A smart hub is a brilliant addition to any home, be it a smart tech paradise or otherwise. This fact is especially true when the hub has a screen and camera. The combination of hands-free voice control with extremely functional and useful features - like news and weather updates, list-making and reminder setting, and radio and music streaming - makes these humble devices a must-have for any homestead.
To help you locate the best smart hub for you, we’ve rounded up the best and done away with the rest. Below, you’ll find camera and screen loaded smart hubs jammed with easy-use tech. Whether you’re looking to focus on smart-home integration or simple video calling, there’s something for you.
Best Camera Smart Hubs
1 of 8Echo Show 10
The Echo Show 10 might just be the premier home hub of the moment. It's loaded with two excellent 10W speakers, one 5MP camera, Alexa assistant and Zigbee smart device compatibility. All this, plus the 10-inch screen gives the Show 10 top marks for versatility and user-friendly interaction, allowing Ring devices, fitness routines, lyrics, streamed shows and on-screen writing to be viewed with ease. Perfect for kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms. The Echo Show 10 can make video calls via the Alexa app and Skype, or via mobile EE and Vodafone accounts.
2 of 8Portal From Facebook
The Portal is a great smart home hub for anyone looking for a device that focuses on video chatting capabilities. With a 10-inch HD screen, crisp speakers, noise-cancelling microphone, and auto-panning and auto-zooming 13MP camera, the Portal is ideal for chatting over Messenger and WhatsApp. The device also has Alexa built-in, and is compatible with Echo and Ring devices.
3 of 8Google Nest Hub Max
The Nest Hub Max is for those looking to integrate themselves into the Google eco-system and Nest range, with devices such as Google's Chromecast, Home speaker, Nest Mini smart speaker, Nest smoke alarms, Nest thermostat and Hello doorbell. The Google Nest Hub Max has a 10-inch screen, in-built crystal clear display and Nest camera. Video calls are made via Google Duo. While Echo and Portal devices currently have greater and wider compatibility, the Google Nest Hub Max is a well-designed device holding a lot of promise for Google's smart home future.
4 of 8Echo Show 8
The Echo Show 8 is a worthy choice for any user. The 8-inch screen offers up enough space to follow recipes and view Ring devices without too much limitation, and the Alexa features are all their in abundance. It shares the same speaker set up as the Echo Show 10, and can make video calls via the Alexa app and Skype, or via mobile EE and Vodafone accounts. Ideal for living rooms and bedrooms.
5 of 8Portal Mini 8 From Facebook
The Portal Mini 8 offers the user all of the video-call focused power of the standard Portal, but in a smaller package. The 13MP camera, auto-tracking and 144-degree field of vision are all here, with the screen measuring in at 8-inches. Alexa is also built-in for communication and integration with Echo and Alexa devices.
6 of 8Echo Show 5
Despite the Show 5 being the smallest Echo in the range, it still has a lot to give. This is thanks to the Alexa integration allowing the user to access over 100,000 smart skills. The 1MP camera and 5.5-inch screen is great for quick video chats and checking on Ring devices, however the resolution is noticeably lower than the others in the range. We'd certainly recommend the Echo Show 5 as a worth addition to any smart home setup, as it delivers a lot of utility whilst remaining unobtrusive on bedroom or living room sideboard.
7 of 8Lenovo Smart Display with Google Assistant, £159
Lenovo's little-known but highly regarded Smart Display is a very appealing device. Using Google Assistant, the device will make video calls, set reminders, stream music, and search for information, recipes and news stories from across the internet via the Google search engine. The build quality and component parts of the device are fantastic, and the overall feel of the device is very accomplished. If someone is looking for a smart hub with a camera that is a little out the ordinary, the Lenovo Smart Display might be the answer.
8 of 8Portal Plus From Facebook
The Portal Plus is a great video calling hub, and is by far the largest offering available. The Plus is made up of a 15.6-inch screen with 12.5MP camera and tall speaker tower. As expected from the extra size, the sound and image quality is superb. The screen can be orientated in either landscape or portrait, and Alexa is in-built. Due to the size of the device, this is recommended for anyone who regularly video calls for extended periods, such as when working a home office.
Why go smart?
Smart tech isn’t a fad or a fancy term that gets thrown around when talking about new technology, it’s the future of human-technology interaction. But we agree, this fact isn’t enough to convince anyone to invest their time and money into smart tech.
As of right now, the reason to go ‘smart’ is that it’s extremely versatile, endlessly useful and it’s everywhere. Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri can be found in countless electronic products, each offering their own unique integration and time-saving, life-organising and entertainment-enhancing features. How far a user throws themselves into smart tech features is entirely down to them, however here are a few highlights and benefits that we’ve found from adopting a little smart tech into our lives:
Smart hub – for music and radio
Music and radio streaming is extremely easy with a smart hub. With the right apps and subscriptions, whatever song, artist or genre a user's in the mood for can be heard with a single voice command. The speaker technology in many of the smart hubs has improved immensely over the last few years, to a point where now they can used as a single music-playback system (although we still reserve a little space in our lives for turntables and vinyl).
Smart doorbell – for easy communication and security
A smart doorbell is something we never thought we needed – until we got out hands on one, that is. The ability to see and communicate with whoever is at the front door is a huge, life-simplifying gift. Whether it’s asking a delivery driver to hold on for second while we return from the deepest recesses of our garden, or just having a little peace of mind before opening the door at night, we couldn’t rely on it more.
Smart TV – for entertainment on-demand
It’s a TV that can connect to the internet and stream any program, from any number of services, at the touch of the button, tap of a smartphone screen or on voice command. The smart TV's ability to dive into boxsets and new film releases, as and when we please, is something we’ve very quickly gotten used too. It’s got us wondering, how did we ever survive terrestrial TV?
William Lobley is a Content Writer for WhatsTheBest, specialising in technology, gaming and outdoors. He also writes for Empire Online. The best home smart hubs with cameras
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