The Google Nest Hub Max blends a smart display with a smart cam to great results....

Nest Cam features help set it apart Auto-framing in video calls is a nice touch Great display; despite the fairly low resolution Excellent price for what you get Above-average sound quality

Still no Netflix Only works with Duo for video calling

First came the Google Home speakers, then we got Home speakers with screens, and now we've got the Google Nest Hub Max – the ultimate Google-powered smart speaker for 2019. We've been testing one of the devices out for the past few weeks to see if it deserves a place in your home.

There were two standout features I really appreciated off the bat about the original Nest (nee Google Home) Hub : its compact size and its lack of camera. The new Nest Max has decidedly neither of those things.

Zigbee smart home hub onboard; Large, vibrant, higher-resolution display; Vastly improved user interface; Impressive audio quality; Excels as a digital photo frame; Built-in Nest camera; Google Assistant is one of the smartest assistants we’ve tried;

No Z-Wave support; Not the best smart speaker for music; No physical camera shutter; No analog audio output; Google Assistant's smart home compatibility still lags Alexa (though it's catching up fast);

If you're a fan of Google's Nest Hub , but wanted a larger smart display and a camera for video calls, then the Nest Hub Max can't arrive soon enough. Now we think we know when it's going to launch because somebody messed up at Google. As Droid Life reports, the Google Nest Hub Max has been listed on the Google Store for a while now, but always with a "Coming soon" tag rather than a launch date. However, yesterday it changed to read Sept. 9, confirming we have less than seven weeks to wait to buy one. But just as quickly, the listed date changed back to coming soon. Clearly someone at Google pushed an update too soon and the company isn't ready to share the date just yet. I'd be very surprised if it didn't re-appear unchanged in the near future, though. When PCMag reviewed the Nest Hub we found it to be a relatively inexpensive, small, and useful touch screen smart home device, but it had weak audio and no camera meaning video calls couldn't be made. It was good enough, but ul...

Adding a camera not only makes the Max significantly different from the smaller original Nest Hub, it's a logical way to add heaps of appeal. In one masterstroke it makes the Nest Hub Max a three-in-one smart home device: a security camera, speaker and smart display. And it's great.

Great design and display; Nest camera adds loads of features; Fantastic smart home control; Good sound quality; YouTube integration; Brilliant price;

Nest functions need a subscription; No built-in Zigbee support; Google Home app could be more intuitive;

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