The Best Smart Displays In 2023

The best smart displays for 2023

What distinguishes the best smart displays from ordinary smart speakers? They all, of course, have a screen, making them seem like a tablet coupled with a speaker and ideal for a kitchen counter or bedside table.

When you have a clear line of sight to a smart display, you can use it to help you with recipes in the kitchen, check in on your security cameras, operate the finest smart home gadgets, have video chats, view videos, and more.

Unlike some of the finest smart speakers, which support both Alexa and Google Assistant, all of the top smart screens support only one assistant. Amazon Alexa powers the Echo Show smart display experience, while Google Assistant powers Nest Hub devices. Lenovo’s third-party smart screens also use Google Assistant.

Meta (formerly Facebook) also sells Portal best smart displays. In other words, there are several choices on the market from which to pick. View all of the top smart displays we’ve evaluated in the table below.

The best smart displays you can buy today

Google nest hub

The $99 Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) is a music speaker, a screen that displays the finest Google Assistant instructions, and a communication hub. It’s also the only smart display that records your sleep. When placed on your bedside, the improved Google Nest Hub employs the Soli radar-detecting chip to monitor your sleeping patterns. It’s a touch disturbing, but the contactless tracking capabilities will make you forget about it.

Soli’s abilities also let you utilize air motions to stop and play YouTube movies or snooze an alarm. These motions do not always work, but they are valuable when they do. In terms of audio quality, we’d consider it one of the greatest Google Home speakers, providing a big upgrade over the first-generation Google Nest Hub. Nevertheless, because it lacks a camera, it is not the ideal smart speaker for making video calls.

Amazon Echo Show 10

The 10-inch display of the Echo Show is the greatest smart speaker for taking use of the best Alexa abilities. Its display has the same size and resolution (1280 x 800) as previous versions, but the Echo Show 10 has a unique feature: it spins so that you are always the focus of attention. It also features a digital pan-and-zoom feature, which means that if you know how to make a video conversation with the Echo Show, the 13MP camera will keep you in the frame even if you’re jumping about the kitchen or managing numerous people in a single home.

This may seem a little weird, but our experience was more intuitive than we had anticipated. It doesn’t follow you all the time; it only does so when you say your assistant’s wake word. The huge display also serves as a hub for your best smart display collection, allowing you to operate them all from a single interface.

Amazon Echo Show 8

Although the Echo Show 10 may be the Alexa-enabled best smart display we’ve ever tested, it costs $249. The Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) now includes the same camera and Alexa functionality for half the price. Its tiny shape also makes it easier to store on a counter. You’ll have no issue getting the most of this display if you know how to utilize Alexa.

The Echo Show 8 gives considerably superior images and acoustics for the price. The new Echo Show 8 also boasts an updated 13-megapixel camera for higher-quality video conversations for the same price as the original version. It also adopted Show 10’s digital pan-and-zoom capabilities. While the display cannot physically spin to keep you in the frame, the new wide-angle lens, like the Google Nest Hub Max and Facebook Portal, can center you.

Google Nest Hub Max

The Google Nest Hub Max is not just one of the best smart displays in 2023 but a great-sounding smart speaker with two 18-millimeter, 10-watt tweeters and one 75-millimeter, 30-watt woofer. Touch controls or hands-free with voice commands on the display will allow you to follow step-by-step recipes, operate your smart home devices, and see how long your commute will be each morning. You can watch Netflix on the Google Nest Hub Max while also seeing what’s going on.

The Nest Hub Max’s camera can be used to conduct video chats, and it has a unique motion-tracking feature that keeps you in the center of the screen as you walk about the room. When you’re in the kitchen preparing meals and can’t take your eyes off the display, it’s a game changer. Yet we wish the camera had a hardware privacy switch like the one on the Echo Show.

Amazon Echo Show 5

The Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) is a tiny smart display that allows you to make calls and video chat, read recipes, view movies, check security camera feeds, dim your lights, and more.

Because of its compact size, it resembles the Amazon Echo Dot with Clock more than a full-sized smart display. It’s also not much of an improvement over the original. Yet, if you fall in love with the Echo Show 5’s adorable tiny shape and the thought of being able to call loved ones before going to bed, the smart display is worth considering. Not to add, the Kids Edition is a popular seller, offering a stationary Amazon Fire tablet option that does not require constant charging. It includes a warranty.

Amazon Echo Show 15

The best smart display meant to be installed on your wall is the $249 Amazon Echo Show 15. Unlike the other Echo Show devices, this one functions more as a smart home control center than a speaker, with screen size and interface taking precedence over audio and video quality.

The Echo Show 15 provides a digital location for family members to engage, leave notes for each other, and more when put in a high-traffic area of your house. Each family member may create their own profile with a visual ID so that when they go by, they see personalized communication choices and information relevant to their day. Its smart display also includes widgets like sticky notes, to-do lists, and specific smart home controls, such as the ability to immediately access a feed from your Ring doorbell. Yet, the amount of widgets available for the Echo Show 15 has remained nearly constant in the six months since its release.

It also lacks the more sophisticated camera tracking included in the Echo Show 10, and its speakers are subpar. But, the Echo Show 15 has received a significant improvement and is now a full-fledged Fire TV device that works flawlessly.

Lenovo Smart Clock 2

The Lenovo Smart Clock 2 isn’t the company’s first Google Assistant smart display, but it’s the best smart display for nightstands, thanks to an extremely compact design and an attractive base attachment. The clock also functions as a nightlight and wireless phone charger, and it includes a USB-A plug, making it the only piece of technology you’ll need besides your bed.

It’s not as advanced as some of the other smart displays on this list, with no cameras for video chats and a limited interface focused mostly on displaying images or the clock. In the case of the Lenovo Smart Clock 2, though, less is more. This smart display may easily pass for décor thanks to its simple-yet-modern design. The alarm clock doesn’t have to be complicated — what more does someone need than to see the time and be notified when it’s time to get up?

Facebook Portal

Notwithstanding the company’s recent privacy concerns, Facebook (formerly known as Meta) sells an intriguing smart display. The $179 Facebook Portal appears more like a high-end digital picture frame than the Echo Show or Nest Hub displays, with a matte border and the ability to adjust the position.

While you’re video chatting with WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, and other apps, the Portal detects your face and dynamically pans its camera to keep you in the centre of the picture as much as possible. When it comes to voice commands, you have two options: Facebook’s “Hey Portal” and Amazon’s Alexa. We like Alexa since there are significantly more Alexa tricks and easter eggs than Portal abilities. But, if you’re a frequent Facebook – uh, Meta – user, Portal will outlast any other Alexa (or Google Assistant) smart display.

Conclusion

Keeping in mind our smart home guide, we also analyze how the best smart displays integrate with the rest of the smart home gadgets you may possess. Because Amazon owns Ring, Amazon Echo Show smart displays work particularly well with Ring video doorbells. Nest doorbells and Nest Hub displays are similarly affected.