The Google Nest Hub is an excellent example of smart display thanks to its affordable price tag, compact and elegant design and the ability to interact with the Google Assistant with visual elements. There are a number of small quibbles we have, though, and using the Hub can be quite frustrating at times. It's usefulness will also depend on things like what other smart home devices you have around the house.

Affordable; Compact design; Useful features;

No camera; Sometimes frustrating;

Compact design; Fantastic screen; High value price point;

No camera for video calls; Limited number of apps at launch; Lacks oomph in the bass;

Google Home is a worthy rival to Amazon Echo that plays nice with Google software and hardware, but it lacks some key features of its competitors.

Integrates with your Google tools; Controls Google Cast-enabled devices; Booming bass

Limited add-ons at this point; Lacks balanced sound; especially on vocals

The Google Home was a joy to have some hands-on time with, however brief it may have been. The problem Google has on its hands with the device is choosing to focus heavily on its built-in AI, or more on supporting additional apps and smart hardware to make it more useful.

The Google Home is fun, functional, and should only get better with time.

It can be personalized to you; giving you info on your commute; weather; and calendar; Works with Chromecast; Answers questions and follow-ups fairly well; Lots of choices for music

Works with fewer devices than Amazon Alexa

Alexa is still the queen of voice assistants. Google Home is learning fast, and it does some things better than Alexa does. If you have a Google Play Music account and multiple Google accounts around your household, Google Home will give you a smoother multi-user experience.

Attractive design; Removable color bases; Well-rounded sound; Multi-room audio

Still fewer skills than Amazon's Alexa; Doesn't work as a standard Bluetooth speaker

For all intents and purposes, Google Home is pretty much a year old and needs to do more. In the U.S., the smart voice box has already been on the market long enough to give app developers time to implement the actions, but so far, the added value is limited to few areas.

Good music control; Accurate voice recognition; Integrates smart home devices from many different manufacturers

Does not use any Phillips Hue scenes; Too few compatible apps

Both wildly intelligent and supremely versatile in the ways in which it can be used, Google Home is evolving quickly compared to the Amazon Echo but it still has to make a few changes to catch up – starting, perhaps, with better integration with Google's own services.

Customizable base; Massive song library; Expanding hardware ecosystem; Six-month YouTube Red trial in US

Missing Google's own services; Phrasing needs to be precise; Google Cast support needs work

We've seen a few Google Assistant smart displays, but until now they've been third-party devices like the JBL Link View and the Lenovo Smart Display. Google only recently decided to create its own first-party answer to the Alexa-powered Amazon Echo Show and Echo Spot, in the form of the $149 Nest Hub. The Nest Hub looks similar to the $230 Echo Show, but is much closer in price, size, and sound quality to the $130 Echo Spot. It's a solid option if you want a simple Google Assistant alarm clock and photo frame near your bed, but JBL and Lenovo's devices are much better suited to being desk and counter companions thanks to their larger screens and better audio quality. A Small, Simple Design The Nest Hub looks like a scaled-down version of the Echo Show. It's a 4.8-by-7.1-by-2.7-inch (HWD) device with a 7-inch, 1,024-by-600 touch screen facing forward, tilted slightly back like an easel and bordered by a 0.5-inch glossy white frame. The screen is mounted on a stretched-oval stand c...

The small, affordable Google Assistant-powered Nest Hub smart display is functional and convenient, but won't impress anyone with its sound quality.

Relatively inexpensive; Small footprint; Useful touch screen

Weak audio; No camera for video calls

Doesn't understand most questions