How to set up google home display

Ever wish you could smash a tablet and smart speaker together? These devices try to offer the best of both worlds.

A smart display might be for you if you want the convenience of a smart assistant with the added bonus of having something to look at. When you put Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa into a smart speaker with a tablet-sized screen, you get a fun way to see the weather or album art, watch TV shows, make video calls, and other (mostly) useful stuff. We've tested most of the major displays on the market and have listed our favorites below.

Most of our picks use Google Assistant instead of Amazon's Alexa because it's often easier to set up devices that use Google's services, and Google provides a simpler experience in some ways.

Be sure to check out our many other buying guides, including our roundups of all our favorite smart speakers and specific guides for Google Assistant and Alexa speakers.

Updated February 2022: We've added Lenovo's Smart Clock Gen 2 as our bedroom pick and the Facebook Portal Go as a portable option.

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  Why You Should Get a Smart Display

  The Pros of an Added Screen

  Anything a smart speaker can do, a smart display can (usually) do better. The screens and cameras (on some models) are a step above a cheap speaker or expensive tablet.

  Smart displays can act as hubs for your smart home devices, like security cameras and bulbs, so you can control everything with your voice and quickly call up video feeds. And because they're made to be displayed, you don't have to get an extra stand—as you would if you wanted to use an iPad in this way, for example.

  The biggest pro for me (Medea) is the ability to see and hear recipes when I'm getting my hands dirty in the kitchen. Before trying a smart display, I was scrolling through my phone with greasy fingers, continuously unlocking and locking it. Seeing the step-by-step instructions displayed prominently on the 10-inch screen of the Nest Hub Max in my kitchen is a step above what my smart speaker can do.

  Better yet, if you connect your Google Photos account to Google-powered displays, you can cycle through your pictures and memories, like a slightly less sophisticated digital picture frame. (You can do this on Amazon's smart displays too.)

  The biggest con I found in almost all smart displays is the fact that they have to be plugged in. I'd love to be able to move my display around from room to room when I need to. If you think the same, and aren't interested in buying a Portal from Facebook, take a gander at our favorite tablets.

• Photograph: Best Buy

  Best Overall

  Google Nest Hub Max

  The Google Nest Hub Max is a great all-around smart display. It has an unobtrusive design, a 10-inch touchscreen display, some pretty good speakers, and a camera for video calls over Google Duo or non-Google services like Zoom. The camera can also identify individual members of the house and shows personal information only pertaining to each person. Just know you'll need the right amount of space for it, and while you can turn the camera off, you may want to pick up a privacy cover to block it when it's not in use.

  Google now has guest mode that allows you to enjoy all the voice assistant's features without saving anything to your account or showing personalized results—just say, “Hey Google, turn on Guest Mode." If you use multiple Google speakers, be aware that you'll no longer be able to adjust the volume for all of them at once, at least for now, thanks to a lawsuit from Sonos.

  ★ A camera-free alternative: Google’s second-generation Nest Hub ($100) is another great option if you don't need a camera, and don’t mind a smaller, 7-inch screen. It has a wake-up alarm that emulates the rising sun for gentler mornings, and it has sleep-sensing tech to track your sleep quality, though that only works for the person sleeping closest to the Hub. The smaller Nest Hub also supports gestures—like playing or pausing a video with just a hand movement—by using the same unique radar tech found in select Pixel phones.

• Photograph: Lenovo

  Best for the Bedroom

  Lenovo Smart Clock Gen 2

  We've liked Lenovo's Smart Clock since its first iteration. It's one of the smallest smart displays you'll find, so it works for cramped nightstands. The 4-inch screen is perfect for looking at weather reports and checking the time, or playing news headlines as you get ready for the day. If you're trying to watch YouTube videos before bed or follow a video recipe in the kitchen, you should opt for something bigger.

  The second-generation Smart Clock has an LCD touchscreen, and it sounds a bit better now that it has front-firing speakers. There's a version with a wireless charging dock for your phone, which is a nice addition. The dock includes a USB port (previously this was in the clock's body) so you can charge something else too, and there's a nice nightlight around the edge of where the clock sits in the dock—dim enough to find your bed in the dark, but not bright enough to disturb a sleeping partner. 

  ★ Another great bedside display: For an even more bare-bones experience, try Lenovo's Smart Clock Essential, which you can usually find for around $30. It looks like a classic digital clock with an LCD screen that shows the time and weather. But Google Assistant is still here, so you can ask it to set alarms, turn off the bedroom lights, and anything else you'd ask the other smart displays in this guide. There's a physical switch to turn off the microphone when you're not using it, and a nightlight on the back so you can find your way in the dark.

• Photograph: Amazon

  If You Prefer Alexa Over Google

  Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen)

  The second-generation Echo Show 8 is the middle child in the Show family, smaller than the 10 and bigger than the 5, but we think it's the best choice for most people. Generally, 8 inches is a great size for a smart display. It won't be hard to read recipes in the kitchen or watch movies on this screen, but also the device won't take up the entire counter in small kitchens. The 8-incher has the same pixel density as the larger model.

  WIRED associate editor Parker Hall says it's a solid speaker and does all the expected smart display tasks like controlling smart home products and video chatting. He particularly loves the alarm setting, where you can see it count down. Though it doesn't swivel to follow you around the room like the 10-inch model, the camera does have auto-pan and zoom features to keep you centered in the frame during video calls (as long as you don't wander too far out of view). The camera has a shutter for when you aren't using it.

• Photograph: Amazon

  More Echo Show Sizes

  Amazon Echo Show Family

  Frankly, Amazon's tech is still not as good as Google Assistant—although Echo's recipe feature, which shows step-by-step instructions, rivals the similar feature Google cooked up for its displays. But Amazon invented this category, and all the Echo Shows are a promising evolution of the smart-screen concept. If the 8 doesn't seem right for you, there are other Shows you might prefer.

  The smaller, and cheaper, Echo Show 5's 5.5-inch screen works best on a desk or a bedside table. We think it's a bit too small for the kitchen or living room, but that depends on how you plan to use it. The screen of the third-gen Show 10 is situated on top of a large cylindrical speaker, which makes it sounds great. Plus the screen physically swivels to follow you around the room as you use it, keeping you in frame while you video chat, or keeping your streamed workout video in your line of sight as you move about. Because the screen moves around so much, you may have trouble positioning it in tighter spaces—especially in corners. 

  Finally, there's the new 15-inch Show that we have yet to try. It's 15.6-inch display is big and made to be mounted on your wall (you can get a stand, but it's sold separately). We'll update this when we have a chance to test it out.

• Photograph: Lenovo

  Best for the Kitchen

  Lenovo Smart Display

  Lenovo's Smart Display (8/10, WIRED Recommends) can't pump out the jams as well as JBL's Link View, but it has a stylish design that's kitchen-friendly. Google Assistant's step-by-step recipe directions work perfectly on it. It comes in three sizes, with a 7-inch or 10-inch screen. The former two sizes are perfect in a small kitchen; the 10-incher may be too large for some countertops, but we love the bamboo-wood-grain design touches on the back of that model.

  You can prop up the 8- and 10-inch models vertically for video calls with people holding a smartphone, or keep it widescreen. (We didn't miss that feature on the 7-inch model however.) This display has a privacy shutter so you can keep the camera covered when it's not in use.

• Photograph: Facebook

  Finally, a Portable Smart Display

  Facebook Portal Go

  All smart displays should be portable, in my opinion. But alas, the only one we've tried (so far) is the 10-inch Facebook Portal Go (8/10, WIRED Recommends). While Portals operate like Echo devices, relying on Amazon's Alexa, they excel at video chats, which you can do through Facebook messenger or Zoom. WIRED senior associate editor Adrienne So has used a few versions for keeping her kids in touch with their grandparents when the global pandemic kept them apart, but the Go made that experience easier. Kids and adults can move seamlessly through their world while chatting, watching videos, or cooking. The biggest flaw is that it's made by a terrible social media company.

  Portal's camera follows your movements too, so you're always in frame. Facebook stresses that video calls and chats (through Messenger or WhatsApp, both of which work on Portal) are encrypted, and the camera can be disabled or blocked with the included camera cover.  

  ★ More Sizes: Don't need a portable display? You can get the same 10-inch sized screen in a stationary version, an 8-inch Portal Mini, and a 15.6-inch Portal Plus.

• Photograph: JBL

  Honorable Mention

  JBL Link View Smart Display

  We love JBL's Link View (8/10, WIRED Recommends) for listening to music. However, it came out in 2018 and is becoming harder to find, it's also slower to respond than newer displays given its age. If you can find it on a good sale, you might still like it though. It has a privacy cover that you can slide over its webcam, and the 8-inch screen is ideal—small enough that it doesn't take up your whole countertop, but big enough for squint-free Google Meet video chats or photo slideshows. 

• Photograph: Sonos 

  Or Forget the Screen

  Sonos One (Gen 2)

Medea Giordano turned her shopping problem into a career as a product writer for WIRED. She covers a little bit of everything but loves health, beauty, and pet tech. Prior to WIRED, she was an assistant editor at Wirecutter and an assistant in the newsroom of The New York Times.... Read more

Jeffrey Van Camp is a director and editor for WIRED, specializing in personal technology reviews and coverage. Previously he was the deputy editor of Digital Trends, helping to oversee the site’s editorial operations, and before that, its mobile editor. He’s covered tech, video games, and entertainment for more than a... Read more