Looking to add a smart speaker to your house? Here’s which to choose, whether you’re an Alexa, Siri, or Gemini fan.
Gemini does sound impressively human, offering answers that approximate an interaction with another person. Sometimes its answers get a little long-winded, so just be prepared for that. But Google Gemini is nonetheless a touch smarter than other assistants in its cohort; it’s able to answer questions about my own schedule and knows to check with me about my artist preference if a song I request has multiple covers.
Gemini for Home is free, but some features you might like to use are hidden behind paywalls. For instance, Google rebranded its video camera subscriptions to “Google Home Premium,” which bundles some smart-home assistant features and video storage into one price. There are two tiers: Standard ($10 per month or $100 per year), which includes 30 days of event-based video history, intelligent alerts for things like familiar faces and packages, Gemini Live, and an AI-based tool to help you create smart-home routines for your household. The Advanced tier ($20 per month or $200 per year) includes 60 days of event-based video history, 10 days of 24/7 video history, descriptive notifications, searchable video history, video event descriptions, and daily summaries of recorded events, plus everything in the cheaper plan.
Gemini Live is the main behind-the-paywall feature you might want; it lets you switch your smart speaker into a more conversational mode. Using this feature, I had a long, natural-feeling chat with my speaker that covered my 3-year-old’s sleep patterns, scalp sunburns, and the previous night’s Love Island episode. It worked well, but it’s not a capability I imagine I’ll use when I’m not actively testing.
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Photograph: Simon Hill
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Courtesy of Google
Nest Hub Max
WIRED/TIRED
WIRED
- 10-inch screen adds several features and doubles as a digital photo frame
- Google’s voice assistant is handy, and the screen visuals are great
- No ads or spam, like with Amazon’s smart displays
TIRED
- Has a camera, and there’s no physical cover for the camera (though there is an off button)
- Subscription required for more powerful assistant (Gemini Live)
Gemini Live doesn’t work on every Google speaker, but—in addition to working on the Google Home Speaker—it also works on all three versions of its available smart displays, including two iterations of the Nest Hub. My favorite is the 10-inch Nest Hub Max; it doubles as a digital photo frame powered by Google Photos, which works much better than Amazon’s clunky uploader and might even be a tool you’re already using. Google accounts get up to 15 GB of free storage (that’ll include any Gmail or Drive files, too), so there are a lot of photos you can store and display on this device.
The Nest Hub Max has a solid sound profile given its slim frame with two 10-watt tweeters and a 30-watt woofer. The 10-inch touchscreen is a great size for everything from controlling your smart-home and streaming videos to pulling up recipes and enjoying your own photos. Many of these capabilities rely on the smart display, which means you couldn’t access them with a screen-free smart speaker. It’s not the only smart display option on the market, but it has a prettier interface than Amazon’s Echo Show 11 (below), and unlike on the Show 11, you won’t see any ads sliding onto the screen on this Nest. There’s also a camera for video calls and gesture-based controls. While there’s no cover for the camera, you can disable it if you prefer.
Most of the smart speakers I spot in friends’ homes come from the Amazon Echo line. Options are aplenty, and many that I see are older models, like the puck-shaped Echo Dot. Such dated speakers are still fairly well-supported, though not all of them can gain access to Alexa+, Amazon’s newer AI-powered voice assistant. But even if your smart speaker can use Alexa+, it’s only worth the upgrade if you have Amazon Prime, which includes access to the assistant. Without a Prime subscription, you’d have to pay $20 a month for Alexa+ on its own. It’s literally cheaper to get Amazon Prime ($15 a month for most plans), which comes with a wider range of benefits. This price model is surely intentional, as it may serve as a push to get you to sign up for Prime if you haven’t already.
The Echo Dot Max is one of Amazon’s newest models. It launched in late 2025, taking the small form from past Dot models and upgrading the device with impressive sound quality, a built-in smart-home hub, Alexa and Alexa+ access, and a slightly different look. It’s surprisingly loud without getting muddled, especially considering its small size. Impressively, it can still hear my requests even when the room is loud or it is playing loud music. I tested it against the latest Echo Studio last year and found the speakers were more similar in quality than I expected. The Dot Max is more expensive than older Dot models; if you don’t need next-level sound, the affordable Echo Dot (fifth gen), available for half the price, might be a good fit for your needs.
