Best smart displays in 2024

by · Android Police

Post-2020, smart displays seem to be receiving less attention. Maybe it’s because laptops, tablets, and phones keep getting cheaper. Whatever the reason(s), smart home devices are still a great way to access HD movies and shows, music-streaming services, and smart home controls. They’re also some of the best hardware for experiencing powerful voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant.

One of the last batches of smart displays was released in 2023. These were newer versions of existing Amazon Echo Show products, along with one brand-new Echo Show release (the Echo Hub). It’s hard to say how many new smart displays the next few years will hold, but for now, we thought we’d put together this list of our current favorites to help you figure out if you which one you want to buy.

The best smart displays for 2024

Best overall

Google Nest Hub Max

The end-all-be-all smart display

The Google Nest Hub Max has its small list of flaws, but it’s one of the best smart displays for introducing you and yours to smart home controls and a voice assistant. And for those who already own this type of hardware, the Max’s great picture quality, excellent audio system, and built-in Nest Cam make this 10-inch smart screen an easy top pick for us.

Pros

  • Big, bright, and colorful screen
  • Zippy performance
  • Has a built-in camera
  • Solid speaker system

Cons

  • Pricey
  • No privacy shutter for camera
  • No sleep-tracking tools

$230 at Best Buy $230 at Google Store

Our favorite smart display also happens to be a bigger model. The Google Nest Hub Max is a brilliant touchscreen device with numerous features and capabilities. Whether you're streaming HD movies, taking video calls, controlling smart home devices, browsing the web, or all of the above, the Nest Hub Max has you covered.

Powered by an AMLogic S905D2 processor, the Max delivers up to 1280 x 800 resolution, and the screen gets nice and bright and delivers a sizable color gamut. This makes it perfect for watching HD movies and TV shows.

Unlike the smaller Nest Hub, the Max also comes with a built-in 6.5MP camera that captures a 127-degree FOV and includes an auto-tracking feature for video calls. The camera can also be used as a surveillance device, complete with alarms and notifications. And when it's time to rock out to your favorite playlists, the 30W woofer and two 10W tweeters do a phenomenal job at filling the room with sound.

Read Our Review

The Nest Hub Max is the best smart display, but not the best security camera

With Google Assistant on tap, you can interact with the Max using voice commands and even specific gesture controls. Available in Black and Charcoal colorways, the Google Nest Hub Max may be too big for some users, but when it comes to performance and versatility, it’s a smart display that’s hard to beat.

Premium pick

Amazon Echo Show 10

The flagship is steered by Alexa

With its rotating base and face-tracking camera tech, the Amazon Echo Show 10 takes video calls to an all-new level. It’s also packed with terrific Alexa capabilities and can even be used as a hub for Zigbee and Matter devices. One of the only drawbacks is the price, which, after being out for four years, we believe should be lower.

Pros

  • Big screen with auto-tracking tech
  • Great sound
  • Built-in camera can be used remotely
  • Plenty of Alexa capabilities

Cons

  • Pretty expensive
  • No YouTube app

$250 at Amazon $250 at Best Buy

The Amazon Echo Show 10 was released nearly four years ago, and it’s still one of the best smart displays money can buy, especially if you plan on taking advantage of its motorized base.

Not only can the Echo Show 10 rotate to follow you during video calls, but you can also use the lens for home surveillance. The Show 10 can’t take any recordings, but you’re able to manually rotate the display through the Alexa app. Plus, the brilliant 10.1-inch HD screen is the perfect monitor for all these activities, as well as any Netflix streaming.

Source: Amazon

When it comes to smart home controls, you can use Alexa to interface with tech like smart lights, locks, video doorbells, and more. You can also use the popular assistant to get answers to questions, stream music, display recipes, and more. This version of the Echo Show can be used as both a Zigbee and Matter hub, so you’ll be able to connect Zigbee and Matter-certified tech to it.

Read Our Review

Amazon Echo Show 10 review: A luxurious Alexa experience

The Show 10 is an impressive piece of hardware, but the value isn't there

The Echo Show 10 is an excellent screen for indulging in your favorite Prime Video series, and it can even be used as a digital photo frame when you upload images to an Amazon Photos account. At $250, it’s one of the most expensive smart displays on the market, and it really doesn’t go on sale either. Still, if you’re looking for one of the smartest screens money can buy, the Amazon Echo Show 10 is what we’d go for.

Best value

Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen)

An Alexa smart display for less

A few dollars cheaper than the Echo Show 10, the latest generation of the Echo Show 5 features a refined chassis, solid Alexa performance, and a great audio system. It’s also perfect for bedside tables and countertops, and it’s usually on sale or bundled with other Amazon and third-party devices.

Pros

  • Inexpensive and often on sale
  • Delivers an exceptional Alexa experience
  • Good picture quality and decent sound
  • Unobtrusive

Cons

  • Performance can be laggy
  • Idle screens can be annoying

$90 at Amazon $90 at Best Buy

The Amazon Echo Show 5 sees a lot of sales action, often being discounted and bundled with other devices. But even if it doesn’t come with extra goodies, it's a great standalone purchase to add automation, organization, and entertainment to your kitchen counter or bedside table. The third-gen of this popular smart display comes in Charcoal, Cloud Blue, and Glacier White colorways and has a nice-looking 5.5-inch touchscreen.

The built-in camera can be used to take video calls and Amazon Drop In sessions with friends and family. And while the Show 5 doesn’t track motion and can’t be rotated, you can still use the lens as a stationary security cam through the Alexa app. There’s even a privacy shutter you can slide into place when you’re not using the cam. We also enjoyed the Show 5’s speaker system and music streaming capabilities.

Read Our Review

Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) review: Great concept, poor execution

Good luck using it as a simple clock

The Echo Show 5 delivers an exceptional Alexa experience. The assistant listens well and responds quickly, making the Show 5 a solid addition to the Echo ecosystem. It’s not the best smart display on the market, but it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to what matters most.

A Google-powered runner up

Google Nest Hub 2nd Generation

The best smart display for sleep tracking

What do you get when you shrink the Google Nest Hub Max, pull out its camera, and give it a bunch of sleep-tracking tech? You’ve just described the Google Nest Hub, a countertop-friendly Google Assistant smart display with excellent picture and sound, access to streaming apps, and a compelling suite of sleep sensors to report on your snoring, coughing, and other night-night numbers.

Pros

  • Great picture and sound
  • Runs fast and smooth
  • Excellent Google Assistant features
  • Has sleep tracking capabilities

Cons

  • No built-in camera
  • Sleep tracking can get a bit wonky

$100 at Amazon $100 at Best Buy $100 at Google Store

While Google doesn’t have as many smart displays on the market as Amazon, the standard Nest Hub smart display is still a fantastic device. In fact, when it comes to sleep tracking, the Nest Hub is the only smart display that monitors your sleeping habits, tracking everything from heart rate and breathing to snoring activity.

And as it’s ideal for bedside tables, you can use it as a morning alarm, too. Create a couple of Google routines to get Google Assistant to open smart blinds, put on your favorite playlist, and give you a readout of the day’s events.

Source: Best Buy

Unlike the bigger Nest Hub Max, this version of the Hub doesn’t have a built-in camera, which means you can't take video calls with it or use facial recognition features. That being said, the Nest Hub is compatible with all the same gesture controls as the Max.

We’re also fans of the standard Hub’s revamped chassis with edge-to-edge glass and improved sound quality. And like its bigger sibling, you’ll be able to access popular streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, and Disney+.

Read Our Review

Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen review: I remain unconvinced

Sleep Sensing works, but I wouldn't pay extra for it

Available in Chalk, Charcoal, Mist, and Sand colorways, the Google Nest Hub is a worthwhile addition to a Google Assistant ecosystem. It’s also a great standalone smart display, a fantastic first smart home device, and a lovely gift.

Best for families

Amazon Echo Show 15

Keep all your family members on the same page

The Echo Show 15 is an interactive touchscreen designed to keep the entire family united. Share calendar events, track daily reminders, and leave personalized sticky notes for children, parents, and siblings. It’s getting harder to find one of these smart displays brand-new, but it’s still a great buy!

Pros

  • Big, bright, and colorful touchscreen
  • Great family-driven organization features
  • Supports individual user profiles
  • Great smart home widgets

Cons

  • Leans more on organization than entertainment
  • More expensive now than when it first released
  • May be discontinued soon

$280 at Best Buy

The $280 Echo Show 15 is another Echo device that doesn’t see a lot of markdown action. In fact, Amazon isn’t even selling this product brand-new anymore, though you can still find it in stock at Best Buy.

Now, what’s all the fuss about this oversized HD touchscreen anyway? The Echo Show 15 is less a smart display or smart speaker and more of a digital bulletin board for the entire family to interact with. All users can see shared calendars, personal sticky notes, and itemized lists, and each family member can have their own profile.

The 15.6-inch HD touchscreen is the crystal-clear display all your widgets and icons live on. While the audio quality isn’t too impressive, the built-in speakers provide enough sound to fill your room with background music or Netflix audio. The Show 15 is also designed to be mounted on a wall and comes with everything you need for installation. You’ll even be able to choose between portrait and landscape views.

Read Our Review

Amazon Echo Show 15 review: Your ticket to the big Show

Alexa finds a home on your wall

Other great features include a built-in privacy shutter for the camera, Alexa Voice Remote compatibility, and a Photo Frame feature for showcasing precious memories. You can also use the Show 10 to control a number of smart home devices using several intuitive widgets. We’re not sure how much longer you’ll be able to get this smart display brand-new, but it looks like it won’t be much longer before Best Buy's stock is depleted.

Best tablet/smart display combo

Google Pixel Tablet

A middle ground between a smart display and a PC

The Google Pixel Tablet is the titular brand’s foray into tablet tech, and we think the Pixel is excellent for controlling smart home devices. But even if you don’t plan on using it as an everyday automations dashboard, this powerful mobile touchscreen is also great for watching movies, playing games, taking video calls, browsing the web, and so much more.

Pros

  • Great performance and intuitive UI
  • Lightweight and portable
  • Bright and colorful screen
  • Good for controlling smart home devices

Cons

  • Might be overkill for most folks
  • Pricey

$400 at Amazon $400 at Best Buy $400 at Google Store

Traditional smart displays are getting harder to come by, though one unique alternative is shifting the focus to an assistant-optimized tablet to get the job done.

The Google Pixel Tablet is available in Porcelain and Hazel colors and comes in 128GB and 256GB storage sizes. It has a max resolution of 2560 x 1600 and delivers a vibrant image with rich colors and solid contrast levels, making it an ideal portable Netflix screen, or a go-to smart home command center for when you want to adjust temperature and lighting settings while you’re on the go.

Powered by the Google Tensor G2 chip, the Android OS is responsive and easy to use. The built-in 8MP camera is great for taking video calls and personal photos and videos. If you want to experience immersive sound, you can purchase a Google speaker dock separately (or order this $500 version of the Pixel Tablet). On a full charge, you should get over five hours of battery life, and the Pixel supports recharging via USB-C and wireless charging up to 15W.

Read Our Review

Google Pixel Tablet review: That first-gen feeling

It's a fine midranger, but the Pixel Tablet's best ideas are half-baked

Conveniently, the Pixel can also be used as a smart home dashboard. Native integrations for Nest cameras and Google devices make it easy to control and customize first-party products, and third-party support isn’t half bad, either. While it’s definitely not as cost-friendly as any true smart display, the Google Pixel Tablet is a great mobile gadget for automating and customizing your smart lifestyle!

Best barebones option

Amazon Echo Hub

It has one job and it does it well

The Amazon Echo Hub has fewer bells and whistles than most of the other devices on this list. Still, if you’re looking for a smart display that you can use exclusively for Internet-of-Things-connected controls and monitoring, this miniature version of the Echo Show 15 should do the trick!

Pros

  • Has numerous smart home widgets, adjusters, and settings
  • Bright and colorful screen
  • Comes with everything you need to mount it

Cons

  • No entertainment features (e.g. movie/TV show platforms, music streaming, games, etc.)
  • High asking price for less features than other displays on this list

$180 at Amazon $180 at Best Buy

The Amazon Echo Hub may not get the same attention as smart displays like the Echo Show 5 or Show 8, but if you’re looking for a dedicated wall module for controlling and monitoring smart home equipment, that’s precisely what the Echo Hub was designed for.

The Echo Hub's 8-inch touchscreen is just as bright and colorful as other Amazon displays, giving you an easy-to-read interface to work with. Similar to the Echo Show 15, the Echo Hub’s camera allows different household members to create and sign in to individual user profiles via facial recognition.

Within each profile is an assortment of widgets, buttons, adjusters, and a few other UI elements for dialing in those smart home settings. Fortunately, the Echo Hub offers terrific wireless support, working with everything from Matter and Thread protocols to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee. You can even execute custom Routines and watch live views from compatible security cameras.

Read Our Review

Amazon Echo Hub review: A smart display for smart homes

The ultimate hub to control all your smart home devices

Like the Echo Show 15, the Echo Hub is meant to be wall-mounted, but you can purchase a stand separately if you’d prefer the device to sit on a table or counter.

Also consider

Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, 2023)

Another great Amazon smart display

Last, but not least, is the Amazon Echo Show 8, sitting one rung below the Echo Show 10 and one rung above the Echo Show 5. This bite-sized Alexa device delivers crisp-clear visuals, impressive sound quality, and Matter and Zigbee support. It’s also usually on sale or bundled with other cool smart home products.

Pros

  • Beautiful HD touchscreen
  • Great Alexa controls
  • Very good sound quality
  • Built-in cam has auto framing

Cons

  • Camera doesn?t pan or tilt
  • Only two color options

$150 at Amazon $150 at Best Buy

For the latest generation of the Echo Show 8, Amazon decided to invest a lot in audio, giving us a smart display that not only supports spatial audio playback but automatically calibrates audio to best match your room acoustics. This means you’ll get great sound no matter where you decide to place the smart display!

Source: Amazon

The Echo Show 8 has a 13MP built-in camera that is great for taking video calls or participating in a Drop In session. While the privacy shutter isn’t mechanized, it’s easy to pull the plastic cover over the lens to obstruct live views and just as simple to retract it.

This version of the Echo Show 8 is also compatible with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Matter, and Thread wireless protocols. Supported apps include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, Apple Music, and many other entertaining and informative platforms.

Read Our Review

Amazon Echo Show 8 (2023) review: More than just a pretty screen

Spatial audio and a repositioned camera make for a solid update

We’re also big fans of the Adaptive Content feature that displays personalized calendars and reminders when a specific user is detected near the Echo Show 8.

Stay automated, entertained, and informed with the best smart displays

While new smart displays are getting harder to find, these eight classics are still widely available and pretty powerful.

As far as which one will make most folks happy, our money goes to the excellent Google Nest Hub Max. This feature-packed smart hub has a beautiful 10.1-inch HD touchscreen and a hard-hitting speaker system. It’s also one of the few smart displays that works with gesture controls, and its built-in Nest Cam can be used for video calls and home surveillance.

But if you want the best smart display money can buy, we’re giving our vote to the Amazon Echo Show 10. Yes, it’s still that pricey after almost four years, but the mechanized base and face-tracking tech still feels cutting-edge and unique. The Show 10 leverages Alexa for everything from web searches to smart home controls, and the voice assistant runs smoothly and returns results quickly.

If you’re looking for something other than our premium pick and best overall pick, or you think both devices are a bit overkill, our best value pick is the Amazon Echo Show 5. Think of this smart display as a way smaller version of the Echo Show 10 without its rotating base. What remains is a bite-sized HD touchscreen with neat UI elements and great Alexa capabilities.

Google Nest Hub Max

The Google Nest Hub Max is one of the best smart displays for HD visuals, smart home features, and intuitive Google Assistant integrations. It also has a slamming audio system and can be used as a remote control camera.

$230 at Best Buy $230 at Google Store