Thanks to coronavirus lockdowns, voice assistants are getting more use than ever before. Add that to the slew of new products from Amazon and Google as we enter the fall, and this is an exciting time for Alexa and Google Assistant. Smart displays add an even more compelling angle: they offer video chat, touch controls, screen for streaming and much more. I for one have already sent an Echo Show 8 to my mother-in-law so she can drop in to read my kiddos books every couple of days this December.

But which smart display is best for you?

The smart display industry has flourished in recent years, with the Amazon Echo Show 8 and the Google Nest Hub (formerly the Google Home Hub) at the forefront of the screen wars. In addition, Amazon's new Echo Show 10 will be adding a new contender to the field soon. It makes sense that there are almost a dozen smart displays on the market: They're a great combo made up of the always-listening voice assistant (like you'd find in a smart speaker) and a touchscreen for watching videos, controlling your smart home devices, adding things to your to-do lists and more. The Google Nest Hub Max even adds in a face-tracking camera that can display personalized bits of information whenever it recognizes you.

There are plenty of considerations that go into which smart display is right for you. Do you want one that offers video chat and video calling? Or that connects with Amazon's Alexa or the Google Home app? Does it need to be able to control your smart light bulbs and smart plugs? Is audio performance a factor (in case you need music for a dance party)? These are all factors you should keep in mind.

If you're looking to upgrade your current smart speaker, or you're just starting your smart home and you find the touchscreen appealing, here are the best smart displays available now. We'll update this list periodically.

Read more: Google Nest Hub wins CNET's Editors' Choice

Google Nest Hub

Thanks to the built-in

You can also control your smart home devices, like your smart doorbell, with an intuitively designed control panel. Unlike most of the other smart displays (and unlike its new big brother, the ), the Nest Hub doesn't have a camera, but that might be a bonus if you have and want to put it on your bedside table. The colorful fabric design allows the device to blend in anywhere, though the touchscreen comes in particularly handy if you want step-by-step help through a recipe in the kitchen.


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Chris Monroe/CNET

For a long time, the Nest Hub occupied pride of place on this list, thanks to its photo display aesthetic, pleasant user interface and more naturalistic voice assistant. But as we venture ever deeper into the coronavirus pandemic, the Echo Show 8's camera -- and its ability to video chat -- becomes a more important deciding point for would-be customers. And that's one feature the Nest Hub simply doesn't have. Add that to , and the Show 8 has been upgraded to share the "best display" honor with the .

With the Show 8, Amazon's

Best full-size display

Lenovo Smart Display

The Display was actually the first smart display to debut with Google Assistant built-in and it's still one of the best. You still get Google's smart-home control panels and recipe guides, plus the Lenovo display has a camera for video calls and a physical shutter to cover it if you want privacy.


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