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The Google Nest Hub and the Amazon Echo Show are two of the best options.
Chris Monroe/CNETSince the Amazon Echo Show launched in 2017, roughly a dozen smart displays have hit the market. This blossoming category of smart home tech combines the always listening voice assistance of a smart speaker with a touchscreen for watching videos, controlling your smart home and more.
If you're ready to upgrade your smart speaker, or you're just starting your smart home and you find the touchscreen appealing, here are the best smart displays available now.
Best overall: Google Nest Hub, $130
Google Home Hub
You can regularly find the Nest Hub (formerly called the Google Home Hub) on sale for $100 or less, making it an affordable entry point for the category. Fortunately, it's also the smartest and best overall, making the lower price even more appealing.
Thanks to the built-in Google Assistant, the Nest Hub responds to all of the same voice commands as the Google Home Mini smart speaker. The touchscreen is a little small at 7 inches, but the adaptive brightness makes pictures look particularly great. Google will even customize a slideshow of family pics as your screensaver.
You can also watch videos and control your smart home with an intuitively designed control panel. Unlike most of the other smart displays, the Nest Hub doesn't have a camera, but that might be a bonus if you have privacy concerns and want to put it in your bedroom. The colorful fabric design can blend in anywhere, though the touchscreen comes in particularly handy if you want step-by-step help through a recipe in the kitchen.
Best Alexa display: The Amazon Echo Show, $230
Amazon Echo Show Second Generation
The Echo Show helped popularize the smart display back in 2017, and the current second-gen Show improved on the original in every way. It has a better design, great sound quality, a built-in camera for video calls and a 10-inch HD screen for watching videos.
Amazon's Alexa will respond to your voice commands and you can use the screen to play games, browse recipes, control your smart home and more. Google Assistant still makes better use of the touchscreen than Amazon -- in particular, the cooking directions and smart home controls are better -- but the Echo Show is close enough if you're already invested in Alexa. Plus, in terms of sound quality, the Echo Show blows away the smaller Nest Hub.
Best full-sized display: The Lenovo Smart Display, $250
Lenovo Smart Display 10
If you want a 10-inch touchscreen powered by Google Assistant, the Lenovo Smart Display looks elegant and features the same smarts as the Nest Hub. Lenovo actually offers two different models: a 10-inch version for $250 and an 8-inch model for $200. The 10-inch smart display has a bamboo back that's particularly well suited for the kitchen.
The Lenovo Smart Display was actually the first smart display to debut with Google Assistant built-in and it's still one of the best. You still get Google's smart home control panels and recipe guides, and the Lenovo display has a camera for video calls and a physical shutter to cover it if you want privacy.
Best sound quality: The JBL Link View, $250
JBL Link View
If you want a smart display that can double as a speaker for a party, look no further than the JBL Link View. Like the Lenovo Smart Display, it has Google Assistant built-in, and the same basic interface as the Lenovo model and the Nest Hub. It only has an 8-inch screen, which isn't great for $250, and the design is a little clunky.
Nevertheless, it has all of the same great touchscreen features as the other Google Assistant models and when you start playing music, the JBL Link View shines. The sound quality is a little bass-heavy, but it's loud and full enough to get a room rockin.
Upcoming options:
The Amazon Echo Show 5 -- Amazon trimmed the screen size and the price for the upcoming Show 5 in a bid to make its smart display more suited to your nightstand. The $90 Show 5 offers the same features as the original Show, and adds a sunrise alarm so the screen will start getting brighter 30 minutes before your scheduled wake up time. Plus, the Show 5 has a physical shutter to cover its camera if having one that close to your bed makes you nervous.
The Google Nest Hub Max -- While Amazon moves into entry level smart displays, Google's next model looks to outdo Amazon on the premium end. The Hub Max will have a 10-inch screen and a $230 price. Plus, it has a built-in Nest Cam so it can watch for motion when you're gone. That Nest Cam will also recognize gestures so you can play and pause music with your hand and it can follow you around while you talk during video calls.
Smart display comparison
| |
Best Overall | Best Alexa display | Best full-sized display | Best sound quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Google Nest Hub | Amazon Echo Show (2018) | Lenovo Smart Display 10 inch/8 inch | JBL Link View |
| Cost | $150 | $230 | $250/ $200 | $250 |
| Screen Size | 7-inch (177.8 mm) | 10.1-inch (256.5 mm) | 10.1-inch (256.5 mm)/ 8-inch (203.2 mm) | 8-inch (203.2 mm) |
| Resolution | 1024x600 | 720p (1280 x 800) | 1080p (1920 x 1200)/ 720p (1280 x 800) | 720p (1280 x 800) |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 7.02 x 4.65 x 2.65 inches (178.5 x 118 x 67.3 mm) | 9.7 x 6.9 x 4.2 inches (246.4 x 175.3 x 106.7 mm) | 6.8 x 12.3 x 0.5 - 5.4 inches(173.87 x 311.37 x 12.5 — 136.02 mm)/ 5.6 x 10.4 x 0.5 - 4.4 inches (142.21 x 263.21 x 12.5 — 111.36 mm) | 13 x 6 x 3.9 inches (332 x 152 x 100 mm) |
| Weight | 1.1 lbs. (480 grams) | 3.9 lbs. (1,765 grams) | 2.6 lbs. (1,200 grams)/ 2.2 lbs. (1,000 grams) | 2.9 lbs. (1,300 grams) net weight |
| Wireless Connectivity | Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0 | Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth speakers requiring PIN codes not supported | Wi-Fi (802.11ac, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth | Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2 |
| Voice Assistant | Google Assistant | Alexa | Google Assistant | Google Assistant |
| Calling and Messaging | Direct dial (US, UK, and Canada, outgoing calls only), video calls with Google Duo | Alexa Messaging, Skype, direct dial (US and Mexico) | Direct dial (US, UK, and Canada, outgoing calls only), video calls with Google Duo | Direct dial (US, UK, and Canada, outgoing calls only), video calls with Google Duo |
| Smart kitchen features | Step-by-step recipe assistance with YouTube tutorial videos | Step-by-step recipe assistance; Amazon Meal Kits integration | Step-by-step recipe assistance with YouTube tutorial videos | Step-by-step recipe assistance with YouTube tutorial videos |
| Onscreen smart home controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in Camera | No | Yes (5MP) | Yes (5MP) | Yes (5MP) |
| Privacy Shutter | n/a | No | Yes | Yes |
| Microphones | 2-mic array | 4-mic array | 4-mic array (2 front, 2 rear) | 2-mic array |
| Speakers | Full range speaker (80 dB SPL @ 1KHz, @ 1m) | Dual 10W, 2-inch neodymium drivers with Dolby processing and passive bass radiator | .75 10W Full Range Speaker 2 x Passive Tweeters | 2 x 10W speakers with 2 inch (51 mm) full range drivers |
| Streaming Music Services | iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music | Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn | iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music | iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music |
| Streaming Video Services | YouTube, YouTube TV, Google Play Movies, CBS All Access, HBO Now | Amazon Prime Video, DailyMotion, Hulu, NBC, Vimeo | YouTube, YouTube TV, Google Play Movies, CBS All Access, HBO Now | YouTube, YouTube TV, Google Play Movies, CBS All Access, HBO Now |
| Compatible smart home cameras | D-Link, EZVIZ, Nest Cam, Netgear Arlo, Skybell Video Doorbell, Smartcam, Swann, TP-Link Kasa Cam, Vivitar | Amazon Cloud Cam, Amcrest, August Doorbell Cam, Blink, Canary, D-Link, EZVIZ, Logitech Circle, meShare, Nest Cam, Netgear Arlo, Ring Video Doorbell, Toucan, TP-Link Kasa Cam, Wyze Cam, Zmodo | D-Link, EZVIZ, Nest Cam, Netgear Arlo, Skybell Video Doorbell, Smartcam, Swann, TP-Link Kasa Cam, Vivitar | D-Link, EZVIZ, Nest Cam, Netgear Arlo, Skybell Video Doorbell, Smartcam, Swann, TP-Link Kasa Cam, Vivitar |
| Other notable features | Ambient EQ automatic adaptive screen brightness; Digital picture frame via Google Photos with Live Albums; Live TV with YouTube TV; Send directions to your phone or chosen recipes from your phone to the display; Digital Wellbeing mode for parental restrictions and downtime hours | Built-in Zigbee smart home hub; Integrates with Fire TV Recast to show live TV and DVR recordings; YouTube access via Silk or Firefox browsers | Live TV with YouTube TV; Send directions to your phone or chosen recipes from your phone to the display; Digital Wellbeing mode for parental restrictions and downtime hours | Live TV with YouTube TV; Send directions to your phone or chosen recipes from your phone to the display; Digital Wellbeing mode for parental restrictions and downtime hours |
| Color options | Charcoal, Aqua, Chalk, Sand | Charcoal, Sandstone | Bamboo/Grey | Black |
| Availability | US, UK, Australia and 12 others | US, UK, Australia, Germany, Canada, Japan | US only | US only |
| Expected ship date | Available now | Available now | Available now | Available now |
| Warranty | 1-year | 1-year | 1-year | 1-year |
The rest:
Facebook Portal and Portal Plus -- The $200 Facebook Portal and the $350 Portal Plus make great video calls. They can track and follow any individual in frame so you can move freely as you talk. Otherwise, they have Alexa built-in, but they aren't as smart as the rest. And of course, Facebook has recently faced numerous privacy scandals, so putting one of its cameras in your home takes a big leap of faith.
Lenovo Smart Clock -- This $80 smart alarm trims out a lot of the functionality of smart displays. There's no camera. You can't watch videos or look at pictures. You can customize alarms and scroll through screens with weather and commute info. It's cute and tailored for your nightstand, but it's more of an upgraded alarm clock than a full smart display.
LG WK9 -- LG's smart display sounds great, has a camera and has the same Google Assistant smarts as the other third-party displays. It originally cost $300, which was way too much, but you can now regularly find it for less. Still, it doesn't sound quite as good as the JBL Link View, and the 8-inch screen is surrounded by an ugly exterior. The WK9 doesn't distinguish itself enough to be worth your consideration.
The Amazon Echo Spot -- The Spot was Amazon's first attempt at a bedside smart display, but it has a camera and no shutter, which is a problem for a device meant to be near you while you sleep. The screen is tiny. You can still watch videos, but why would you? Otherwise, it doesn't have much in the way of unique features tailored for your bedroom and it's too expensive at $130. Wait for the Show 5 if you want an Alexa touchscreen next to your bed.
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