Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
I own a few products from the company. I have the original Google Home in my bathroom, and I also have some Nest Minis around my apartment. I leave the first-generation Nest Hub display on my bedside table. It's the perfect size for a digital clock, but versatile enough to do most of my smart home things.
Even with the bigger Nest Hub Max and the newer Nest Hub (2nd Gen), I feel like the smart display lineup is lacking, and I wish it would launch a broader range of first-party devices.
The source is Derrek Lee.
Amazon is the main reason I feel this way. I can't help but be jealous when Amazon launches a new version of its device. I would love to hang up the new Echo Show 15 on my wall because it looks like it would be a great addition to my home.
Amazon
My main problem is that I have no interest in Amazon's smart home platform, mainly because I'm already committed to the Google Assistant. It's well integrated with my phone, and I think Amazon has done a great job with it, but it just doesn't vibe with me. I own a pretty good speaker, but I don't use it often because I'm used to barking commands at my other speakers. Amazon makes some great displays.
The founder and lead analyst at Techsponential notes how both companies differ in how they approach smart displays and says that the cheaper and more accessible Nest Mini is likely the focus of the company.
Greengart says that both Amazon and Google have used their smart speakers for various purposes, but that Amazon has been more aggressive with the Echo Show. "Amazon has pushed further into video calling, entertainment, and home security while exploring new form factors and use cases."
Amazon makes devices that seem tailor-made for the home, with devices that can follow you around and keep track of the whole family. It's extending its smart home features to its Fire TV devices. You don't need a dedicated smart display to access many of these features.
Video calls, entertainment, and home security are some of the things that are done by the products of the company. According to Maurice Klaehne, senior research analysts of devices and emerging technologies at Counterpoint Research, the company is more focused on improving Assistant's capabilities.
The quantity of devices that it puts out is more important than the quality of its artificial intelligence. The recent devices like the excellent Nest Audio speaker and even the Pixel 6 prove that the company is slowly changing, although it isn't much of a hardware company.
No one else will be as creative with its first-party displays as Google is. We've seen some good efforts from Lenovo, but they stick to the same form factor, although the addition of a wireless charger is a nice touch. Facebook Meta is leaning more towards the smart display space with its latest portal devices, and it's really feeling like Google is starting to stagnate a bit.
When Amazon announced the new Astro robot, I thought, "I wish they made this!" I said the same thing when Amazon launched the third-gen Echo Show 10, the Echo Show 15, and even the Ring Always Home cam. Amazon has new designs and processing capabilities that help it keep its hardware fresh.
Amazon
I don't think companies should update their lineups every year as if they were phones, and I don't think having a smart display in every room is worth it. Amazon gives us options so we can choose what we want for our family. Only one of the two sizes of the Nest displays has a camera, and that is the only one you will get. The hardware is starting to feel a little dated.
The second-gen Nest Hub is almost identical to the first-gen.
I hope that when the next-gen Nest Hub Max is released, that it will be an upgrade over the current lineup. The new smaller Nest Hub is nice, but it's also a bit of a yawn, not because of its Soli sleep- tracking features, but because that's really the only thing new that it offered, it even looks nearly identical to the first Nest Hub and is still sluggish.
New designs and even a form of the Tensor chip could be used to improve on-device artificial intelligence processing like what's found on the Pixel 6 series. Consumers are buying more smart home products, so it's important that Google gives users more options.
The smart home market grew in the third quarter of 2016 and shipped more than 221.8 million devices, according to the latest report from the International Data Corporation. 32 million smart speakers contributed to the growth, accounting for 7.11% of the growth. Despite higher average selling prices, smart displays are on the rise according to Jitesh Urbani, research manager for the Mobile Device Trackers.
The market trend should help counter Amazon's efforts with its newer displays. Greengart says that Amazon has had more success with its devices because it had a head start. The success is different between the two companies since Amazon wants to build out its hardware ecosystem more to help with other service sales, according to Klaehne.
Amazon can afford to experiment with new form factors, as it often does, while Google plays it safe. That's not enough for me. I don't want to switch smart home ecosystems, but Amazon's cool hardware is very tempting.
I just want more options.
