Three years ago, I wrote an obituary for the smart display. The category — smart speakers with touchscreens attached — was stuck with a few underpowered gadgets from Google and Amazon that tried to do too much and did too little well. Back then, I also laid out what they needed to do to improve. This month, Apple and Amazon launched new smart displays that check nearly every box on that list.
Based on my brief hands-on time with Apple’s first smart display, the $299 HomeView, and Amazon’s $499.99 Echo Show 16, a ground-up rebuild of its smart display line, these could finally turn the smart display into what it should have been all along: the family computer. Not a place to do homework or pay the bills, but a shared screen the whole household can use to check the calendar, see who’s at the door, and figure out what’s for dinner.
The biggest shift is that both companies have finally brought computer-class hardware to the space: Apple with its A18 chip (the same as in the MacBook Neo) and Liquid Retina display, and Amazon with a MediaTek processor and the same Nanomatte display as its new Alexa Tablet. This turns a category plagued by underpowered hardware and limited software into devices people might actually want to use.
The catch is price. In 2023, the Echo Show 5 cost $85 and the Nest Hub $99. Apple’s HomeView, the cheaper of the two new models, costs three times that. But these devices now have a much clearer purpose, beyond being a vessel for each company’s revamped voice assistant. And with the software to back it up, they might actually be worth the investment.
As our lives have become increasingly digital, the need for a central place to corral all the information required to run a busy household has only grown. For years, the calendar, grocery list, meal plan, and chores all lived inside one person’s phone, creating an exhausting mental load. Add in the connected home, and the need for a communal device grows even greater: an interface anyone in the house can use to check who is at the door without opening it, adjust the thermostat, or dim all the lights with a tap or a quick voice command. Yes, some devices can do some of these things, but none do them all well.
The popularity of devices like the Skylight Calendar shows the need for a communal household screen. And while a tablet might seem like a natural fit, it has two challenges: limited multiuser support, and anything with a battery will wander into someone’s bedroom and die under a pillow. I learned that from personal experience. I thought Google’s Pixel Tablet, a hybrid tablet and smart display, was the category’s next evolution, though I wasn’t wild about its detachable screen. That turned out to be a big problem in my house — along with its half-baked smart home support. Google reportedly canceled its successor 18 months later.
With their new devices, Apple and Amazon are bringing three things to the category that I’ve been wanting for years: computer-class hardware, a display built for sharing that can easily switch between users, and a screen that is always on and as easy to use as a light switch. No PIN to enter or screensaver to swipe away, just reach out and tap to control your lights or scroll through your calendar. Both the HomeView and Echo Show 16 appear to solve these problems. (Of course, I’ll need to test them properly to be sure.)
Apple’s approach treats the person as the user; HomeView is designed to know you
However, that’s where the similarities end. What I find fascinating about these two side-by-side product launches is the different approach each company is taking to fit these devices into your household.
Amazon has built one screen for the household that works without your phone — you don’t even need one to set it up (although it helps). Apple has built a screen that is an extension of your phone; it has communal features, but they’re limited compared with what you can do if you connect your phone.
The reason for the split is obvious: Apple is built around the iPhone; Amazon is built around, well, everything else. Apple’s approach treats the person as the user; HomeView is designed to know you. In Apple’s demo, Siri AI knew exactly when your friend would arrive at the front door from the airport based on reading your text messages and could turn on the coffee machine so their espresso was ready the moment they walked in. But while HomeView has communal features, most of the good stuff seems to appear only when HomeView recognizes your face and your phone is nearby.
Amazon’s approach treats the household as the user; the Echo Show is designed to know your home
Amazon’s approach treats the household as the user; the Echo Show is designed to know your home. The company’s Omnisense technology built into its devices can sense presence, temperature, and room acoustics throughout your home. One of Amazon’s demos showed that when someone walks up your driveway, a figure appears on a map of your home, and you can tap it to see a live view of their approach through your Ring camera. While Amazon doesn’t have the same personal context as an iPhone, the Echo Show 16 offers broader features for the household, including meal planning, a full Fire TV, and a color-coded household calendar.
Amazon is selling a maximal feature set at a premium price designed for everyone while Apple is pushing a more polished, narrower product at a lower price, aimed squarely at its existing users. I’m looking forward to seeing which approach works best once I have these devices in my home. But for the first time in years, I’m excited about testing a smart display. I guess my obituary was premature.
Photography by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge