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Best smart home hubs in 2024
When you want all your smart home devices living under one roof, invest in a top-notch smart home hub
You can think of a smart home hub as the brains behind your entire Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri-powered ecosystem. Sometimes a hub can be as simple as a smart speaker, but maybe you prefer having a handful of controls at your fingertips. That’s where a smart display, such as the Amazon Echo Show or Google Nest Hub Max, comes into play. Not only do these interactive touchscreens give you up-to-date news and weather reports, but features like automated daily reminders, and smart home widgets can be customized in just a few taps.
You can broadcast messages if you have at least two Google Home or Nest speakers in your house. This feature repeats your message on all speakers (or specified ones), saving you from yelling messages across multiple rooms. This feature is compatible with all Google Assistant speakers. You don't need to rely on Google's Nest products to broadcast messages.
Amazon Echo Show: 16 incredible tips and tricks for your smart display
Make the most of your smart display
Smart displays are an excellent way to add convenience to your household, helping you control lights, thermostats, and other devices. They're also useful for streaming content and video calling friends and family. With its Echo Show lineup, Amazon produces a range of recommendable smart displays that achieve these tasks and offer options to make your life easier. Some of them are designed by Amazon and meant to be used as part of the Echo Show experience. Others are hacks we whipped together to help you do more with your smart display, such as watching YouTube videos.
Amazon Echo: Essential tips for your first smart speaker
From basic uses to hidden Easter eggs, here's how to get the most out of your Echo
Amazon's lineup of smart home devices has grown over the years. If you recently switched to the Amazon Alexa ecosystem, you might have some questions. Questions like, "What can an Echo Dot do?" or "Is the flagship Echo Studio worth it?" might be at the forefront of your mind. But most of all, you want to know the tricks of the trade.
Amazon Echo: Our top Alexa tips and tricks to keep you organized and on task
You can do more than just check the weather
Whether you've had an Amazon Echo for a long time or recently switched to the Amazon ecosystem, you've probably grasped the basic Amazon Echo features. But besides setting kitchen timers and asking for the daily weather forecast, Amazon's Alexa-powered speakers have some lesser-known features that make customizing your smart home even better. Below are the top Amazon Echo and Echo Show tips and tricks to streamline your Alexa ecosystem.
Amazon's best Echo Show displays are down to their lowest prices yet for Fall Prime Day
Save up to 54% on Alexa-enabled smart displays
Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days are here, and they're bringing along some phenomenal deals for shoppers looking to smarten up their home. The Amazon Echo Show lineup includes some of the most capable smart displays on the market, and you can snag one, or more, with steep discounts knocking off 50% or more from the sticker price of the Echo Show 5 and others.
How to set up and customize Amazon Echo Flash Briefing
Customize Amazon Echo Flash Briefing to get personalized news
From playing music to getting news updates to controlling Amazon Alexa-compatible smart home devices, the Amazon Echo line of speakers has improved our lives. Amazon Echo speakers get even better once you start using Alexa skills. Skills are like mini apps that you control with your voice. One of our favorite Amazon Echo tips is Alexa's Flash Briefing skill to hear all the latest news.
8 helpful Google Assistant commands for your Nest smart device
Google Assistant's capabilities on your smart speaker will surprise you
Google's AI-powered voice assistant Google Assistant remains an integral part of Android phones, Nest hardware, and the best compatible smart speakers. Google Assistant on your smart speaker is more capable than merely setting up alarms, reminders, and shopping lists. Here are the best useful commands for the Next speaker or smart display to turn you into Google Assistant ninja.
If you were around for the early days of Amazon's Alexa, you remember it being a mess compared to other voice assistants. Over the years, things have changed considerably. Now that Amazon has sold millions of diverse smart home devices, the voice assistant has grown into its ambitions and is constantly getting new features as it goes.
Amazon Echo Show 10 review: A luxurious Alexa experience
The Show 10 is an impressive piece of hardware, but the value isn't there
Read update
There's no shame in wanting the best of the best when it comes to smart home tech, especially if money is no object. As you'll often find, you get what you pay for in this realm, and dropping those few extra bucks can undeniably improve your overall experience. That's definitely the case with the Echo Show 10, which is a flashy, perhaps extravagant, smart display that costs a pretty penny.
How to manage an Amazon Echo device from the Alexa app
The Alexa app is the backbone of your Amazon Echo experience
Amazon Echo can be your perfect companion to manage your smart home, lighten the mood with some jazz music, get through today's tasks, create a shopping list, and more. Whether you got a new Amazon Echo device for the first time or have had one for years, when you use Alexa on iPhone, Android, or the web, you can customize the Amazon Echo to your preference. Here are the top ways to manage your Amazon Echo device from the Alexa app.
Google's gearing up for cross-platform timers, meanwhile iPhones can barely handle one
Teardown indicates Pixels may see timers started on Assistant smart displays and speakers
According to a recent teardown, Google is working on a feature that would allow Pixels (or potentially other devices cajoled into using the Pixel version of the At a Glance widget) to view timers started on other Assistant smart displays or speakers. This Cross Device Timer, as strings for the feature call it, sounds like you can start a timer on, say, your Nest Hub in the kitchen and follow its progress from your Pixel phone if an errand takes you away.
Google Fit and Fitbit activity metrics are coming to Nest displays
Soon you'll be able to track your steps and calorie count from your smart display
As we eagerly anticipate Google's upcoming Pixel Watch, documentation for its likely integrations has already shown up. According to a new help document on Google's site, you'll soon be able to see "activity metrics" on your Google Nest's Wellness section, including your step count and calories burned as measured by Google Fit or Fitbit.
Google's rumored detachable Nest Hub tablet might run Android
Evidence mounts in Android 13's changes that the detachable smart display/tablet could run our favorite OS
Early leaks have only recently indicated that a future Nest smart display might feature a detachable tablet, and already supporting details are starting to fall into place. Based on some changes recently dug up in Android 13, evidence is mounting that the detachable may actually run Android and be tied to a "Titan" hardware name.
Google's next Nest Hub might be the detachable tablet you always wanted it to be
"You," not "me." I'll need to see it first.
Google is reportedly working on a new Assistant-powered smart display. Given the typical release cadence, that's no shock, but this one may have a twist: It could have a removable display for tablet-style use. Plop it on the base for use as a smart display, pop it off for a bit of sofa browsing. It sounds cool, but it also raises a question about software.
Google just broke web browsing on a bunch of smart displays
Maybe don't visit sketchy websites on shared devices
Beginning this year, Google elected to switch SafeSearch on by default for second-gen Nest Hubs and the Nest Hub Max. Anything that isn't a Google-made device can't easily access the web for simple browsing — a basic and somewhat limited experience on many smart displays in the first place.
Google, a big fan of safety, expands Assistant Guest Mode to 9 other languages
Plus, more new safety features
Google is using Safer Internet Day, an initiative spearheaded by the European Union, to announce several expansions to safety features it has made available across its various platforms. After all, you might need them one day. Better them being more available than less so.
Setting Google Assistant timers on smart displays is pretty broken right now
But a fix is on the way
Google Assistant usually knows how to handle things when you ask it to set a timer. In the past couple of days, though, it hasn't been able to do so from your smart display.
Google's Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max displays are $50 off for a limited time
That's a new low for the second-gen Hub
Google's gotta move product and it is tapping the shoulders of its partner retailers and telling them to get a move-on, too. The comapny's loss is your gain, however, if you're looking to pick up a Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max for a song!
Hurry and save up to $50 on some awesome Nest speakers and displays
Get a big bundle or a mini speaker, your choice
Smart homes aren't just about security systems and automatically locking doors — they're also about getting you information you want quickly and establishing a mood when you want it. If you've shied away from smart displays and speakers but maybe are just waiting for the right opportunity to open up, here's a fantastic deal or two for you.