pretty good, maybe even better than our existing Echo speakers and the Show has a feature that I found the kids making use of - the easy to see/touch/identify volume buttons. They're now more likely to just go manually raise or lower the volume versus interrupting mustic playback to ask the device to do it.

Where to place the Echo Show was a difficult decision. We felt in the kids bedroom might be good, due to the number of skills that are applicable like brushing teeth, reading/hearing stories, or potty training for example. The downside is having a screen or even just a speaker they can interact with makes actually progressing bedtime difficult or getting them out of the room for breakfast. So the call was made to locate in the family room. Even though we could set parental controls on timing that the device could be used, we preferred to avoid the distraction.

The Show 5 did a good job recognizing the kid's voices from across the room. Honestly, this was just as good as a normal speaker so no difference in performance. Some skills make use of the screen, but a lot pretty much just put up text which works for our older kid buf effectively makes little difference for the younger ones. Their biggest difference with the kid's edition of the Show 5 is album art for their favorite songs. One thing the kids noticed is the lag when starting a skill or switching skills. On the speaker, we're used to it "thinking". With a screen, the lag or lack of progress is much more noticeable.

There's a boatload of skills for Echo devices in general and even limiting oneself to "kids" skills, there's still a lot. Unlike with a normal Echo, discovery of some skills is easy going through the touchscreen. But often, my kids only really found a skill by accident. They'd ask for something related to a TV show they've watched or something they've heard about from other kids and there might be a similar enough skill that activates. Often, trying new things involves parents to look stuff up online or to remember some random skill the kids found that they liked so you could initiate it for them a day or two later from a very incomplete description of what they remember. While I had concerns about the screen size, the kids enjoyed Netflix once we enabled it on the Show 5. While they didn't have any complaints, having battery so that this can be portable or heck, even just stay powered up and operational while moving from one place to another would be useful. While acting as a screen enabled speaker worked ok for being centrally located in the living room, video playback would be better if we could move it to a more sound isolated room or area. Unfortunately, the Echo continues to not use something more standard like USB-C or micro USB which prevents taking advantage of the various chargers we have scattered throughout the house.

I think the Echo Show 5 can be a good kids device. Perhaps better geared towards a slighly older more independent set, maybe 1st or 2nd grade on to have users who'd use it in a way that goes beyond a normal Echo speaker. The Amazon kids feature is certainly useful though I wonder how much is truly worthwhile versus what I can configure on a normal speaker once the 1 year free trial is over. It certainly seems to fill a gap but at the same time, that gap seems relatively small. Given a choice between the Show and their kid's Fire tablets, they'll choose the tablets every time. So with the Show 5 not specifically being located somewhere their tablets won't go, it doesn't really act as a specific kid device but a generally available smart speaker that occasionally plays videos or has some cool animation to go along with a game skill.

My kids have grown up with smart devices and my son, who just turned 8, has been asking for a smart speaker for his room. The Amazon Echo Show 5 Kids is the only smart device I have found that fits this purpose. And I'm not talking about the cool design, Amazon have customized the software, added parental controls, include a Kids+ subscription, and have privacy features like a physical camera privacy cover. So was willing to give this a go for my son. Setup was easish, it's all done on device and took about 5-7min. There's more re-entering of the password than I remembered with my other Amazon devices, but I think this makes sense as one of the privacy and parental control features is some changes are locked behind password authentication. I appreciate Amazon's focus on parental controls and restrictions, as you don't want your kid to unlock it to a full Amazon Echo until you're confident that they are ready (at least 13+ years of age). What I love about the Echo Show Kids is it seems a little more fun and whimsical than the standard Echo, it gives random trivia and the Amazon Kids+ subscription is amazing (worth the price of the device alone). Even better it unlocks 1 year of Amazon Kids+ everywhere you have Amazon, so it's super awesome. One of the things I wasn't sure about was whether there would be enough age appropriate content for an 8 year old. For some reason, I thought it was more toddler content but that's not the case. Kids+ content sits in ranges up 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. There's also a great dashboard available on the Amazon website so you can see what content your kids are using on the Echo Show Kids. This part is honestly the best as you can set time limits on use of games and videos, require completing of educational content before the can play games, etc. I know some parents might not like this and think it's a bit invasive, but compared to the alternatives - it's really the best there is. It's better than letting your kids have their own phone or iPad, and you know the content has been checked by Amazon. I can honestly see us renewing the Kids+ subscription for a few years. Overall, impressed and would recommend.

The Amazon Echo Show 5 is designed for kids and is another solid entry into the Amazon smart video speaker family, with the usual drawbacks.

The design itself is cool, with a space theme and variety of colors that should offer universal appeal and fit with decor in most kids' rooms.

The box comes with the 'instructions' pamphlet, the speaker and a plug. As any "Amazon Parent" already knows, most of the set up and permissions for kids are actually done through Amazon. It's easy enough, though the password for parental permissions gets ridiculously tricky (I've had devices lock before due to not remembering the password and having a really hard time trying to reset it).

The screen is bright and clear, though it's on the small side so it can be hard to see from farther away. The games designed for kids by Amazon are pretty fun, though can be a little repetitive (which kids don't seem to mind, but can drive parents a little crazy haha). There are cool learning games available and my daughter has had a fun time interacting with many of them.

The usual caveats with Amazon's 'smart' video speakers continue to be a slight issue with this device, unfortunately. The screen isn't always responsive to touch, and can be very frustrating when trying to navigate, especially for a child with very little patience. My daughter also has a slight lisp so the speaker doesn't always understand her--and at times it doesn't understand me, either. I will say it has understood some complicated things with no issues, then gets confused on things that seem easy. These issues don't come up that often, though, so a little patience goes a long way. Amazon's web search for answers to questions is hit-or-miss, but that's always been true.

The sound is good, though not quite as good as the dedicated speakers Amazon makes (which is to be expected). Video playback is typically excellent from what I've seen so far, but of course there are a lot of outside factors that affect this so your mileage may vary.

It's a very effective alarm clock and timer, and comes in handy for homework, too! Overall my daughter is very excited about using it and can sometimes get very wrapped up in games or just listening to music.

For kids it's excellent, and offers a wide variety of parental controls through Amazon that should keep you feeling secure that your child is safe while using it.

The Amazon - Echo Show 5 Kids (3rd Generation) 5.5 inch Smart Display with Alexa – Galaxy produces the entertainment and fun that tablets or cell phones usually provide. I got the Echo Show up and running in no time, with no problems created. After submitting my Amazon username and password, I merely had to connect my internet and then accept or decline features. Services can be added and settings can be changed anytime. I was instructed to install the Alexa and Amazon Kids+ apps for better use of the Echo Show 5. On the home screen, there is a pull down screen that includes settings, brightness, notifications, alarms, communicate, music, Amazon Kids, and videos. Tapping Amazon Kids goes to four topics to choose from which are Stories, Skills, Videos, and Music. Stories are books read aloud with audible. Skills go to a knowledge based concept of life lessons that educate children about history, science, language, games and much more. Videos give recommended cartoon videos. My Grandson loves watching Daniel Tiger and Paw Patrol. Music streams songs from iHeart Radio Family Kids Club. As part of my grandsons Amazon Kids+ subscription the Amazon kids + app allows on the go Read books play games watch videos with a mobile device. Amazon - Echo Show 5 Kids also allows for Drop in calling whereby my Grandson can have family and approved friends contact him through text messaging or video calling. My grandson is kept occupied all day with his new “toy” that never stops giving him the content for mental growth and exploration. The Amazon - Echo Show 5 Kids (3rd Generation) 5.5 inch Smart Display with Alexa – Galaxy is a necessary device to help children learn about the world past and present.