DIY smart home
This story is part of an ongoing DIY smart home series. Check out the latest installments to follow the renovation process from start to finish.
If you’re a visual person like me, smart screens are attractive devices. They are like the best smart speakers, but with tablets attached. For my continuous DIY smart home project I had to decide which of the growing number of smart screens there had the best sense for my connected space.
Smart screens are visual vehicles for Amazon and Google’s voice assistants. Between compatibility with voice commands and manual controls within the interface, a smart screen can serve as a one-time remote control for the smart home. You can use it to turn on your smart lights, manage routines and check your video doorbell. Most also support call and in- or intercom functions.
If you do not talk to Alexa or Google Assistant, the exhibits can show the news, the weather, photos or whatever you want to see at a glance. You can also watch videos of some of the best streaming services, follow the step-by-step recipes and deejay your music tracks.
This is the basic offering that you will find among the smartest exhibits on the market. To decide what is best for you, you will want to consider other needs. Not all smart screens are built the same: some have cameras and others have cameras that you really follow. Others are so discreet and compact that they can replace your alarm clock at the bedside.
Here are three things to keep in mind when choosing a smart screen, and why I chose the Amazon Echo Show 8 over Google Nest Hub.
Where do you want to place the smart screen?
The room in which you want to use a smart screen will partly determine which model you should get. Smart exhibits like the Google Nest Hub Max and new Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd generation) takes up a lot of real estate, making it suitable for larger spaces. Their larger exhibits are ideal for managing your entire home, making it a great option for an accessible place where you will pass during the day.
While the Amazon Echo Show 8, Lenovo Smart Display 7 and new Google Nest Hub can also be helpful in the kitchen, because their smaller footprints make them better suited for a desk, a dresser or a table. You will sacrifice the speaker strength and camera quality (and the camera entirely, for the Nest Hub), but you will save money and still get all the most important features from your assistant.
There are also smart screens made specifically for your nightstand. The Amazon Echo Show 5 and Lenovo Smart Clock costs just as much as non-smart alarm clocks, but is as capable as peer-peers like the Amazon Echo Dot (4th generation) and Google Nest Mini.
What special qualities do you address?
In addition to size, there are certain tricks that can make one of the many smart display options more attractive to you. For example, if you want to make video calls with friends and family, you need to choose a smart screen with a built-in camera. The larger screens have the clearest picture quality, but you can also take video calls from the Echo Show 5.
Some smart screens enhance the camera features with motion detection. The Echo Show 10 turns to look at you when you talk or call Alexa. Meanwhile, the Nest Hub Max automatically adjusts the camera to keep you central during video calls.
Then there is the 7-inch Nest Hub, which comes with sleep monitoring at the end of March. While many of the best fitness trackers and best smartwatches Google Nest Hub claims that it can track your sleep from your bed – no skin contact required. I will have to see how well it works before I naturally recommend it.
Which voice assistant do you want to use?
In most cases, it makes sense to get a smart screen that is compatible with the rest of your existing smart home devices. A Google Assistant screen can be used to display any of the best google home devices, while an Echo screen is able to best Alexa compatible devices. It’s usually easier to stick to one platform so you can make smart home routines.
But if you are not loyal to one or the other, you have to decide which one you want to use. Both are capable and support a variety of third-party smart devices, offering smartphone apps to control your system wherever you are.
What makes them different, Alexa Guard and Alexa Hunches are two notable skills that make Alexa a more autonomous assistant. On the other hand, Google Assistant extends better than the out-of-home, as it is integrated into applications like Google Maps and Google Translate.
The smart screen I chose
Finally, we went with the Echo Show 8, which turns Alexa into a useful entertainment station that is easily available over the counter. I wanted a smart display for the kitchen, and I did not bother much with a rotating screen. Since we skipped smart devices (like a fridge with a built-in display) it would be convenient to have a panel on our counter for adjusting appliances in our soon-to-be smart home. It will also come in handy when managing multiple recipes, as I had to do in the Thanksgiving meal for Thanksgiving I liked between Amazon and the bigger smart screens of Google.
Me too choose Alexa over Google Assistant as my smart-house butler, so one of the Echo screens makes the most sense to me. Unlike Google, Amazon does not offer Alexa’s visual interface to third-party businesses. And because I install a wall-mounted smart home controller near my front door, my kitchen’s smart screen can function more like a gravy chef.
Do you have questions about smart screens? Send me an email at [email protected] or leave a comment below, and I’ll try to address it in my DIY smart home series. Check out the previous episode, DIY smart home: why I chose this smart thermostat for under $ 100, also.