The perfect good show to purchase for 2020

Smart displays, the cousins ​​of voice-controlled smart speakers with a full touchscreen display, are ideal for managing your smart home, displaying useful information during the day, or even playing music or videos.

Like an intelligent speaker, an intelligent display is primarily voice-controlled, so you can bark commands from anywhere in a room. Unlike an intelligent speaker, an intelligent display can show information such as upcoming appointments, weather, current timers, the current time, a shopping list, recipes and more without having to execute a single command. They can also be used as a modern digital photo frame with a cloud connection, so you can see all the memories that you have captured over the years and that are currently stored on your smartphone. Some models also have built-in cameras that allow you to make video calls to other smart displays or even phones.

A good smart display has all the functions of a smart speaker, including its own good-sounding speakers for listening to music or watching videos. They are available in different prices and sizes. Depending on where you want to place the display in your home, you may prefer a smaller model over a model with a larger screen and louder speakers. However, if you are looking for an all-around smart display that you can use in your kitchen or living room, you should use one with a screen that is clearly visible from anywhere in the room and speakers that fill the room with clear, pleasant sound can .

The best smart display for most people: Amazon Echo Show 8

Amazon Echo Show 8.

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Echo Show 8 is the middle child in the range of Amazon-powered smart displays from Amazon. It has a bright 8-inch touchscreen, two powerful speakers with surprising volume, a built-in camera with privacy screen and four microphones for listening to voice commands. It doesn't take up much space on a counter, coat, or bookshelf, but can be easily seen or controlled from anywhere in a room.

The Show 8 has access to the same Alexa features as Amazon's Echo speakers, but includes a number of unique features that use the built-in display. You can see timers on the screen without asking, recipes are shown with step-by-step instructions and video tutorials, grocery lists are displayed directly on the screen, and the show goes through upcoming calendar dates, weather reports, and headlines when it is idle. The screen can also be used to get feeds from video doorbells and surveillance cameras, or to make video calls through Amazon's Alexa calling service to other Echo Show devices or smartphones. With the built-in privacy screen, you can block the view of the camera when you don't want to make video calls or use it in a bedroom.

Since the display is a full touchscreen, you can also interact with the Echo Show 8 without using your voice. This includes canceling timers, controlling smart home devices, or scrolling through photos stored in Amazon photos or Facebook albums. However, the Show 8 is not designed as an iPad-like tablet, and its interactivity is limited to simple functions.

Like Echo speakers, Show 8 can play audio and music from multiple sources, including Spotify, Audible, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Sirius XM. It can also play videos from Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. However, there's no easy way to play YouTube videos (you'll need to go through the device's built-in web browser, a very cumbersome process), and it's not possible to play Netflix either. Show 8 is not alone in the latter. For some reason, no smart display on the market can play Netflix videos, which is unfortunate. These limitations make Show 8 a poor replacement for a television, but it is very good for listening to music.

Good stuff

• Great room filling sound
• Bright, sharp display
• Access to the same Alexa skills as other Echo devices
• The camera can be blocked with a built-in visor

Bad things

• Works best with Amazon's photo, music, and video services
• Watching YouTube is painful and you cannot access Netflix at all
• Recipe functions are still not very useful

Finally, Show 8 is good value for money: it often doesn't cost much more than $ 30 over standard Amazon Echo speakers and is often offered at a cheaper price. Thanks to its spacious screen, speakers and a multitude of functions, it offers the best price-performance ratio for any smart display that you can buy.

An alternative operated by Google with better photo functions: Google Nest Hub

Google Nest Hub.

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Together with Amazon, Google has its own smart displays, which are supported by the Google assistant. If you're fully invested in the Google ecosystem or already own many Nest products, these may be a better option for you than the Echo Show. (The Echo Show 8 can display Google calendar events and video feeds from Nest cameras, but is not as deeply integrated as Google's smart displays.)

The best option in the Google product range is the Nest Hub (formerly known as Google Home Hub). The Nest Hub is a 7-inch smart display, slightly smaller than the Echo Show 8 and fits more comfortably on a bedside table. The killer feature is a screen that automatically adapts to the lighting in your room, making it almost look like photos are printed on paper instead of being displayed on a screen. Combine this with Google Photos' great auto backups and smart albums, which can automatically update the Nest Hub with new pictures every time you take them, and you may have the best digital photo frame experience you can get.

The Nest Hub lacks a camera, so it cannot be used for video calls. The bigger victim, however, is the speaker, which is much less powerful and doesn't sound nearly as good as the Echo Show 8 dual speaker system. The 7-inch screen is also significantly smaller, making it more difficult to see from a room, and it’s less convenient to watch videos. However, if you watch a lot of YouTube or are a YouTube TV customer, the Nest Hub can display these services much better than Amazon's options. You can also easily transfer video content from a variety of apps on your phone (excluding Netflix) to the Nest Hub display, which is not possible with an Echo Show.

Otherwise, the Nest Hub works very similar to the Echo Show. It can be used to control smart home devices, display upcoming appointments, step-by-step recipes, or voice-controlled timers and alarms. Google Assistant is generally better at answering random fact-based questions than Alexa, but they are very similar for everyday tasks. One thing that makes Amazon a lot better is managing a shared grocery list. So if you plan to incorporate an intelligent display into your kitchen, the Echo Show is the better choice.

Good stuff

• Beautiful display with automatic dimming and color adjustment
• Compact size that can be conveniently placed anywhere in the house
• Comprehensive smart home controls that can be accessed by voice or touch
• The integration of Google Photos makes it the best digital photo frame ever made

Bad things

• A small screen size can be daunting
• The speaker quality is poor
• Netflix cannot be streamed
• You have to say "Google" every time you want to talk to the thing

The sticker price of the Nest Hub is the same as that of the Echo Show 8, but is sold or reduced so often that you can usually find it for well under $ 100. At this price, the Nest Hub is an ideal option for a smart alarm clock or digital photo frame in a bedroom or other living area.

Other options:

While Echo Show 8 and Nest Hub are ideal mid-size options for most people, Amazon and Google have larger and smaller smart display options that are supported by their respective voice assistants. If you're looking for a smart alarm clock that doesn't dominate your bedside table, Echo Show 5 or Lenovo Smart Clock are scaled down versions of Show 8 and Nest Hub with fewer features and less space. If you want an even bigger screen, Echo Show and Nest Hub Max have 10-inch displays and louder speakers. However, they are significantly more expensive and do not necessarily offer a much better experience to justify their costs.

Good stuff

• Nice screen for viewing photos
• The camera can be used for video calls as well as for home security purposes
• Comprehensive smart home controls
• Personalized information based on who is looking at the screen

Bad things

• The sound quality does not match the Amazon Echo Show
• Netflix cannot be played
• No physical shutter for the camera
• The home screen could be better used to show more information
• Does not support G Suite accounts or shared calendars

Verge Score

7.5 from 10

Good stuff

• Great sound quality
• Large screen is much nicer to look at
• Pleasant design
• Easy to use and powerful software

Bad things

• Still largely limited to Amazon services
• No hardware lock to block the camera
• Screen-based skills are still missing
• YouTube experience is ridiculously bad

Verge Score

8.5 from 10

Good stuff

• Compact design
• Bright, colorful touchscreen
• Loud, full sounding speaker
• Comfortable alarm functions
• Possibility to block the camera with a physical shutter

Bad things

• Limited video features
• No support for YouTube
• Not as cute as the set Echo Spot

Verge Score

6.5 from 10

Good stuff

• Very small space requirement, but still easy to read screen from anywhere in the room
• Loud, customizable alarm sound
• Has all the features of Google Assistant

Bad things

• Can't do much with the screen (no video, limited touch interaction)
• The sound quality is just average, not great
• The display does not automatically adjust colors like the Nest Hub

Good stuff

• Works great with the Google ecosystem
• Well designed software

Bad things

• Mediocre sound quality
• Strongly connected to Google services
• "Hey Google" wake-up word still annoying as always

Verge Score

6.5 from 10

Good stuff

• Works great with the Google ecosystem
• Well designed software

Bad things

• Mediocre sound quality
• Strongly connected to Google services
• "Hey Google" wake-up word still annoying as always
• Strange asymmetrical design

Verge Score

7.5 from 10

Good stuff

• Works great with the Google ecosystem
• Requires less space than other Lenovo options
• Nicer design than other Lenovo Smart Displays
• Physical camera shutter

Bad things

• Doesn't sound as good as Echo Show 8
• Doesn't look as good as Nest Hub

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