Tech
I’m a Smart-Home Addict, and These Are My Favorite Smart Displays
Comparing Our Favorite Smart Displays
More Smart Displays We Like
Echo Hub for $180: The Echo Hub isn’t exactly a smart display. It lacks powerful speaker capabilities and doesn’t have a camera for calls or Amazon’s Drop-In video call feature. Instead, it focuses entirely on being a smart home dashboard with built-in Alexa, plus features like widgets and the photo frame. I think it takes the best, most easily used features of a smart display and cuts out the rest. But if you want a good speaker, don’t choose this one.
Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen, 2023) for $90: The smaller and cheaper third-gen Echo Show 5 has a 5.5-inch screen that 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.
Echo Show 15 for $300: This is the largest of them all, with a 15.6-inch display, and it has customizable widgets so you can have smart-home device controls and calendar reminders available whenever. It’s made to be mounted on your wall like a TV (a stand is sold separately), and the Show 15 pairs with a Fire TV remote (you can use the app) to use the streaming features. With the new Alexa+ I’ve found myself liking it a lot more, and it’s much less distracting than the rotating slideshows you get on smaller Echo Shows. It’s a splurge, though, and I still wish the streaming capabilities were better.
Google Nest Hub for $100: Google’s second-gen Nest Hub is a 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, though it’s not bright enough to qualify as a sunrise alarm clock. It also has sleep-tracking tech to track your sleep quality, though the quality of the results isn’t great. It also supports gestures—like playing or pausing a video with a hand movement—by using unique radar tech.
Google Pixel Tablet for $499: This tablet doubles as a smart speaker when placed on its speaker dock. It works well, but it’s not currently slated to get Google’s new assistant, Gemini for Home. If that changes, we’ll go back to recommending it. But we’re not sure it will: availability has been limited for the speaker base, and could point to this device being discontinued altogether.
Smart Displays to Skip
We don’t like every smart display. Here are the ones we’re skipping after trying them out.
Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen, 2021) for $250: This smart display is situated on top of a large cylindrical speaker, which makes it sound great. 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. It’s a unique model, and is still out of stock like it was this summer. I suspect the upcoming new Echo Show 11 ($220) might replace it, since it has a similar design (but leaves out the movement gimmick).
Third-Party Google Displays: Google is no longer updating software for some of the third-party smart displays we used to recommend in this guide. If you have one, it will still work, but some features will likely suffer or disappear entirely as time passes. This seems to be the fate of most third-party Google smart displays, which is why we don’t recommend them anymore. Google did say they’ll be working with partners to bring Gemini for Home to third-party devices, so we’ll see how that pans out.
What About Alexa+ and the New Echo Shows?
Amazon has been randomly rolling out its new version of Alexa, named Alexa+, in early access since the spring. This second generation of the Alexa voice assistant is more conversational, able to execute complex tasks and learn new information, and can be much more personalized. That’ll be due to its being powered by generative AI. Check out our hands-on with early access Alexa+ for more more about our experience.
Unlike the current Alexa, once it’s fully available, it’ll cost $20 a month or be free if you have an Amazon Prime membership. This is a big jump from the free assistant, but you can keep the current Alexa for free if you don’t wish for another subscription or have an Amazon Prime membership. Right now, it’s also only available in early access for Echo Show devices. You can sign up here for the wait list.
Alexa+ will be immediately available on its newest devices coming this fall, however. There will be two new smart displays, the Echo Show 8 (4th Gen) and Echo Show 11, and two new smart speakers, the Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio (2nd Gen). We’re curious how the new models will compare to our current favorites, and we will update this guide once we test them.
It’s also important to note that Alexa+ has forced a privacy change for all Echo devices. Echo devices used to be able to process voice recordings locally on your device, but the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” privacy feature was killed in March. Now all voice recordings will be sent to Amazon to be processed in order to make Alexa+ function, but even if you don’t end up using Alexa+, the feature is gone.
What About Gemini for Home and Google’s Smart Displays?
Amazon isn’t the only one rolling out a new version of its assistant. Gemini for Home is Google’s similarly AI-powered smart assistant that will replace Google Assistant in just about all of its available speakers. Unlike Amazon’s new assistant, Gemini for Home will be free, but Google is changing its Nest Aware subscription to become a subscription that’s both for video storage and for more powerful assistant features.
Google is also rolling out a new speaker in the spring, but no new smart display is slated yet. The new assistant will come to all of Google’s existing lineup except for the Google Pixel Tablet, which we no longer recommend since it’s not currently planned to get support with the new assistant. Google did say they plan to work with third-party partners to bring Gemini for Home to more devices, so we might see new third-party displays that we can recommend again. We’ll update this guide as we learn more, but for now, Google’s Nest Hub Max and Nest Hub are the best smart displays to purchase if you want access to Google’s new assistant.
FAQs
Do You Need a Smart Display?
Smart displays are helpful, acting as hubs for your smart home devices, walking you through recipes while you chop away in the kitchen, and in some cases allowing you to video chat hands-free too. But we’re not sure how long they’ll be worth it, or even exist, in their current form. Companies have been experimenting and doing away with smart displays again and again; Meta discontinued its Portal devices, Google might be discontinuing the Pixel Tablet we favored, and Apple still has yet to even make a smart display.
Amazon has continued to make new smart displays, even after losing $10 billion in 2022 thanks to failures around the Alexa voice assistant. The Alexa team was reportedly hit hard by layoffs in 2022 and 2023, but new smart displays continued to come out since then and more are slated to come out later this fall: the Echo Show 8 (4th Gen) and Echo Show 11.
The future of these smart home devices isn’t clear right now, but if you’re going to get one, we suggest sticking with devices directly from the brand whose voice assistant you prefer. Otherwise, consider one of our favorite tablets instead.
Does Apple Have a Smart Display?
So far, Apple has yet to launch its own dedicated smart display. Apple iPhones have a StandBy Mode included in iOS that activates when an iPhone is on its side and charging, using stands like this one from Twelve South. I had hoped this feature would feel similar to a smart display, but StandBy Mode is limited to customizable clock faces, showing your photos, and having your texts pop up in large text that fills the screen. It doesn’t scratch the itch of all the features you get in a smart display and instead feels like a fancy alarm clock.
What About Digital Calendars?
There’s a growing market of digital calendars that look a bit like smart displays, but instead of being able to respond to voice commands and stream a video call, these digital screens are designed to have one shared calendar for the entire family to see and view. Skylight, a maker of one of our favorite digital photo frames, makes the Skylight Calendar (starting at $170) that comes in 10 inches, 15 inches, and 27 inches, while I tested the Hearth Display ($699) that comes exclusively in a 27-inch size. Cozyla also makes the Cozyla Calendar+ that starts at 15 inches but goes all the way up to a 36-inch screen.
There are some differences in these calendars, but you’ll find a similar roadblock to them: memberships. Hearth Display encourages using the display to create routines with your family, specifically kids, though you’ll want a kid older than my 2-year-old to use it properly (though the Hearth does have icons designed for kids who can’t read yet), and to sign up for the Family Membership. The Skylight touts a photo screensaver and meal planning tools if you sign up for the monthly Plus Plan.
You could find these devices are for you, but it’s either another device for one parent to manage or something you’ll have to teach your entire family to make into a habit to really get the most out of. You’re likely better off just teaching everyone in your family to share their Google Calendar.
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Tech
LG’s High-End Soundbar System Makes My Living Room Feel Like a Home Theater
Setup was relatively quick and painless. You just have to unbox four speakers, a soundbar, and a subwoofer, attach their power cables, and plug in everything. Pairing happens through the LG ThinQ app, which allows you to set up the Sound Suite system and tune it to exactly where you’re sitting in the room using your cell phone’s microphone.
You can also set up each speaker to play music and group it with any other LG smart speakers you might have around your home, like the more affordable $250 M5 bookshelf speaker, to create a whole-home system.
Once all the components were synced, I plugged the soundbar into the C5 OLED via HDMI, and was able to easily control everything via the TV remote’s volume and mute buttons. More in-depth settings had to happen in the app, but if you’re anything like me, this won’t become a regular chore. You’ll set it how you like it once and move on. While the pairing functionality with the LG TV was nice, it’s not required–the eARC port lets the Sound Suite work perfectly with any modern TV.
The bar itself runs the show, with a black-and-white display on the far left that shows your mode and volume, among other settings. In the center of the bar and below each speaker, an LED light strip that also shows you the volume when you change it, which is a nice touch.
Getting Musical
Photograph: Parker Hall
The sound of the LG Sound Suite is full and cinematic, thanks in no small part to the extra dedicated speakers. Most competitors lack front left and right, simply opting to use the soundbar for these channels. As such, the width and breadth of the soundstage were bigger than most competitors I’ve tried, with only Samsung’s flagship HW-Q990F as a real contender. Even the Samsung lacked the lower-frequency audio quality that these LG speakers provide.
Tech
‘The Last Airbender’ Leaked Online. Some Fans Say Paramount Deserves the Fallout
The online leak of a full version of Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender—a highly anticipated animated film in a multimedia fantasy franchise—has divided passionate fans while upsetting those who spent years working on the film.
The leaks began on X late on Saturday night, about six months before Aang was scheduled to premiere on Paramount+. User @ImStillDissin posted two short clips from the film. “Nickelodeon accidentally emailed me the entire Avatar aang movie,” he claimed. He also threatened to stream the entire movie if Paramount didn’t release an official trailer, and he posted a still from the movie’s end credits, revealing previously undisclosed voice-over cast and roles. The media from @ImStillDissin’s posts were later hit with copyright strikes and removed.
But within 48 hours, links to download the full movie appeared on 4chan and X, where some users also directly streamed the film. Across the web, fans said they had successfully pirated and watched what appeared to be a nearly finished and “beautiful” animated film.
While some argued that Paramount deserved to be punished because of certain creative and marketing decisions around the movie, others noted what a blow the leak was to the animators and production crew. A number of those team members took to social media to convey their sadness and frustration.
“We worked on the aang movie for years with the expectation that’d [sic] we’d get to celebrate all of our hard work in theaters. Just to see people unceremoniously leak the film and pass our shots around on twitter like candy,” animator Julia Schoel wrote Tuesday on X.
The user behind @ImStillDissin, who would not reveal his real name due to fear of legal repercussions, tells WIRED that he obtained the movie almost by chance and did not expect his posts to set off such a crisis in the entertainment world. “When I posted those clips I was purely trolling,” he says. “I was expecting a day of clout farming at best, not for the whole thing to blow up like this.”
(While WIRED has done its due diligence in verifying that the person speaking to us was behind the @ImStillDissin X account, we acknowledge that the hacking community is known to troll.)
According to @ImStillDissin, a screen-grabbed version of Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender was circulating among people he knew from his days in the hacking community, one of whom shared it with him. “Broadly speaking, the supply chain for movies and TV is rife with insecure companies and vendors and lax checks,” he claims. He notes that two different SpongeBob SquarePants movies leaked months before their release dates in 2024. “Someone on 4chan who wasn’t happy at me drip-feeding stuff posted a copy of a draft script [of the new Avatar film] from like two years back,” says @ImStillDissin.
Neither Nickelodeon nor its parent company Paramount have confirmed a hack had taken place, nor have they issued a statement on the matter. They also did not respond to requests for comment.
Originally announced in 2021, Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender marked the first production for Avatar Studios, a division of Nickelodeon’s animation department.
Some people felt justified in pirating and sharing the movie due to the recasting of voice actors. Last year, during a Reddit AMA, casting director Jenny Jue wrote that the voice cast from the Avatar TV show that aired on Nickelodeon in the 2000s was not returning due to efforts to “match actors’ ethnic/racial background to the characters they’re portraying.”
Tech
NASA Wants to Put Nuclear Reactors on the Moon
Having demonstrated that it has the operational capability to transport humans safely to the moon and back, the United States is moving on to its next major aim: It wants nuclear reactors in orbit and on the lunar surface by 2030. For such a feat, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will have to work in conjunction with the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.
In a post on X, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) unveiled a document with new guidelines for federal agencies to establish the space nuclear technology road map for the coming years. This, they say, will ensure “US space superiority.”
At present, space instruments use solar power to operate. However, this is considered impractical for more complex purposes. Although technically there is always sunlight, the power is intermittent and almost always requires bulky batteries to store it.
Reactors produce fairly continuous energy for years through nuclear fission. They can also be used for so-called nuclear electric propulsion. Continuous output makes them the most viable option for lunar base subsistence, but they can also allow spacecraft to undertake long or complex missions without worrying about depleting a limited supply of chemical fuel.
Nuclear technology, in short, makes it possible to go farther, with more payload, for longer, and with fewer constraints.
According to the memorandum, the US goal is to put a medium-power reactor in orbit by 2028, with a variant designed for nuclear electric propulsion, and a first functional large reactor on the surface of the moon by 2030. To achieve this, both NASA and the Pentagon will develop energy technologies in parallel, using the current strategy of competition among contractors.
The reactors will have to be modular and scalable, and will have to include applications for both future life on the moon and space propulsion. For its part, the DOE will have to ensure that these projects have the fuel, infrastructure, and safety features necessary to achieve their objectives. In addition, the agency will evaluate whether the industry has the capacity to produce up to four reactors in five years.
The plan contemplates technologies that produce at least 20 kilowatts of electricity (kWe) for three years in orbit and at least five years on the lunar surface. In the meantime, they should have a design capable of raising power to 100 kWe. The first designs should arrive within a year.
Finally, the order tasks the OSTP with creating a road map for the initiative, noting obstacles and recommendations for addressing them.
“Nuclear power in space will give us the sustained electricity, heating, and propulsion essential to a permanent presence on the moon, Mars, and beyond,” OSTP posted. For his part, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman posted, “The time has come for America to get underway on nuclear power in space.” The message was followed by an emoji of a US flag.
The plan provides a common framework for each agency to work within. In the background, the race for space infrastructure is evidence of technological competition with China, which is also seeking advanced energy capabilities for the moon.
This story originally appeared in WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
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