Does Echo Show 15 Have Zigbee?

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?

The Echo Show 15 does not support the Zigbee protocol. The Echo Show 15 supports the Amazon Sidewalk mesh protocol. Older versions of the Amazon Echo support Zigbee. It’s also possible to get an external hub depending on the brand of Zigbee devices.

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?

Think of the Echo Show 15 as a window into your digital world. The Amazon Echo Show 15 utilizes Amazon’s digital personal assistant Alexa to manage, organize, and display any of the daily digital tasks you and your family have access to. Since Alexa can work with Zigbee, you might wonder, does the 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.

There are also other models of the Amazon Echo Smart Home Hub that support Zigbee. For the Echo Show 15, Amazon opted only to keep its proprietary Amazon Sidewalk mesh-network protocol to connect smart devices. 

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.

Which Amazon Echos have Zigbee Support Already Built-In?

The previous generations of Amazon Echo models included a Zigbee mesh network smart home hub built into the Echo itself. Amazon chose not to include one in the Echo Show 15 in favor of its proprietary Amazon Sidewalk protocol. However, if you enjoy the Amazon Echo user interface or the Echo suite of features, you can downgrade to an older version.

These Amazon Echos have Zigbee Support already built-in:

• Echo Plus (1st Generation)
• Echo Plus (2nd Generation)
• Echo Studio
• Echo (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.

What if I Want to Keep my Amazon Echo Show 15?

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.

Most of the gateways easily available on Amazon are for Zigbee devices made by Tuya, Smarter Living, and Treatlife. If your Zigbee devices are one one of those brands, you just have to:

• Purchase a brand-specific gateway from Amazon
• Connect the gateway to the WiFi-enabled network your Echo Show 15 is on
• Set up your Zigbee devices in your gateway
• Then your Echo Show 15 should be able to see and control your Zigbee-enabled devices

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

The top-selling Zigbee gateways, according to the top three brands sold by Amazon, Tuya, Smarter Living, and Treatlife, will be listed below. You just plug them into your WiFi router and set them up via their native smartphone apps.

Brand of Zigbee Device	Name	Rating	Price
Tuya	MOES Tuya Zigbee 3.0 Hub/Wired Gateway	4 stars	$39.99
Smarter Living	Smarter Living ZigBee Gateway Hub	4 stars	$49.99
Treatlife	TREATLIFE Zigbee Hub Gateway	4.5 stars	$32.99

These are just the top-selling brands of Zigbee device gateways available on Amazon. If you have another brand of Zigbee device, you can search if there is a gateway available for your specific 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.