Comparing Our Favorite Smart Displays
More Smart Displays We Like
Echo Hub for $180: The Echo Hub isn’t exactly a smart display. It lacks powerful speaker capabilities and doesn’t have a camera for calls or Amazon’s Drop-In video call feature. Instead, it focuses entirely on being a smart home dashboard with built-in Alexa, plus features like widgets and the photo frame. I think it takes the best, most easily used features of a smart display and cuts out the rest. But if you want a good speaker, don’t choose this one.
Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen, 2023) for $90: The smaller and cheaper third-gen Echo Show 5 has a 5.5-inch screen that works best on a desk or a bedside table. We think it’s a bit too small for the kitchen or living room, but that depends on how you plan to use it.
Echo Show 8 (4th Gen) for $180: This is a good smart speaker, but I prefer the older model since it has better bass quality. It does have a slightly nicer screen and is designed around Alexa+, but the older model can still use Alexa+ just fine so far.
Echo Show 15 for $300: This is the largest of them all, with a 15.6-inch display, and it has customizable widgets so you can have smart-home device controls and calendar reminders available whenever. It’s made to be mounted on your wall like a TV (a stand is sold separately), and the Show 15 pairs with a Fire TV remote (you can use the app) to use the streaming features. With the new Alexa+, I’ve found myself liking this device a lot more, and it’s much less distracting than the rotating slideshows you get on smaller Echo Shows. It’s a splurge, though, and I still wish the streaming capabilities were better.
Google Nest Hub for $100: Google’s second-gen Nest Hub is a great option if you don’t need a camera and don’t mind a smaller 7-inch screen. It has a wake-up alarm that emulates the rising sun for gentler mornings, though it’s not bright enough to qualify as a sunrise alarm clock. It also has sleep-tracking tech to track your sleep quality, though the quality of the results isn’t great. It also supports gestures—like playing or pausing a video with a hand movement—by using unique radar tech.
Google Pixel Tablet for $399: This tablet doubles as a smart speaker when placed on its speaker dock. It works well, but it’s not currently slated to get Google’s new assistant, Gemini for Home. If that changes, we’ll go back to recommending it. But we’re not sure it will; the speaker dock has been unavailable for a while now, and the Pixel Tablet 2 plans were scrapped, likely pointing to this device being discontinued altogether.
What About Alexa+?
Amazon has been randomly rolling out its new version of Alexa, named Alexa+, in early access since the spring. This second generation of the Alexa voice assistant is more conversational, able to execute complex tasks and learn new information, and can be much more personalized. That’ll be due to its being powered by generative AI. Check out our hands-on with early access Alexa+ for more about our experience.
Unlike the current Alexa, once it’s fully available, it’ll cost $20 a month, or be free if you have an Amazon Prime membership. This is a big jump from the free assistant, but you can keep the current Alexa for free if you don’t wish for another subscription or have an Amazon Prime membership. Right now, it’s also only available in early access, and accounts with Echo Show devices will be prioritized, but Alexa+ does work on other Echo speakers. You can sign up here for the wait list.
It’s also important to note that Alexa+ has forced a privacy change for all Echo devices. Echo devices used to be able to process voice recordings locally on your device, but the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” privacy feature was killed in March. Now all voice recordings will be sent to Amazon to be processed in order to make Alexa+ function, but even if you don’t end up using Alexa+, the feature is gone.
What About Gemini for Home and Google’s Smart Displays?
Amazon isn’t the only one rolling out a new version of its assistant. Gemini for Home is Google’s similarly AI-powered smart assistant that will replace Google Assistant in just about all of its available speakers. Unlike Amazon’s new assistant, Gemini for Home will be free, but Google is changing its Nest Aware subscription to become a subscription that’s both for video storage and for more powerful assistant features.
Google is also rolling out a new speaker in the spring, but no new smart display is slated yet. The new assistant will come to all of Google’s existing lineup except for the Google Pixel Tablet, which we no longer recommend since it’s not currently planned to get support with the new assistant. Google did say they plan to work with third-party partners to bring Gemini for Home to more devices, so we might see new third-party displays that we can recommend again. We’ll update this guide as we learn more, but for now, Google’s Nest Hub Max and Nest Hub are the best smart displays to purchase if you want access to Google’s new assistant.
FAQs
Do You Need a Smart Display?
Smart displays are helpful, acting as hubs for your smart home devices, walking you through recipes while you chop away in the kitchen, and in some cases allowing you to video chat hands-free too. But we’re not sure how long they’ll be worth it, or even exist, in their current form. Companies have been experimenting and doing away with smart displays again and again; Meta discontinued its Portal devices, Google might be discontinuing the Pixel Tablet we favored, and Apple still has yet to even make a smart display.
Amazon has continued to make new smart displays, even after losing $10 billion in 2022 thanks to failures around the Alexa voice assistant. The Alexa team was reportedly hit hard by layoffs in 2022 and 2023, but new smart displays continued to come out since then and more are slated to come out later this fall: the Echo Show 8 (4th Gen) and Echo Show 11.
The future of these smart home devices isn’t clear right now, but if you’re going to get one, we suggest sticking with devices directly from the brand whose voice assistant you prefer. Otherwise, consider one of our favorite tablets instead.
Does Apple Have a Smart Display?
So far, Apple has yet to launch its own dedicated smart display. Apple iPhones have a StandBy Mode included in iOS that activates when an iPhone is on its side and charging, using stands like this one from Twelve South. I had hoped this feature would feel similar to a smart display, but StandBy Mode is limited to customizable clock faces, showing your photos, and having your texts pop up in large text that fills the screen. It doesn’t scratch the itch of all the features you get in a smart display and instead feels like a fancy alarm clock.
What About Digital Calendars?
There’s a growing market of digital calendars that look a bit like smart displays, but instead of being able to respond to voice commands and stream a video call, these digital screens are designed to have one shared calendar for the entire family to see and view. Skylight, a maker of one of our favorite digital photo frames, makes the Skylight Calendar ($300) that comes in 10 inches, 15 inches, and 27 inches, while I tested the Hearth Display ($699) that comes exclusively in a 27-inch size. Cozyla also makes the Cozyla Calendar+ that starts at 15 inches but goes all the way up to a 36-inch screen.
There are some differences in these calendars, but you’ll find a similar roadblock to them: memberships. Hearth Display encourages using the display to create routines with your family, specifically kids, though you’ll want a kid older than my 2-year-old to use it properly (though the Hearth does have icons designed for kids who can’t read yet), and to sign up for the Family Membership. The Skylight touts a photo screensaver and meal planning tools if you sign up for the monthly Plus Plan.
You could find these devices are for you, but it’s either another device for one parent to manage or something you’ll have to teach your entire family to make into a habit to really get the most out of. You’re likely better off just teaching everyone in your family to share their Google Calendar.
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