Google finally has its own smart display, giving you another way of interacting with its handy Assistant. It’s affordable and could be super helpful. Find our more in our full Home Hub review.
It took a while but Google has finally introduced its own smart display which will take on the likes of the Amazon Echo Show. This tablet fused to a speaker aims to help you out by adding a visual element to the Google Assistant. The Home Hub could be a really handy addition to your smart home as you’ll discover in our full review.
Although Amazon is already on its second-generation smart display, Google is a little behind despite there being partner devices with the Assistant including the Lenovo Smart Display and LG Smart Display ThinQ .
The firm also announced the Pixel 3 & 3 XL, Pixel Slate and Chromecast 3 at its ‘Made by Google’ event .
The Echo Show 2 is £219 / $229 from Amazon, so the Google Home Hub is a relative bargain in comparison since it’s just £139/$149 .
You can order it from Google as well as Carphone Warehouse, Argos, Currys PC World and John Lewis. If you buy and register before 31 December 2018, then you’ll get six months of YouTube Premium for free.
This is also cheaper than the Lenovo option which is £179/$199 for the smaller 8in model. The JBL Link View is $249.
Once you’ve got your Home Hub, see how to set it up in minutes .
(You’ll also like: Best Google Home: Google Home vs Mini vs Max vs Hub)
The Home Hub is surprisingly diddy in real life, effectively a 7in tablet with medium sized bezels fixed to a small base. It’s a pretty simple design, which fits in with Google’s other connected home devices like the Home Mini.
The base and rear of the Hub is covered in fabric and you can choose from four colours: Sand, Aqua, Chalk and Charcoal. The first two are sort of peach and mint green.
You can control the Hub with your voice, like with other Home products, but the screen adds touch. There’s not many buttons, just a volume rocker on the back along with a switch to mute the microphones.
Since the Home Hub is so small, it should make it easier to find somewhere suitable to put it – whether that’s in the kitchen, on a bedside table or somewhere else. The grippy rubber base stops it moving, which is especially handy when using the touchscreen.
It’s typical for smart displays, but you can’t adjust the position of the screen should you want it at more of an angle. If you do, then you’ll have to awkwardly prop it up with something.
The main reason to buy the Home Hub over the other connected home devices is the screen. It’s a 7in touchscreen so you can use it in a similar way to other tablets, although it doesn’t simply run Android like Google’s old Nexus slates.
Instead it runs a visual representation of the Google Assistant along with it’s very own user interface elements. For example, you can swipe down from the top to get a menu and swipe things off to the side like on Wear OS smartwatches.
Overall the interface is clear and intuitive making it easy to use. We just wish you could swipe cards upwards to clear them as you can in Android Pie to close apps. Instead, you have to ask with your voice to quit.
Also see: How to change Ambient Mode on Google Home Hub .)
You might find yourself not needing to touch the display, or unable to if your hands are tied up with something like cooking. Two far-field microphones mean you can interact with the Home Hub hands-free and the device heard us every time.
Interacting with the Google Assistant is a similar experience to other devices, but you don’t just get a spoken response. The screen will show you information, a video or photos depending on what you ask for.
This makes the Home Hub a better choice for certain rooms in the house, particularly the kitchen where you can make use of the display to read recipes or watch a video on YouTube showing you how to poach an egg.
The problem is that it can be difficult to get the right info or video. The Assistant will select one for you but you can’t just ask for a different one if it’s not quite right. It can be quite frustrating.
You’ll also want to switch on ‘Continued Conversation’ in the app, which is off by default. This keeps the mics listening after responses so you can reply, rather than having to say “Ok Google” every time which gets laborious.
It could also make a handy desk companion with its ability to keep you up to date of your schedule, the weather, traffic and plenty more info. If nothing else, it serves as a digital photo frame able to pull images from Google Photos which is really nice if you never find time to sort out your photos end up rarely seeing them.
The Home Hub will be exponentially more useful to those with lots of other smart home gadgets like heating and lighting. You’ll be able to control compatible devices (like Nest and Philips Hue) with your voice or touch.
You can make free phone calls and watch video news broadcasts, too.
One thing to watch out for of course is what content it’s showing more vulnerable members of the household. Fortunately it’s easy to set up content filters and Downtime, new features introduced for Google Assistant with the Google Home Hub that let you restrict what they see and hear and also at what times.
Custom routines are a clever way of automating things you do all the time. For example you can set a phrase like ‘good night’ to turn the lights off, switch the heating off and give you the weather forecast for tomorrow. (See how to set up Google Routines .)
These routines have almost endless combinations and possibilities and could make the Home Hub one of the most useful things in the house. Equally you might find you rarely use it.
It’s odd that asking the Hub to set up a routine comes back with nothing. You need to manage these in the Home app but this isn’t explained and even searching for them in the app proved difficult.
Also beware that if you have Downtime on, then the Hub won’t be able to play music, videos or respond to questions. That’s what it’s for but you can’t even override it without using the app, which is annoying.
If you’re worried about younger users accessing unsuitable content, then as we mentioned there are various restrictions and filters you can switch on to ease your mind.
One reason why the Home Hub is cheaper than rivals is the lack of a camera. The bit above the display is a light sensor. This might make it more affordable but means you can’t video call if that’s a feature you would use. You can have an audio call with Duo, though and this works pretty well.
That light sensor monitors the ambient conditions and will adjust the screen accordingly, whether it’s dimming at night time or getting the correct setting for the colour temperature.
