Feeling ignored by Alexa? The Google Nest Hub Max may be the smart speaker for you.
Hear us out: After comparison testing a variety of devices over the years, this one is significantly more responsive than other smart speakers we’ve tried. But that’s not all. It comes with a variety of actually useful features that leave it deserving of the precious real estate it takes up on our countertop.
Case in point: Recipes. There’s you, an Ina Garten staple (ahem, her weeknight bolognese) and a phone that keeps locking you out as you try to call up every step. Enter the Google Nest Hub Max, which displays the recipe in a large, easy to read format on the 10-inch LCD screen in your kitchen, then vocalizes the various steps line by line so you can anticipate what you need to do next while mincing the garlic and taste testing the wine at the same time. (Hey, the recipe calls for it!)
There’s more: You can also run several timers at once, video chat friends and family (a bit of a must-have during a pandemic), call up your favorite pics via Google Photos or simply stream The Crown while you cook. (Yep, it’s compatible with Netflix, YouTube TV and more.) And since this device includes a built-in Nest camera, you can keep tabs on your home anytime you’re away, too.
