Amazon is breaking the one thing that mattered with the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition

It's the end of subscription fees, but not in a good way.

Amazon is breaking the one thing that mattered with the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition
  • Amazon’s Echo Show 8 Photos Edition is losing its digital picture frame mode.
  • After September 23, the smart display will basically just be a normal Echo Show 8.
  • Owners will retain access to their 25GB of Amazon Photos storage.

Digital photo frames were some of the first non-TV screens to really find purchase in our living spaces, and while a single-purpose device like that feels a bit quaint in 2024, we still enjoy viewing pics saved in the cloud with Photo Frame on a Google Nest display. That’s far from your only option, though, and just last fall, Amazon introduced its Echo Show 8 Photos Edition, a “photo-forward” special edition of the company’s smart display. Now, less than a year later, Amazon is letting owners know about a big change that’s about to seriously impact functionality.

Amazon debuted the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition last September, priced $10 more than the regular $150 Echo Show 8. The main hook for the Photos Edition was that its ambient screen would display pictures you’ve saved to the 25GB of Amazon Photos storage that came with it. Not only did it cost more out of the box, but you’d need to subscribe to Amazon’s PhotosPlus service to continue using it as a digital picture frame — the first six months were free with purchase, and it cost $2 a month after that.