The best smart displays for 2024

Read our full Google Nest Hub (2nd gen) review

Our favorite smart display with the Google Assistant is the second-gen Google Nest Hub. Its 7-inch size is a good fit in many rooms, and its unobtrusive design combined with its soft fabric exterior blends nicely into most home decor. It does everything we think most people would want in a smart display, like play YouTube videos, display step-by-step cooking instructions, provide handy smart home controls and give users the ability to check in Nest security cameras if they have any.

In fact, the Nest Hub is especially useful as part of a security system if you have a Nest video doorbell, as the camera view of who’s at the front door will show up on the screen. An ambient light sensor helps to detect the light and color temperature of the environment and adjusts the screen to match. Plus, if you choose, it can help track your sleep patterns if placed next to your bed.

Another feature of the Nest Hub is actually a lack of one: It doesn't have a camera. That gives it that additional layer of privacy that many people covet, and it's also a lot more suitable for personal spaces like the bedroom. Sure, you could also cover up a camera with a shutter, but with the Nest Hub you don't have to remember to do that.

We’d be remiss not to mention the Google Pixel Tablet here, since it’s a slab that can double as a smart display when you use it with its charging dock. The set costs $420 — not too bad since you’re getting two devices in one, but it’s expensive if you’re just looking for a smart display. If that sounds like you, you’ll be better off with the Nest Hub (and pocketing the extra cash).

Read our full Google Nest Hub Max review

If you like Google but you miss having a camera for video calls, or you just prefer a larger screen, consider the Google Nest Hub Max. At 10 inches instead of seven, its screen works a lot better for watching videos from YouTube and YouTube TV. It's especially useful in the kitchen, where it functions as a kind of portable television, and you can see more of those step-by-step cooking instructions at a glance. The bigger display also means a larger photo frame, which some may prefer..

As mentioned, the Nest Hub Max adds a camera to the mix. It doesn't have a physical shutter, which is a concern, but you can shut it off with an electronic switch. You can use the camera for video calls with Google's Duo service as well as Zoom, and it can also function as a Nest Cam to help you keep an eye on your house when you're away. Another benefit of the camera is the addition of Face Match facial recognition for authentication purposes, which we found to be a little more accurate than just using Voice Match.

Last but not least, the Nest Hub Max's camera adds a unique gestures feature that lets you play and pause media simply by holding up your hand to the screen. This hands-free control option isn't entirely necessary, but it's potentially useful if you're in a noisy environment and just want the music to stop without having to shout over everyone. Or perhaps you have messy hands while cooking and don’t want to dirty up the display.

Our favorite Amazon smart display is the latest Echo Show 8. Its 8-inch screen is just right; it doesn’t take up as much space as the Echo Show 10 does with its larger screen, but it’s also more suitable for watching videos than the smaller Echo Show 5. Like other Amazon smart displays, it has a built-in camera, but there is a physical camera cover to help alleviate privacy concerns.

The Amazon Echo Show 8 is a compelling choice if you want the option of using your smart display for video calls. Not only is the 13MP camera's quality fantastic, but the Show 8 has a feature that automatically frames your face and follows your movements during video calls. It’s useful if you want to move around as you’re chatting, or if you have rambunctious children and pets running around the house and you want to involve them in the conversation. You can use the Echo Show 8 to make calls between other Echo Show displays, or through Skype or Zoom.

As with the other smart displays, the Echo Show 8 also works as a digital photo frame and can be used to keep up with the news, check the weather and control smart home devices. If you want to use your smart display to play music, we also really like the Echo Show 8’s sound quality on account of its deep bass and rich tone. The latest model also includes support for Visual ID, which uses facial recognition to identify who's using the machine and personalize information on the screen for them, and a built-in Zigbee smart home hub.

With only a 5.5-inch screen, the Echo Show 5 is one of the smallest smart displays on the market, and as a result, will work nicely on a desk or a nightstand. In fact, one of the reasons we like the Echo Show 5 so much is that it doubles as a stellar smart alarm clock. It has an ambient light sensor that adjusts the screen's brightness automatically; a tap-to-snooze function so you can whack the top of it for a few extra minutes of shut-eye; plus a sunrise alarm that slowly brightens the screen to wake you up gently.

The Echo Show 5 does have a camera, which might make you a touch queasy if you are extra privacy-conscious – especially if this is supposed to sit by your bedside. Still, it does have a physical camera cover, which can help ease those fears.

Read our full Amazon Echo Show 15 review

There really isn't anything else quite like the Echo Show 15, which with its 15.6-inch touchscreen and wall-mounted design that seem to nod to the tiny TVs many of our parents had in their kitchens back in the day. Indeed, Amazon promotes the Show 15 as the ideal smart display for a kitchen since that's one of the most central rooms of a home and this smart display offers features like Visual ID, widgets and built-in Fire TV software that the whole family can make use of.

Similar to Google's Face Match, Visual ID uses facial recognition to identify different household members and display information relevant to whomever is using it. You can even leave notes for other folks in your home, and the Show 15 will display them when that person walks by. Widgets are customizable bits of info on the touchscreen that show things like a calendar with appointments, sticky notes, weather forecasts and more. One of the native widgets even lets you view security camera feeds with just one tap.

But arguably one of the best ways to take advantage of the large screen on the Echo Show 15 is by watching videos. The display's 1,920 x 1,080 resolution is the best out of any Echo Show, and with Fire TV software baked in, you can use the Show 15 as a mini TV to stream Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, YouTube, and, of course, Prime Video. For that reason alone, it could be the smart display that gets the most passive use in a home — provided you have the space for it.