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The best smart displays has its own screen and can show how a voice assistant’s answers are interpreted visually. In addition to giving you the answer you asked for, the best smart displays will also give you more information about the question. If you ask a smart display for the weather report, you will not only hear a description of the current weather, but you will also see more information on the screen, such as the wind speed and a guide to the temperature hour by hour.
Not only the weather but also sports scores and when your voice assistant answers your most pressing questions. The best Smart Displays technology has become very popular in the past few years. It lets you control your devices and use multiple services from one place. You can use smart displays to get to all of your favourite apps, like movies or music. We spent a lot of time researching the market to find the best smart displays available right now.
Best Smart Displays
Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen)
The Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) is a speaker for music, a screen for the best Google Assistant commands, and a communication hub. It’s also the only smart display that can keep track of how you sleep. When you put the updated Google Nest Hub on your nightstand, it uses the Soli radar sensing chip to see how you sleep at night. It’s a little creepy, but the ability to track without touching it will make you forget it’s there.
Soli’s superpowers also let you use air gestures to control things like YouTube videos or alarms. These moves don’t always work, but when they do, they’re helpful. In terms of sound quality, we’d say it’s one of the best Google Home speakers. It’s a big step up from the first-generation Google Nest Hub. But it doesn’t have a camera, so it’s not the best smart speaker if you want to make video calls.
Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd gen)
The Nest Hub was at the top of this list because of how its photos looked, how easy it was to use, and how much more natural its voice assistant sounded. But it doesn’t have the built-in camera on the Echo Show 8 that makes video calls easy. Add to that the fact that Amazon Alexa is getting smarter, and the Show 8 is now on par with the Nest Hub in terms of having the best screen. Both of these smart displays are great.
With the Show 8, Alexa will respond to your voice control and voice commands, and you can use the tablet screen to play games, look at recipes, watch movies and Prime Video trailers, control your smart home, and more. The 8-inch touchscreen is small enough that it won’t get in your way, but it’s also big enough that you won’t have to strain your eyes. With Amazon’s sunrise alarm, the screen starts to get brighter 15 minutes before your set wake-up time.
Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen)
The Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) is a small smart display that you can use to make calls and video chat, look at recipes, watch videos, check the feed from your security camera, dim your lights, and more. Because it is small, it looks and feels more like the Amazon Echo Dot with Clock than a full-sized smart display.
It’s also not much of an improvement over the first one. But if you love how cute and small the Echo Show 5 is and like the idea of being able to call loved ones before you go to sleep, you should think about getting the smart display. Not only that, but the Kids Edition sells well because it is an alternative to the Amazon Fire tablet that doesn’t need to be charged all the time.
Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd gen)
If you want a smart display with a 10-inch touchscreen and Alexa, the $250 Amazon Echo Show 10 is the most up-to-date and best option. With a motorised base, the Echo Show 10 can move around the room with you while you’re on a video call or watching a video on it. The HD display on the 10.1-inch tablet looks good, and the device comes with a front-facing 13-megapixel camera and a physical shutter for privacy.
Amazon also added colour that changes to this model of Echo device. The Echo Show 10 can be used as a smart home security camera, and you can check on it from anywhere using the Alexa app. Up to seven people can join a group video call, and the Alexa app’s Drop In feature lets you call your display directly from anywhere. When the Echo Show 10 senses that someone is entering or leaving a room, it can set off routines for other smart home devices.
Amazon Echo Show 15
The big screen on the Echo Show 15 is different and maybe even a gimmick, but it serves a purpose like the Echo Show 10. The device is made to be hung on the wall like a picture, and its 15-inch screen is perfect for showing off art or photos in this way. Its camera and speakers aren’t as good as the Echo Show 10, but its interface has several widgets that take advantage of the bigger screen, or a face recognition feature can load custom profiles for each person in your home.
This is one of the nicest digital photo frames in the middle size range, and the price isn’t too bad either. You should look into this if you want a central control panel for your home that you can hang on a wall and everyone can see all day. Just know that it’s not nearly as good as the Echo Show 10 for listening to music or making video calls.
Lenovo Smart Clock
The Lenovo Smart Clock is a good addition to the bedroom as a bedside smart display. It is smaller and more functional than the Show 10 or Google Nest Hub Max, which have bigger screens. It has a small, four-inch screen with different clock face designs and a good resolution of 480 x 480. It also has a USB port to easily charge your phone at night. Even though your own phone charger is probably a bit faster, it’s still a welcome addition.
Lenovo’s smart display uses the Google Assistant, just like Google’s smart displays. This means you can give voice commands or ask the voice assistant for the news, traffic or weather information, certain apps and services, and any trivia you want to know. We found it easy to use, and we liked that shouting “stop” turned off the alarm in the morning, so you didn’t have to mess around with the touchscreen before opening your eyes.
Final Words
Here, we tell you what we think is the best smart displays for you. What’s the difference between the best smart displays and average smart speakers? They all have a screen, so they look like a tablet with a speaker attached to it and are great for the kitchen counter or bedside table. Look above to see all of the best smart displays we’ve tried.