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Smart displays have come a long way since Amazon introduced the first Echo Show back in 2017. In fact, it wasn’t until Google entered the market with its own hardware offering about a year later that the category really took off. Now, these two companies essentially corner the smart display market, each offering their own screen-equipped smart assistant.
It’s this screen that makes smart displays so much more useful than smart speakers. For example, you can ask your voice assistant to not only read out the current weather forecast, but also see a five-day forecast. The same goes for asking about your shopping list or calendar. It’s easier to read the whole list or your schedule for the day at a glance. Plus, touchscreens offer other benefits that speakers can’t, like watching videos or seeing who’s at the door via webcam. We’ve tested and used a lot of smart displays over the years, and below is our picks for the best smart displays available today.
Best Smart Displays for 2024
Read the full story Google Nest Hub (2nd gen) review
Recommended smart displays with Google Assistant 2nd Generation Google Nest HubIts 7-inch size fits well in many rooms, and its understated design and soft fabric exterior blend nicely with most home décor. It has all the features most people would want in a smart display, including the ability to play YouTube videos, provide step-by-step cooking instructions, offer convenient smart home controls, and even check in on your Nest security cameras, if you have one.
In fact, the Nest Hub is especially useful as part of a security system for your home. Nest Video DoorbellThe screen will display camera footage that shows you who’s at the door, letting you know straight away, and the ambient light sensor will detect the brightness and color temperature of your surroundings and adjust the screen accordingly. You can even place it next to your bed to track your sleep patterns.
Another feature of the Nest Hub is that it doesn’t actually have a camera. It doesn’t have a camera. This gives you that extra bit of privacy that many of us crave, and it’s great for personal spaces like bedrooms. Of course, you can hide the camera with a shutter, but the Nest Hub doesn’t forget about it.
We can’t leave without mentioning the Google Pixel Tablet here. This is a tablet that doubles as a smart display when used with a charging dock. The set costs $420, which isn’t bad since you get two devices in one, but it’s pricey if you’re only looking for a smart display. If that sounds like you, you’re better off buying the Nest Hub (and saving that extra cost).
- Improved sound quality
- Faster performance when handling voice requests
- Easy-to-use on-screen interface
- Google Assistant improvements
- The sleep sensor is a bit suspicious
Read the full story Google Nest Hub Max review
If you like Google but miss the lack of a camera for video calls, or if you want a bigger screen, Google Nest Hub MaxA 10-inch screen instead of a 7-inch one is very convenient for watching videos on YouTube or YouTube TV, especially in the kitchen, where it acts like a portable TV and lets you see cooking instructions at a glance. A larger display also means a larger photo frame, which some people may prefer.
As mentioned above, the Nest Hub Max adds a camera. There’s no physical shutter, which is a bit worrying, but you can turn it off with an electronic switch. The camera can be used for video calls with the Google Duo service or Zoom, and it also doubles as a Nest Cam to help monitor your home while you’re away. Another benefit of the camera is the addition of Face Match facial recognition for authentication, which I found to be a bit more accurate than using Voice Match alone.
Finally, the Nest Hub Max’s camera adds a unique gesture feature that lets you play or pause your media just by waving your hand over the screen. This hands-free control option isn’t strictly necessary, but it can be useful in noisy environments when you want to stop the music without having to alert everyone. Or maybe you’re cooking and your hands are dirty and you don’t want to smudge the display.
- Beautiful 10-inch display
- Great sound quality
- The face matching feature is personalized and convenient
- Can also be used as a Nest Cam
- Large footprint
- Expensive
Our favorite Amazon smart displays are the latest Echo Show 8The 8-inch screen is just the right size and doesn’t take up as much space as the Echo Show 10’s larger screen, but it’s better for watching videos than the smaller Echo Show. Echo Show 5Like other Amazon smart displays, it has a built-in camera, but it has a physical camera cover to alleviate privacy concerns.
The Amazon Echo Show 8 is an attractive choice if you want to use your smart display for video calling. Not only is the 13MP camera quality impressive, but the Show 8 has the ability to automatically frame your face and follow your movements during video calls. This is handy if you want to move around while chatting, or if you want to include energetic kids or pets running around the house in the conversation. With the Echo Show 8, you can call between other Echo Show displays, or via Skype or Zoom.
Like other smart displays, the Echo Show 8 can double as a digital photo frame, check the news, check the weather, and control smart home devices. If you use the smart display to play music, we also really like the sound quality of the Echo Show 8, with its deep bass and rich tone. The latest model also includes support for Visual ID, which uses facial recognition to identify who is using the machine and customize the on-screen information for them, as well as a built-in Zigbee smart home hub.
- The 8-inch screen combines a compact design with a robust display.
- Improved 13MP camera with visual ID
- Improved sound quality
- Physical Camera Shutter
- Screen resolution up to 1280 x 800p
It only has a 5.5-inch screen, Echo Show 5 is one of the smallest smart displays on the market, and it fits right in on your desk or nightstand. In fact, one of the reasons we love the Echo Show 5 so much is that it doubles as a great smart alarm clock. An ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the screen brightness, and there’s a tap-to-snooze feature so you can smack the top of the screen and get a few extra minutes of sleep. It even has a sunrise alarm that gently wakes you up by gradually brightening the screen.
The Echo Show 5 does have a camera, which might be a bit unsettling for anyone especially sensitive about privacy, especially if it’s a bedside device, but the physical camera cover helps ease any fears.
- Compact design
- Built-in ambient light sensor
- Convenient sunrise alarm function
- Sound quality isn’t as good as the larger Echo Show
Read the full story Amazon Echo Show 15 review
Something unique Echo Show 15With its 15.6-inch touchscreen and wall-mounted design, the Show 15 is reminiscent of the small TVs many parents had in their kitchens back in the day. In fact, Amazon is promoting the Show 15 as the best smart display for the kitchen, as the kitchen is one of the central rooms in the home. This smart display comes with features like visual ID, widgets, and built-in Fire TV software for the whole family.
Similar to Google’s Face Match, Visual ID uses facial recognition to identify family members and surface information relevant to you. You can also leave notes for other people in your home, which the Show 15 will display when they walk by. Widgets are customizable pieces of information on the touchscreen, like a calendar with events, sticky notes, weather forecasts and more. One native widget even brings your security camera feed to you with a tap.
But perhaps one of the best ways to make the most of the Echo Show 15’s big screen is to watch videos. The display’s 1,920 x 1,080 resolution is better than any Echo Show, and with Fire TV software built in, you can use the Show 15 as a mini TV to stream Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, YouTube, and of course Prime Video. That alone could make it the most passively used smart display in your home, if you have the space.
- The 15.6-inch screen is perfect for watching videos.
- Wall-mounted (also available for tabletop installation with optional accessories)
- It has Fire TV software built in and can be used as a mini TV.
- The camera for video chats is not great
What to consider before buying a smart display
Amazon vs. Google voice assistant
The first thing to consider when looking for the best smart display for you is whether you prefer the Amazon or Google ecosystem. If you have a lot of Google smart devices in your home, like a Nest thermostat or security cameras, or if you use a Google Pixel phone on a daily basis, a Google-powered model might make more sense. If you have Amazon products like a Fire TV Stick or Ring cam, Amazon is clearly the better choice in terms of compatibility. Of course, it’s perfectly fine to have competitors’ products in the same home, but understand that they won’t work together seamlessly right away.
Beyond that, the two systems also have their own unique features. Google’s, for example, is a great choice if you have an existing Google account and use services like Calendar and Photos. We particularly like Google’s Smart Display, as it doubles as a great digital photo frame. You can set it to automatically pull in photos of friends and family from your Google Photos library, and the algorithm is smart enough to use what it thinks are the best shots, so you’re less likely to see blurry photos or images with half-closed eyes, for example. However, while you can use Amazon’s display as a digital photo frame, the process isn’t as intuitive as Google’s, and Amazon doesn’t have anything that can match Google’s photo-classification algorithms.
It may seem like a small thing, but since the display is on standby 90 percent of the time, the secondary function as a digital photo frame is much appreciated. All Google smart displays also support all the usual Google Assistant features, including YouTube and YouTube TV, step-by-step cooking instructions, and weather forecasts. Like the Assistant on your phone, it also has voice recognition, so your calendar events are visible only to you and not to anyone else.
Amazon’s smart displays, on the other hand, are a bit different. Instead of YouTube, they offer alternative video streaming options like Amazon Prime, NBC, and Hulu. They also come with two browsers (Silk and Firefox) that you can use to search the web and watch YouTube videos. Since there’s no dedicated app, this is a very handy workaround. Amazon devices also provide step-by-step cooking instructions, thanks to integrations with sources like SideChef and AllRecipes. The cooking instructions may also include short video clips.