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There are several voice assistants locked in a tug-of-war over who controls the smart speakers in your home: Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, and Apple’s Siri. We prefer Google. Its Assistant answers questions more accurately, has a simpler setup process, and connects to a growing number of smart home devices. All the devices below have built-in Google Assistant, so you can ask it anything you’d search for on Google, or ask it to control smart home products like robot vacuums, smart plugs, lights, and TVs. Google doesn’t update its line of products often, but even with the same lineup for years, here at WIRED we find ourselves coming back to it again and again over the competition.
If you’re looking to add Google to your home, the best overall speaker is Google’s Nest Audio ($75). But the handiest device is the smart displays, since it’ll give you more capabilities to control your smart home, watch videos, display your photos, and so much more. The Google Nest Hub Max ($230) is the best of the two hubs since it has a large enough screen to enjoy photos and easily, or you can splurge on the Pixel Tablet ($499), which is a tablet and smart display in one, thanks to the speaker charging dock.
Be sure to check out our handy guide on how to maintain your privacy as much as possible while still enjoying the luxuries of smart assistants. We also have many other buying guides, including the Best Smart Displays, Best Smart Speakers, and Best Alexa Speakers.
Updated June 2025: We’ve reorganized the picks in this guide and added an FAQs section.
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Photograph: Google
The Nest Audio is impressive for its price (8/10, WIRED Recommends). This midsize speaker was released in 2020 and replaced the Google Home from 2016 (if you remember the air freshener-looking smart speaker, that’s the one) and it improves on it with louder sound and deeper bass. It still won’t take up too much room, since it has a nice slim footprint but is still large enough to pack impressive sound. The discreet design allows it to blend into your home, and the long power cable makes it easy to place it anywhere in your home. There’s a physical switch to turn off the mic, which is a nice security feature.
If you’ve got the budget, splurge on two of these. WIRED reviewer Parker Hall, who specializes in audio gear, says pairing the two of these speakers together gives you some of the best stereo sound for the money. These speakers come in a set if you know you want two.
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Best Google Assistant Smart Display
Assistant-powered speakers are limited to sound, which is why smart displays have an advantage. You get similar audio quality plus a screen to see things like the weather forecast, rather than just hear it. Google’s 10-inch Nest Hub Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is big enough to use as a screen to watch shows or YouTube videos while washing the dishes (though Amazon Prime Video isn’t available). When not in use, the screen doubles as a digital photo frame, cycling images from Google Photos.
The Nest Hub Max doesn’t look too techie, has good audio quality, and comes with a camera, so you can make group video calls with Google’s video-chatting service, Meet. The camera can identify people in the household, so when you step in front of it, you’ll see a personalized calendar. It can also recognize your palm, so just raise it to pause music or videos without having to say anything. Best of all, there’s a physical switch on the back that turns off the mic and camera. If the 10-inch size is too big, the 7-inch Nest Hub (2nd Gen) (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is a nice option. It’s a little too small for our tastes, but the lack of a camera means it’s a more privacy-friendly machine for the more private areas of your home. It also has sleep-tracking functions if you use it on a bedside table.
