By Nena Farrell and Signe Brewster
If your phone lives on your kitchen counter and tends to get splattered with sauce, or you just want an easier way to view photos or control smart devices, try a smart display—a mashup of a smart speaker and a tablet. A smart display is great for streaming music and video or answering questions about the weather. And it’s equally great for calling up recipes that you can follow hands-free. We like the Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) and the Google Nest Hub Max. Choose either model, based on your needs or your preference for Alexa or Google Assistant.
Everything we recommend
Top pick
Great sound, a crisp screen, access to video services, convenient smart-home control, and a 13-megapixel camera make the Show 8 (2nd Gen) especially well-rounded.
Buying Options
Top pick
Cooks and heavy Google app users who want to access Google Assistant via a screen will love this display, which is well integrated with Google Calendar and Photos.
Also great
This pint-size version of the Echo Show is perfect for catching a weather report and playing tunes while you get ready in the morning.
Buying Options
Also great
This mini smart display has the same abilities as larger Google Assistant–enabled models, minus a built-in camera (which may be a comfort for privacy seekers).
Things to consider
- Display size matters
A five-inch screen is ideal for nightstands and bathroom counters. For kitchens or offices opt for eight-inches or larger to aid distance viewing.
- Privacy options
Smart displays let you turn off the camera and mute the microphone. We prefer models with a physical shutter.
- Audio quality
While they can’t compete with higher-end speakers, smart displays should still fill the room they live in with clear audio.
- Camera resolution
To ensure video calls are crisp and high quality, select a smart display with a high megapixel camera. Our picks range from two to 13 megapixels.
Top pick
Great sound, a crisp screen, access to video services, convenient smart-home control, and a 13-megapixel camera make the Show 8 (2nd Gen) especially well-rounded.
Buying Options
The Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) is easy to interact with, whether by voice or touch, thanks to its excellent on-screen menus and Alexa’s always-impressive conversational chops. Alexa-enabled Skills (Amazon’s term for the apps you control using voice) make the Show 8 compatible with the widest range of music services, smart-home devices, games, and entertaining features (like Jeopardy! trivia) of any smart-display ecosystem. It’s especially suited to engaging in video calls using Alexa’s built-in system—and now also Zoom—thanks to a 13-megapixel camera and special software that keeps you centered in the screen even when you move around. The Show 8 (2nd Gen)’s speaker produces clear audio and is powerful enough to fill a room. And its 8-inch touch display is big enough for comfortably viewing video from streaming services including Prime Video, Hulu, Netflix, and even YouTube (via Alexa’s built-in web browser, Amazon Silk).
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTTop pick
Cooks and heavy Google app users who want to access Google Assistant via a screen will love this display, which is well integrated with Google Calendar and Photos.
The Google Assistant–enabled Google Nest Hub Max is a handy digital assistant for streaming audio and video. And thanks to its integration with Google, the Nest Hub Max seamlessly reminds you of upcoming Google Calendar appointments and transforms into an attractive, 10-inch digital photo frame of images (streamed directly from your Google Photos account). In our tests the Nest Hub Max excelled at verbally walking us through recipes, without forcing us to smudge its large, crisp screen with our ingredients-sullied hands. It also plays music and allows control of smart-home devices, though not as comprehensively as the Echo Show 8.
Also great
This pint-size version of the Echo Show is perfect for catching a weather report and playing tunes while you get ready in the morning.
Buying Options
The Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) does everything the larger Echo Shows can do. But it has a smaller, 5½-inch screen, which makes it fit nicely on a nightstand or a bathroom counter. The Show 5’s screen adjusts to the room’s lighting, so it doesn’t keep you up at night.
Also great
This mini smart display has the same abilities as larger Google Assistant–enabled models, minus a built-in camera (which may be a comfort for privacy seekers).
We recommend the Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) (formerly the Google Home Hub) if you want a smart display but don’t need or want a built-in camera. At 7 inches, it’s a little larger than the Echo Show 5, but it’s still the right size for a bedroom or other space where a small screen feels less intrusive. The latest model includes sensors to track your sleep, which may be useful for people who have trouble catching z’s.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe research
- Why you should trust us
- Who this is for
- How we picked and tested
- Our pick for Alexa users: Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen)
- Our pick for Google Assistant users: Google Nest Hub Max
- Also great: Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen)
- Also great: Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen)
- Other good smart displays
- What to look forward to
- The competition
- Sources
Why you should trust us
Signe Brewster spent the past seven years writing about the future of technology, including how connected technology could transform homes and lives. She’s also a skeptic: Although she owns an Amazon Echo smart speaker and three cloud-connected security cameras, Signe has been picky about what types of technology she allows into her home. She’s interested only in devices that will truly improve her day, not in novelties.
Nena Farrell started writing about smart-home gadgets and technology in 2016. She originally wrote about smart-home gear for Sunset magazine, focusing on things that would easily improve the lives of readers without requiring them to be tech-savvy. Even though she’s tried and tested dozens of things over the years, only a few smart-home devices have made the cut to be part of her permanent lifestyle.
Who this is for
A smart display combines a voice-controlled speaker with a touchscreen and sits on a counter, desk, or side table. Like a regular smart speaker, a smart display is always listening for commands or queries issued via its wake word (by default “Alexa” or “Hey, Google”). So this makes it easy to casually get sports updates, watch photo slideshows, receive calendar alerts, and more, depending on how you customize the display. A smart display can also do all the same tasks as a screenless, voice-controlled speaker (like an Amazon Echo Dot or a Google Mini). These tasks include allowing voice control of smart devices; streaming music, podcasts, and radio stations; alerting you to upcoming weather and events on your calendar; building grocery lists; and playing games. A smart display also answers simple questions, like how to convert from cups to tablespoons or the number of ounces in a jigger. We’ve found that recipe-focused home cooks particularly relish being able to summon the nearly infinite variety of recipes online with a simple spoken request, to have recipes read aloud to them, and to save a recipe to a collection for future use.
Because you are able to use voice commands to perform so many functions, smart speakers and smart displays may be of real benefit to some people who have mobility or accessibility concerns. They also make video calling potentially more streamlined than using a smartphone, laptop, or tablet.
The first decision you need to make when picking a smart display is whether you prefer the Amazon or Google ecosystem of apps and services. Some apps, streaming services, and smart-home devices may be exclusive to either Alexa or Google Assistant, so it’s important to consider what you already own or plan to purchase down the line. (For more on that, read about our favorite smart-home devices to pair with an Alexa speaker and with Google Assistant.)
![A flow chart illustration helping readers determine which of our favorite smart displays would be best for them, depending on their preferred voice assistant, ideal uses, and location of device.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2021/05/20210422_smart_display_flow.png?auto=webp&quality=60&width=570)
In our testing we found that Alexa smart displays are generally better for managing smart homes and watching videos, and Google Assistant models are better attuned to performing cooking tasks and using Google’s suite of apps (such as Calendar and Photos). We liked speaking with Google Assistant more than conversing with Alexa because you can use more-natural language to ask Google Assistant questions, instead of having to hit the precise formula of words that Alexa recognizes. We also appreciated that the Google Assistant models displayed our question at the top of the screen, so we could easily tell when Google had misunderstood us. Overall, though, Google Assistant and Alexa were able to hear and respond similarly to most simple questions (such as “How many tablespoons in a cup?” and “What’s the weather?”).
No matter which assistant you prefer, we think you should buy a smart display only if you plan to use it for at least a few of the following features (otherwise, just get a smart speaker):
- Following recipes hands-free: A display can show recipes and read the ingredients and cooking steps aloud, so you never have to worry about smearing the screen. We liked using a smart display in place of scrolling down a phone screen. However, we did find ourselves missing the beautiful pictures that cookbooks and recipe websites often include; the recipes served up on the smart displays are stark text on a solid background. Remember that you’ll still have to keep our recommended devices clear of splash-prone areas.
- Managing smart-home devices and cameras: A smart display can serve as a convenient hub for controlling security cameras, lights, and speakers around your home. It’s especially useful if you have a lot of cameras in your home—you may be able to pull up a livestream of the front door or an infant’s crib, for example, or any other spot where you have compatible cameras installed.
- Watching videos: Depending on the display, you can download apps (such as for Hulu or YouTube) to turn your smart display into a small television.
- Displaying photos: Most smart displays have a screensaver mode that shows photos you’ve uploaded, turning the screen into a digital photo frame. If you’ve ever considered purchasing a digital photo frame, a smart display gives you lots of extra features for just a bit more money. Less tech-savvy owners might like that relatives can add new photos remotely.
- Video chatting: Depending on a smart display’s brand, you can use it to place video calls to other owners via the Alexa app or Google Duo and Meet. Alexa display can also join Zoom calls through calendar invites (though for this to work, you’ll need to first give your display access to your calendar via its app). A smart device is a nice, hands-free alternative to using a laptop or a tiny phone screen. It’s also an interesting option for, say, checking on an infant or an elderly parent who doesn’t know how to pull up Skype on a computer. However, if you don’t already do a lot of video chatting, a smart display isn’t likely to persuade you to start (and we were surprised to learn how limited the calling options are for some devices).
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTHow we picked and tested
![Six smart displays tested for this review.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2021/05/smartdisplays-2048px-1229.jpg?auto=webp&quality=75&width=1024)
We read reviews from websites such as PCMag, CNET, and Wired, plus owner ratings on Amazon and Best Buy’s site, and from there we picked the best-reviewed and most-popular smart displays. We looked specifically for displays that were compatible with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant and had the following features:
- Privacy options: We reached out to companies about their policies on collecting information from the owners of smart displays, and we did our best to confirm that those policies weren’t more invasive than what’s standard for the industry. Being able to turn off a display’s camera and microphone is a plus.
- The right-size display for the job: You’re buying a smart display for its screen, and the right size for you will vary depending on where you want to place it; 5-inch displays are great for areas like bedrooms and bathrooms. And screens that are at least 8 inches are helpful for kitchens and offices, where you’re reading recipes or joining group video calls.
- Alternatively, a small-but-readable screen for bedrooms: When you don’t want a display to change the feel of a room, a small screen that’s still easy to read can be a better fit. It should automatically dim itself when you turn out the lights, too.
- A powerful speaker: A smart display should be able to fill a room with music. None of them can compete with the bass or clarity of high-end speakers. But the speakers on your smart display should be brawny enough to keep you company while you cook or read a book.
- A decent camera (depending on location): Though a better camera makes for better video chatting, we found that one-megapixel resolution provides a solid enough experience for most users. However, we don’t recommend having a smart display with a camera in the bedroom, unless it has a camera shutter—otherwise you risk a potentially disastrous accidental video call.
- Style: Although we didn’t find any smart display to be especially handsome, we appreciated options that looked sleek and weren’t too clunky.
We timed how long it took to set up each smart display and link it to an iPhone app. We also noted how well the display walked us through the setup process, and compared the various capabilities of the Alexa and Google Home apps. To gauge sound quality, we had each unit stream multimedia from a number of services and also tested video calling. When possible, we also linked displays to an Arlo Q or Arlo Pro camera to view a livestream.
On a more subjective level, we took into consideration how well each smart display supported interaction by voice, gesture control, and on-screen touch. We also considered how often we turned to the smart displays instead of to a screenless Amazon Echo smart speaker (also installed in our test home). In addition, to experience the displays’ ability to make recipe-based cooking more convenient, we baked cookies following the hands-free recipes (and we also realized just how easy it was to splatter these screens with something like sauce when you place them on a kitchen counter).
Wirecutter takes security and privacy issues seriously and investigates as much as possible how the companies we recommend deal with customer data. As part of our vetting process for these smart displays, we examined the security and data-privacy practices behind our picks. (In future guides, we’ll note in Flaws but not dealbreakers sections any issues that may affect a purchase decision.)
Our pick for Alexa users: Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen)
![The best smart screen for Alexa users, the Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen).](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2021/05/smartdisplaysupdate-2048px-0S1A8243-1.jpg?auto=webp&quality=75&width=1024)
Top pick
Great sound, a crisp screen, access to video services, convenient smart-home control, and a 13-megapixel camera make the Show 8 (2nd Gen) especially well-rounded.
Buying Options
The Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) packs an updated Alexa experience in a sleek setup—and Alexa provides access to a much wider range of apps and services than Google Nest devices. The Show 8 has an 8-inch HD screen, a reasonably powerful speaker, and a new 13-megapixel camera with a privacy cover (for those moments you want to be sure you aren’t being watched). The Show 8 (2nd Gen) also works with the popular video chat/conference platform Zoom, and in our testing we were able to easily join a video meeting through a calendar invite or by telling Alexa the meeting ID number.
Once you set up the Show 8 (2nd Gen) and its companion Alexa app on your phone (which took us only a couple of minutes—in a previously non-Alexa home), it can become a hub for your household. You can use voice commands to view the family’s calendar, flip through streams from your connected security cameras, add and delete items from shopping or to-do lists, and pump music through a room. Thanks to the Show 8 (2nd Gen)’s powerful speaker and convenient size, it quickly became our smart speaker of choice.
In our previous tests of Echo Show devices, we found that the on-screen menus and options weren’t as developed as on other platforms. But we think the latest Echo screen experience actually makes the 8-inch version preferable. Plus, the Show 8 (2nd Gen)’s slightly smaller screen makes it ideal to place anywhere in your home, whether that’s on a well-trafficked kitchen counter, a console table, or a desk.
![The camera and control buttons on top of the Amazon Echo Show 8.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2021/05/smartdisplaysupdate-2048px-0S1A8245.jpg?auto=webp&quality=75&width=1024)
The Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) uses Alexa as its brain. This allows you to add any of the 80,000-plus available Skills (as of early 2021, in the US specifically) to the display through the Alexa app (think anything from turning on your Xbox One to ordering Domino’s pizza). Like other Alexa devices, the Show 8 has the broadest smart-home-device compatibility of any smart display. Both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are compatible with Philips Hue bulbs, the SmartThings hub, Nest thermostats, Sonos speakers, and Roomba vacuums. But the Show 8 (2nd Gen) also works with the Honeywell Home Lyric thermostat, Rachio and Garageio devices, and D-Link smart plugs. (You can search an official list of Alexa-compatible devices, as well as a corresponding list of devices for Google Assistant.)
As with previous generations of Show devices, you have access to a variety of media options. For music there are popular services such as Spotify Premium, TuneIn, and Pandora (the same services available for the Nest Hub Max). Though you can’t access Google Play or the free version of Spotify, you can stream audio from both Amazon Music and Apple Music (but you’ll need to log in to link up the latter). Alexa devices also allow you to access a lot more streaming video services—including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and even YouTube, though the last is available only via Alexa’s web browser, Amazon Silk. In testing we got the most mileage out of the Show 8 (2nd Gen) when we set it on a desk to watch, say, episodes of Taskmaster on YouTube. Alexa accurately found the correct seasons when we requested them by voice, but you have to select an episode by hand from the web page to watch, in contrast to the immediate playback that happens with native streaming apps.
The Show’s speaker is powerful enough to fill a 120-square-foot room with loud but undistorted music. To our amateur ears, we could detect more bass sound than we did on the Nest Hub Max. To get a whole house of sound, you can link the display up with other Echo, Sonos, and select third-party smart speakers. The Show 8 also did a good job of listening; we were able to speak in a normal voice and have Alexa respond from about 15 feet away, and it could usually hear us when we were in the next room or playing loud music.
One improvement Amazon has made since our earlier reviews of the company’s smart displays: It’s now much easier to upload and turn on photos for your background screen in the app. We were able to quickly upload photos and toggle them on for each device. And we could swipe through on the device itself if we wanted to see a new photo or move on to one of the informational screens.
The Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) has only a few buttons: volume and privacy controls. There are two buttons to raise and lower volume manually, plus a button to turn off the mic and a manual lens cover to turn off the camera. We often kept the lens closed but the mic on, so we could still talk to the Show and issue voice commands; we’d then open the camera as needed for a video call.
Speaking of video calls, any Show device can do video chatting through Alexa Messages, Skype, and Zoom. You can also use voice to direct-dial a phone for an audio call. In our tests, a video chat with a friend over Alexa Messages looked and sounded clear enough for both parties to understand each other easily, but it didn’t appear to be of a higher resolution than a video call we made using a smartphone. Still, the larger screen means your speaking companion appears larger, which is helpful and more comfortable. (You also don’t have to hold up a phone for an hour.)
The main attraction of the Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) over the previous generation is its 13-megapixel camera—a huge jump from 1 megapixel—which also has the ability to zoom in and pan around to follow whoever is speaking on camera. It’s similar to the capabilities of the Nest Hub Max and the Echo Show 10, although the Show 10’s mechanical zoom and physical movement was a little gimmicky. The Show 8 (2nd Gen)’s digital zoom is a much more pleasant experience, but it can also be occasionally disorienting.
For instance, when we used the Show 8 (2nd Gen) with Zoom, the audio and video were clear and comfortable for both parties, and we could view the Zoom chat from the Show 8 screen (though we weren’t able to type messages). The video quality was also higher than what we usually get with a laptop, but whether we used it with Zoom or Alexa calling, the automated pan and zoom ability could sometimes be erratic, especially after any movement of the subject. Taking notes, drinking water—all those sorts of movements could activate the camera and cause it to refocus and readjust, but the transitions were pretty smooth in comparison with what we saw on the Echo Show 10. Overall, the addition of Zoom is a big bonus for using the display’s video-chatting features more often. We found ourselves joining work calls from the Show 8 instead of a laptop since we were able to use voice commands, versus having to search for a calendar link. All Show 8 generations have Zoom abilities, along with the Echo Show 10.
Smart displays continue to be not particularly stylish, but we like that the Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) looks like a small tablet from the front, with its pyramid-shaped speaker hidden behind the screen.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Although the Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) makes it easy to control your smart-home devices either by voice or the smart-home area on its touchscreen (almost as quick to access as smart-home control on the Google Hub Max), it’s not a Zigbee smart-home hub. If that’s something you’re looking for in the Alexa ecosystem, we recommend checking out the Echo Show 10.
Recipe choices on the Echo are more limited compared with the Google library. Its native recipes pull from only a few popular cooking sites (such as Allrecipes, America’s Test Kitchen, and Epicurious) and a bunch of smaller blogs and sites (like Kitchen Stories and SideChef). Google’s recipe library can pull from nearly all the same partners as Echo but also many more, including such popular sites as Bon Appétit. We also found that Echo tended to misunderstand more-niche ingredients (it took us three tries to find a matcha recipe—we were getting results for macho instead). If you have a specific recipe you want, you’ll have to search for it on Amazon Silk (but at that point, you may as well grab a laptop instead of using your Echo).
For the Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) and any other current Echo Show devices, there are now content cards that will appear on your home screen, interspersed with the photos or art you set as your background. These content cards include suggestions for commands, Skills to activate, recipe ideas from Echo partners, current news, and the weather. For some people they’re a perk, but we’ve noticed a fair number of others criticizing them (you can turn them off in the settings menu on the device itself, but not in the app).
The user interface is a mixed bag. Although the on-screen menus have improved since we initially began testing displays, in 2019, there are inconsistencies and pitfalls in the way you navigate the screens. For instance, although recipes have back buttons to return to search results or a previous page, the video pages don’t—so you can’t browse video options after clicking one, and you are forced to do a new search all over again. It’s frustrating and also encourages you to rely on on-screen menus instead of voice commands (which are kind of the point of having a smart display).
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTOur pick for Google Assistant users: Google Nest Hub Max
![The Google Nest Hub Max, one of our best gifts for families, with the screen showing the weather and traffic reports.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2021/10/family-gifts-2048px-google-hub.jpg)
Top pick
Cooks and heavy Google app users who want to access Google Assistant via a screen will love this display, which is well integrated with Google Calendar and Photos.
If you plan to use your smart display for recipes, or you want better integration with Google Assistant, Calendar, and Photos, the Google Nest Hub Max is your best option. You can easily search for and find recipes, and its large, crisp screen displays them in a simple-to-read way. One unique feature of the Nest Hub Max is facial recognition: It serves up Calendar reminders, posts security alerts, and scrolls through images uploaded to Photos based on who it sees (though only if you register your account first).
The Nest Hub Max can stream music from Spotify (including the free version), TuneIn, and Pandora, as well as Google Play. You can also play YouTube and YouTube TV videos—and even stream the display’s screen to a Chromecast-compatible TV (which is a neat feature if you don’t already have a streaming media box). The Nest Hub Max is also the first smart display we tested that incorporates gesture controls; you just hold up your hand to pause or resume music or videos. The feature feels a little gimmicky, but we found it useful when we were cranking a Glass Candy album a little too high and didn’t feel like shouting “Hey, Google!” over the vocals. It worked consistently, too, and we couldn’t trick it by waving our hands, brushing hair off our face, or making other hand gestures.
Although the functions of Google Assistant–compatible smart displays can’t quite match Alexa’s 80,000-plus Skills, such displays still work with a broad range of smart-home devices and apps. We like that you can swipe down from the top of the screen to access a control hub for all of your smart-home devices. Like the Echo Show 8, the Nest Hub Max connects to many popular devices, including Philips Hue bulbs, the SmartThings smart hub, Nest thermostats, and Roomba vacuums. But it doesn’t integrate with other high-profile, Echo-compatible devices, such as the Honeywell Home Lyric thermostat, Garageio devices, and D-Link smart plugs (for more information, see our guide to the best Google Assistant–compatible devices). It took us a little over three minutes to connect the Nest Hub Max to an Arlo Q camera and start livestreaming its view of the living room. You can also treat the Nest Hub Max as a standalone security camera: It can keep an eye out for motion, and it sends you alerts when it detects something (with a Nest Aware subscription, it will record 24/7 and use facial recognition for alerts). By contrast, Alexa devices can alert you when they hear the sound of breaking glass or an alarm, but they do not include a motion detector.
The Nest Hub Max’s facial-recognition system is called Face Match, and (surely a relief to many) it’s optional since you can skip setting it up or disable it at any time. During setup, the Google Home app prompted us to turn our heads from side to side. After that brief training, the display was able to recognize our faces from several angles. (You can decide for yourself how perturbing that sentence is.) Now when we enter a room, the Nest Hub Max greets us by name and serves up personalized calendar alerts. Depending on how much you’re into getting personal, you can opt to enable other customized information, such as weather forecasts, headlines, and commute times.
We found it useful to have all of our personalized settings cued up when we first interacted with the screen, especially when several people were regularly using the smart display. Just keep in mind that if you’re having friends over for dinner, for example, they’ll be treated to a view of your calendar and other information whenever you step in front of the display. Another use for the Nest Hub Max’s facial recognition is the ability to leave messages for other members of your household; these messages pop up automatically when a household member walks past—an updated version of leaving a note on the fridge.
The Nest Hub Max’s 10-inch display is as large as the Echo Show’s (and larger than the Google Nest Hub’s). However, we think Google Assistant–enabled devices make better use of all that space with a thoughtfully organized layout. That’s especially true for recipes: The Nest Hub Max has recipe search built in from the start, so you don’t have to go through the app to add new recipe websites. However, you can choose to call up specific cooking apps, including popular ones like Bon Appétit and Tasty. A search for “beef stroganoff” brought up recipes from Betty Crocker, Food Network, and several others; the Nest Hub Max was able to read a recipe aloud, step by step, while also scrolling the written instructions on-screen. The austere text-on-a-white-background look of the Nest Hub Max recipes made us miss the beautiful food pictures that recipe books often include. But we didn’t miss skipping over food bloggers’ 10-paragraphs-long autobiographical sections.
The Nest Hub Max includes an Ambient EQ setting, which adjusts both the brightness and the color tone of the screen to match the mood of the room; when you dim the lights to watch a movie, for example, the Nest Hub Max follows suit on its own. We found the feature to be most useful when the display was in a bedroom or close to a TV, and we appreciated its power-saving benefits for other rooms.
We think the Nest Hub Max’s speakers are good enough to please a cook in the kitchen but not to stream rare B-sides from, say, The Cure. The speakers weren’t the best ones of any smart display we tested. But the Nest Hub Max’s larger screen is more valuable, since the screen is the most important feature of a smart display (if the screen isn’t the highest priority for you, then you might be better off with a smart speaker). Like the Echo Show, the Nest Hub Max could hear us speaking in a normal voice from about 15 feet away. We had to raise our voice if we were in the next room, had a fan nearby, or had music blaring.
Video calls we placed between the Nest Hub Max and a Lenovo Smart Display were high quality. The Nest Hub Max’s 6.5-megapixel, 127-degree camera pans and zooms to follow you as you move around the room, which is convenient if you’re, say, cooking while talking. The camera adjusts its view somewhat slowly—at one point in our tests, it zoomed in on someone’s butt instead of their head while we were video chatting. But we found it useful in a galley-style kitchen, where we were unlikely to stay directly in front of the camera for long.
Google has limited or revoked the ability to make certain types of video calls from a number of its Nest products, including the Nest Hub Max. Zoom support has been fully removed, and a Zoom support page confirms that support for the platform on the Hub Max would end as of September 30, 2023. That means you’ll no longer be able to download or update the app on the Nest Hub. According to an article on The Verge, current Meet users will still have the ability to make one-to-one and group video calls to family, friends, and businesses, but cannot join on Meet by using links or codes.
As for hardware, the Nest Hub Max has very few physical buttons—just a volume toggle and a switch that digitally kills the camera and microphone.
If you plan to use the Nest Hub Max for smart-home functions, double-check that the devices you own are compatible with Google Assistant—there are many, but far fewer than with Alexa. We also had a difficult time understanding how to use the Google Home app; at first we thought it required downloading the Assistant app to add and execute new Skills. You can actually perform all of those tasks from within the Google Home app; you just have to search for them.
The Nest Hub Max does not include a physical lens cover for its camera—a complete 180 from the camera-free Nest Hub. The display does come with a switch that Google says electronically disables both the camera and microphone; to turn off just the camera, you swipe up from the bottom of the screen and touch “Camera.” For a face-detecting display built for placement in private spaces, we prefer a manual cover.
Also great: Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen)
![The best small smart display, the Amazon Echo Show 5.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2021/05/smart-displays-update-2019-2048px-5118.jpg?auto=webp&quality=75&width=1024)
Also great
This pint-size version of the Echo Show is perfect for catching a weather report and playing tunes while you get ready in the morning.
Buying Options
The 5½-inch Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) was a pleasant surprise for us, and we think it makes sense if you want a small display for a nightstand or a bathroom counter, or if you simply want to spend less money. Although its screen has a resolution of just 960×480 pixels (less than half that of a similarly sized iPhone 11 display), we didn’t find ourselves wishing for something sharper. The screen auto-dims when you turn out the lights, mimicking an unobtrusive vintage glow-in-the-dark clock. In the morning, it offers an easy way to play music, check the weather report, and trigger any smart-home Routines. Think of the Echo Show 5 as a miniature version of its bigger sibling, the Echo Show 8.
You can adjust the screen’s brightness manually, but we never found ourselves fussing over tweaking the automatic adjustments. The clock mode that the display switches to in a pitch-black room is dark enough that we slept easily with the display just a foot away from our face. The display comes with useful alarm-clock features like Sunrise (which slowly brightens the display until your wake-up time) and the option to tap the top of the display to snooze the alarm. During the day, you can customize the Show 5 with a few different clock displays. For those who have relied on a smartphone to check the time during middle-of-the-night wake-ups, we’ve found that the switch back to a clock display can be calming and helpful.
Although the Echo Show 5 picked up our voices from across a room just fine, its speakers didn’t sound as good or as full as those of the Echo Show and the Nest Hub Max—we had to crank the volume all the way up to fill an 800-square-foot room with vaulted ceilings. It’s also difficult to see anything on the screen unless you’re right next to it, so you likely won’t spend much time watching videos on this device. However, it’s okay for making a quick video call, checking your calendar, or streaming security-camera videos. If you need a display for watching shows or cooking, we highly recommend opting instead for the 10-inch Echo Show or the Nest Hub Max.
The Echo Show 5 comes with a manual lens cover for its 2MP camera. Given the smart display’s placement on a nightstand, we suggest keeping the cover closed until you want to place a video call. If you’d prefer no camera at all for a smart display in a bedroom or some other sensitive space, the camera-less Google Nest Hub is the better option.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTAlso great: Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen)
![The best smart display for Google Assistant users, the Google Nest Hub Max](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2021/05/smartdisplaysupdate-2048px-0S1A8250.jpg?auto=webp&quality=75&width=1024)
Also great
This mini smart display has the same abilities as larger Google Assistant–enabled models, minus a built-in camera (which may be a comfort for privacy seekers).
If you prefer a smart display without a camera—perhaps for basic privacy reasons, or because you’ll place it in a sensitive area—we recommend the Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen). Like the Echo Show 5, the Nest Hub (2nd Gen) has a smaller footprint and screen than its pricier sibling (think 5-by-7 picture frame versus a toaster), so it is a better pick for a nightstand or a bathroom counter. The Nest Hub comes with the same smart-home, recipe, Ambient EQ, gesture-control, and Google apps functionality as the Nest Hub Max. And the Nest Hub includes a new feature: sleep tracking.
In our tests, the Nest Hub (2nd Gen) could hear voice commands just as well as the competition, though its speakers didn’t sound quite as nice as those in the Echo Show 8 or the Nest Hub Max. Its 1024×600 resolution display also isn’t quite as crisp as that of the larger Hub Max, but at this size it didn’t actually bother us. We also liked the clean white bezel and the small stand (which comes in colors like charcoal and mist).
Like the Echo Show 5, the Nest Hub (2nd Gen) feels right at home on a bedside table. This is due to its ability to transform into a clock face, as well as its sleep-tracking feature, called Sleep Sensing. Once you finish a rather long setup (endless pages in the app, followed by a video, and then calibration to detect sleep), the Nest Hub will automatically track your sleep (which is displayed when you wake up each morning). We were impressed with how accurately it captured sleep patterns, whether we fell asleep on time or it took a couple of hours to finally nod off. One morning Google cheerfully told us it appeared that we hadn’t had enough sleep—a nice confirmation there was a reason for our feeling grouchy.
Although we prefer the Nest Hub Max as an overall pick in every other way, the Nest Hub is the best option for anyone who prefers an especially inconspicuous display, is staunchly against having a camera in their living space, or just wants to save some bucks.
Other good smart displays
If you don’t care about video quality: The Amazon Echo Show 8 (1st Gen), our previous Alexa pick, is still a great option overall if you aren’t worried about video quality (it has only 2MP camera, in comparison to the 5MP you get for the similarly-sized second gen model) and can find it on sale.
If you want something with a unique design and great speakers: The Lenovo Smart Display was a previous pick for our top Google Assistant display, and we still think the Lenovo Smart Display is a good buy if you see it for a discounted price. It lacks the Nest Hub Max’s nicer speakers, gesture control, and facial recognition but is otherwise very similar. It also has the boldest design of the displays we tested, with a curved wooden back. Lenovo also makes the Lenovo Smart Clock.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTWhat to look forward to
Amazon announced the $90 Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen), an updated version of our current pick, which became available May 31, 2023. While its feature set matches the current model, Amazon says the audio performance has been improved and the inclusion of a faster chip means that Alexa should respond more quickly to voice commands. We plan to test this model and will update this guide as needed.
The Google Pixel Tablet has a Charging Speaker Dock that can turn the tablet into a smart display, allowing you to issue voice commands through Google Assistant and set it up to look like a digital photo frame.
During its annual fall event, Amazon debuted the $158 Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) and the $180 Echo Hub:
- The Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen), an upgrade to our current pick, features an updated processor, a built-in smart home hub, and spatial audio. One enticing feature is the ability to change the layout of the items on-screen based on your distance. It’s available for pre-order, and should arrive in October.
- The Echo Hub is meant to manage all of your smart home devices through a wall-mounted 8-inch display. The hub includes Matter and Thread support, features infrared sensors for person-detection), and can connect to WiFi or directly to a router via an optional USB-C adapter. It will arrive later this year.
The competition
The Echo Show 5 (1st Gen) is also a great option for bedsides if you can find it, but it’s often out of stock. The main difference between this model and the second generation one is camera quality, though we recommend keeping your camera shutter closed anyway if you’re using it on a bedside table or somewhere similarly private.
The $250 Echo Show 10 is a relatively pricey model due in large part to its signature feature: a display that can automatically rotate on its base to follow you around, along with a camera that can zoom in on the subject. We found it too large to comfortably place in a home. On top of that, in our testing we learned that it can bump into nearby objects, and its mechanical zoom felt gimmicky and distracting. Our pick, the much cheaper Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen), has the same 13-megapixel camera with a much smoother software zoom. The Show 10 also left a large ring on our wood table; we discovered it was actually stuck to the surface, and we had to put in a surprising amount of effort to remove it.
The Echo Show 15 also costs $250, and while it has some new features, none of them merit the higher price tag compared with the Show 8. It’s too large to comfortably hang or prop it where you’d be able to make use of its touchscreen (it clocks in at 18 inches diagonal bezel-to-bezel, with a 15-inch touchscreen) and requires more setup than any other smart display we tested—even more if you wall mount it, which is the default option. Should you decide to post it on a flat surface instead you’ll have to buy a secondary stand. In terms of functionality it doesn’t excel at streaming video well enough to rival a wall TV, and its Photo Frame mode shows massive pillarboxing on any photo that isn’t the right size and orientation—so much so that an entire second photo could fit on screen. The large footprint also makes it difficult to install in a location in a kitchen where it’s comfortable to view recipes.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTSources
Jeffrey Van Camp, These Are the Smart Displays to Look Into in 2019, Wired, December 23, 2018
Will Greenwald, The Best Smart Displays for 2019, PCMag, December 19, 2018
Erika Rawes and Tyler Lacoma, The best smart displays for 2019, Digital Trends, April 24, 2019
Alexa Skill Counts Surpass 80K in US, Spain Adds the Most Skills, New Skill Rate Falls Globally, Voicebot.ai, January 2021
Meet your guides
Nena Farrell was an updates writer covering smart speakers, wireless TV headphones, tabletop radios, and digital photo frames, among other things. She was previously an associate editor at Sunset, and is currently a writer and reviewer at Wired.
Signe Brewster is an editor on Wirecutter's PC team. She also writes about virtual reality. She previously reported on emerging technology and science for publications like Wirecutter, MIT Technology Review, Wired, Science, and Symmetry Magazine. She spends her free time quilting and pursuing an MFA in creative writing.
Further reading
Smart Home for Apartments and Renters
These smart-home devices don’t need permanent installation, so you can take them with you when you move.
Amazon Alexa vs. Google Assistant: Which Voice Assistant Is Best for You?
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant make listening to radio, controlling smart devices, and creating reminders as simple as asking for it. Here’s how to pick.
The Best Smart Speakers for Your Home
Voice-controlled smart speakers make it easy to summon music news, trivia, timers, and more, and to control smart devices, too.
I Was a Skeptic, but I Loved Cooking With the Google Nest Hub Max
It won’t dice onions, but the Google Nest Hub Max is a trusty sous chef, making it easy to find and follow recipes, time tasks, and get fast cooking answers.
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