The Nest Hub Max is one of our favorite smart displays and it earned a score of 86 when we reviewed it. It’s more versatile than Google’s smaller smart displays as its 10-inch screen is great for watching videos and viewing photos, and it also comes with a video camera.

That extra hardware feature lets you video chat with friends and family, and it also lets the Hub Max act as a security camera for your home. Instead of using a separate Nest Cam, the video camera on the Hub Max can watch over your home when you’re away and you can use the companion mobile app to watch the video feed whenever you want. While there’s no physical camera shutter, you can electronically disable the camera and microphone with a swipe on the screen.

The camera also keeps an eye out for gestures you can do to control the Nest Hub Max, like holding your palm up in front of it to pause a song it’s playing. Since the hub Max is the biggest Google smart display, it’s a lot more powerful in terms of audio than its smaller siblings. It has two front-facing tweeters and one rear-facing woofer, and those help it sound much better than the regular Nest Hub. All of these features make it a great smart display that’s worthy of a spot on your kitchen counter or in your living room — and with this deal, you could have one in both spots or spread the abilities of the Google Assistant throughout your home.

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Starting next week, you’ll be able to start a video call with multiple contacts by asking your Assistant to “make a group call on Duo” or “make a group call on Meet” or create one via the visual interface on the screen. The feature will support up to 32 people on Duo and a maximum of 100 on Meet. On Duo, you’ll have to create groups in the mobile app, then start calls with those circles by asking Assistant.

Google

On Meet, you can also join existing calls by typing in the room code, or enter scheduled meetings by pulling up calendar entries on the display. You can also ask the Assistant to open a call from a calendar appointment by saying “Hey Google, join my next meeting,” though this only works on personal accounts not enterprise ones for now. Those joining via a room code will have to enter it on the screen.

People aren’t just using their smart displays for family calls — they’re using the devices as second screens for work, too. To support users who want to dial into work conferences on their smart displays, Google is also enabling G Suite meetings on the Nest Hub Max in a beta that’s rolling out over the next few weeks. It’ll be available for G Suite domains enrolled in the Assistant beta program — organizations that want to take part can have their administrators sign up.

Google is also rolling out a speed dial feature that it announced at CES, which should make it slightly more convenient to launch your daily check in with your family, for example. This tool arrives today on Assistant-enabled smart speakers and displays, and once you have your favorite contacts set up, you can tell Google to “Call Mom” or “Call Brian.” On a smart display, you can start a call quickly by tapping a contact’s name.

Google

These new features make Google’s smart displays more useful than before — even though you could conduct video calls on them previously, support for groups was an important feature that was missing. Facebook has been marketing its Portal display as a means to have calls with family members, complete with filters and stickers. With today’s announcement, Google will be giving Facebook more competition on this front and possibly giving smart displays more room to grow.

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While both smart screens have 7-inch displays, Lenovo’s model throws in both more powerful speakers as well as a camera with a privacy shutter and microphone mute button. You can use this for more than checking the weather or playing a YouTube video, in other words. While it’s not going to replace a beefy speaker or a larger display like the Nest Hub Max (which does have a camera), it should be more than enough to waft music through a room or keep in touch with friends and family.

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The promotions come after Google streamlined Nest Aware in May. Instead of paying per camera, the new subscription starts at $60 per year (or $6 per month) and provides 30 days of event video for all the Nest security devices inside your home. The more expensive $120 per year Nest Aware Plus subscription comes with 60 days of event history and 10 days of 24/7 history.

If you’re not a Nest Aware customer, don’t worry; you can still snag some free hardware. Until June 30th, YouTube Premium, YouTube Music Premium and Google Play Music subscribers can claim a free Nest Mini.

Buy Echo Show 5 on Best Buy – $90 (for two)

A previous deal dropped the price of an individual unit down to $50, but this is a steeper overall discount if you’re in the market for two.

The Echo Show 5 is Amazon’s entry-level smart display, but don’t let that fool you. It delivers surprisingly good sound quality for the size and price, and the camera (with a physical privacy shutter) is helpful for keeping in touch with others. Aside from some Nest doorbell compatibility issues, our main reservation was the privacy implications of the camera. The shutter helps, but you may want to consider a regular Echo speaker if you prefer Alexa or the camera-free Google Nest Hub if you’re not attached to Amazon’s voice assistant.

Nicole Lee/Engadget

Display

With its 960 x 480 resolution, Nicole felt the Echo Show 5 was best suited for photos and quick video viewing, and our user reviewers likewise found value in watching shorter clips on it. Anthony used it to “briefly check the weather by glancing at the screen in the morning, while also getting traffic information,” while R felt it was overall “great to have a display to see things.” Shawn, who said he originally purchased the Echo Show 5 to “provide a screen for a bit of video watching,” admitted that outside of the “occasional live TV viewing of FoodTV,” he didn’t use the visual aspect of the device a lot. And Dandyrandy called the 5-inch video screen sweet, though he also agreed with Nicole that “customization may be a bit of a challenge to set up the first time.”  

Alexa/Voice controls

In contrast, users frequently employed Alexa to control the smart display itself — as well as other devices in the home. Prunkard said they “use it for weather, alarms, smart home activation (mostly Wemo switches and Nest thermostats) and it excels at that.” Dandyrandy said, for him, “the killer app is being able to use my voice to change the streaming audio — no buttons to keep track of in the dark, no lights.” Shawn uses Alexa to “set a timer and give it a label like ‘Alexa, set a 3 hour roast timer’ but with the Show, if you do a series of these, with labels ideally, then you can ask to have it show them back to you on the screen. It’s just a great tool for any home baker, chef or otherwise.” 

Nicole Lee/Engadget

Theindiearmy said that “after trying out Google Home and Homekit, the Alexa ecosystem is just so much further along, it’s almost laughable.” They said they “made the switch expecting at least some of the issues I was experiencing with the others, but Alexa has been on point from the very beginning. That is the heart of this device that instantly makes it better than the competition.” 

Timers/Alarms

Shawn wasn’t the only user who relied on their Echo Show 5 to run multiple timers or reminders — Prunkard also uses the device for alarms, as does Dandyrandy. To expand upon his cooking example above, Shawn pointed out that he has “some nice timer sticks and the like but being able to do it without stopping and fiddling with a timer or touching the stove clock is great.” Similarly, Anthony was effusive in how well the Show worked for his needs: “To me it functions perfectly for a simple alarm clock which I replaced after 15 years … It streams my local radio news station as I start my day, just in case the alarm doesn’t wake me up.”

Nicole Lee/Engadget

Price

Originally priced at $90, the Echo Show 5 was one of the least expensive smart displays available — and it was this price point that made it an attractive device for many users. Prunkard declared it “does the job in a very unsexy way for a good price,” while Anthony pointed out that “just because it was the cheapest at the time, doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.” As of this writing, the Echo Show 5’s price has dropped to $60 — the lowest-price Alexa device offered by Amazon with a screen. 

Comparison

Although it is smaller than the other Echo displays, the Echo Show 5 “does everything your run-of-the-mill Echo does” according to Dandyrandy, who also owns an Echo 8 but prefers the Echo Show 5 because it “is much better suited to my situation, and much smaller.” Shawn, who originally purchased it as an Echo Dot replacement, found that “in the kitchen at least, it has been better in ways I didn’t anticipate.” 

Nicole Lee/Engadget

Overall

While Nicole pointed out a few of the Echo Show 5’s drawbacks, like how customizing the display was a bit onerous and there’s no full integration with Nest products, our user reviewers didn’t have much, if anything, negative to say about the device. Anthony deemed it “totally worth it,” and R said it was fantastic. Dandyrandy felt it was well-suited for bedside use, despite the presence of the camera. And Prunkard said “all in all, it’s a fine unit.” 

Buy Echo Show 5 at Amazon

Buy Amazon Echo Show 8 on Amazon – $80

The Echo Show 5 is clearly meant as a nightstand companion and won’t blow you away with its 5-inch screen, but it delivers better sound quality than you’d expect for the size while including helpful alarm clock features like a sunrise alarm and an ambient light sensor. The Echo Show 8 can fill that role, but its 8-inch display makes it the better of the two for following recipes or catching up on your Netflix queue.

In both cases, Alexa is the main draw — it’s still one of the most capable voice assistants and helps you control smart home devices, play music or start video chats (there’s thankfully a built-in privacy shutter). So long as you’re comfortable with Amazon’s ecosystem in the first place, they should fit right in to your household.

As a smart display, it’s one of our favourites, featuring in our top picks guide published earlier this year. With a 10-inch screen it’s a slightly larger version of the OG seven-inch Google Nest Hub, and it also comes with a camera. Great for video calls, obviously, but it can also function as a Nest Cam so when you do eventually get to leave your home, you’ll be able to keep an eye on it from afar.

It’s well-suited to the kitchen, where it can function as a kind of second TV. The larger screen makes following cooking tutorials easier, while its unique gestures feature — which lets you play and pause media by holding up your hand — is useful for sticky fingers.

And of course it comes with all of Google Assistant‘s helpful functionality, letting you share reminders and to-dos, set individual calendars and get news updates just by asking (if you can stomach any more news, that is). Home Depot has the device on sale in both chalk and charcoal colors.

The second-gen Echo Show has a sharp, colorful, 10-inch display — thanks to design refinements, it doesn’t take up too much counter space. The Echo Show 8 is Amazon’s most recent addition to the lineup. It combines the same screen and sound capabilities of the Echo Show with the camera shutter and form factor of the Echo Show 5, and of course, an 8-inch display.

Plenty of other Amazon products are on sale too. In addition to the Fire TV and Echo discounts, Amazon is offering $45 off its latest Kindle Paperwhite ($85) and $30 off its latest Kindle ($60). Those devices received high scores when we reviewed them, 95 and 91, respectively. The new Paperwhite is a welcomed update to the classic. It’s added perks include waterproofing, Audible support over Bluetooth, improved design and a better-contrast display. The updated Kindle gives the Paperwhite a run for its money, though. In addition to a touchscreen and Audible support, the lower-end Kindle finally has a front-lit screen.

These discounts are valid through December 2nd.