TechInsights Teardown: Amazon Echo Show 15

Home assistants have come a long way since the inception of the original Amazon Echo as the first smart speaker for consumers in the home.

The first generation of Alexa-enabled assistants only had basic functions, such as broadcasting the news and weather and playing music. However, as technology evolved and more smart home devices came online, Amazon’s voice assistants were able to connect to these devices for control.

Other skills were developed to help smart home consumers do anything from connect to local radio or tell stories to children and everything in between.

Enter the Amazon Echo Show 15 with a 15.6 inch full HD smart display and 5 megapixel camera. It can power widgets to keep the family on track with shared calendars, personal sticky notes, to-do lists, shopping lists and much more.

Additionally, the Amazon Echo Show 15 can be used for entertainment options such as Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu and other streaming accounts, podcasts or audiobooks. This is in addition to performing the same functions as other Amazon voice assistants.

The smart home device is powered by Amlogic’s octa-core ARM Cortex multimedia processor and contains 1 GB of LPDDR4x SDRAM multichip memory from Samsung and additional 2 GB of mobile LPDDR4 SDRAM from Micron.

The following is a partial deep dive into the Amazon Echo Show 15 from TechInsights.

Summary points

• Octa-core processor
• 2 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
• Capacitive touchscreen

Target market: Consumer electronics

Released: December 2021

Pricing: $249.00

Availability: Worldwide

The main board of the Amazon Echo Show 15 includes the main process and memory for the smart home device. Source: TechInsights

Main board

The main board of the Amazon Echo Show 15 includes the main processing engines as well as main memory used to power the device including Amlogic’s Arm Cortex multimedia processor, Micron’s 2 GB of mobile LPDDR4 SDRAM and an additional 1 GB of LPDDR4x SDRAM from Samsung. Other components include:

• Power management devices from Rohm.
• A 250 mA LDO regulator from RichTek.
• Renesas’ 150 mA/3.0 V regulator.
• Texas Instruments’ single-bit bus transceiver.
• Programmable mixed signal array from Dialog Semiconductor.
• Bosch Sensortec’s three-axis MEMS accelerator.
• Step-down DC-DC converters from Monolithic Power Systems.
• 15 GB 3D TLC NAND flash multichip memory from Kioxia.

(Learn more about DRAM memory on Globalspec.com)

The power board contains the components necessary for power management of the Amazon Echo Show 15. Source: TechInsights

Power board

The power board is the necessary component needed to power the Amazon Echo Show 15. It includes numerous components for power generation including the Texas Instruments’ 23 W Class-D audio power amplifier and the TI single differential comparator and 31 V voltage supervisor.

(Learn more about power management ICs on Globalspec.com)

The microphone board includes the MEMS devices needed to communicate with the Alexa powered device as well as communicate with others. Source: TechInsights

Microphone board

The microphone board is the main point of interaction between the users and the Alexa-powered device as well as the ability to make calls. The main components include two MEMS microphones from Knowles.

(Learn more about MEMS on Globalspec.com)

The overall components of the Amazon Echo Show 15 that includes the camera, microphone, power board, main board and other subsystems. Source: TechInsights

Manufacturing cost breakdown

• $153.13 — Display subsystem
• $71.59 — Integrated circuits
• $25.73 — Non-electric parts
• $17.01 — Other subsystems
• $12.99 — Modules, discretes and connectors
• $8.25 — Camera subsystem
• $8.22 — Final assembly and test
• $5.69 — Substrates
• $4.41 — Component insertion
• $2.12 — Card test