In today’s technological landscape, every device is connected to the internet, from your light switch and light bulbs to your toaster. At the very least, if you have a voice-activated toaster that is now on the grid, you should at least be able to have it connected to that grid via the easiest way to connect devices possible, right?
Many smart home devices are capable of connecting themselves to your WiFi network with their integrated WiFi bridges already built into their circuitry. However, smaller intelligent home devices that require low power, such as battery-powered devices like door or window sensors, tend to use Zigbee to reduce the power consumption used by WiFi.
Does Echo Show 15 Have Zigbee?
The Echo Show 15 does not support Zigbee. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use your Echo Show 15 with your Zigbee-enabled devices. You can connect your Zigbee devices through Zigbee Certified hubs that will connect to your Echo Show 15.
If you are dead set on using the Echo Show 15 and its large 15” inch display, you will need an external Zigbee Certified hub that works with Alexa.
- Echo Plus (1st Generation)Echo Plus (2nd Generation)Echo StudioEcho (4th Generation) Echo Show 10 (3rd Generation)
The older models are just as feature-rich as the Echo Show 15. The real benefit to the Echo Show 15 is that it is meant to be mounted on the wall instead of on a rotatable surface mount.
The other difference is the 15” inch screen that gives the Echo Show 15 its numeric designation. An older model may suffice if screen size and location aren’t as important as Zigbee.
If you decide you want to keep your Echo Show 15 for its bigger screen and wall-mounted goodness, you have options, but it depends on your equipment. You can purchase an external Zigbee Certified Gateway that will allow you to connect your devices to your network and allow the Echo Show 15 to control them. However, it is all dependent on the brand.
A Zigbee gateway is little more than an antenna for the specific Zigbee protocol that allows your network and the Zigbee devices to speak the same language. There are a few options depending on the brand of your Zigbee devices.
Top Selling Zigbee Gateways By Brand
If not, then you may need to either downgrade from an Echo Show 15 or decide on a different smart home hub that has a Zigbee hub built in.
Conclusion
Even though the Echo Show 15 doesn’t have Zigbee support natively, it does have an intuitive UI and a large screen. If you can find a gateway that can control your Zigbee products, it would make a great smart home hub.
