Having your home set up to be smart can be very convenient, whether it’s regulating the light when you’re coming and going from home to talking between family members and sending reminders. There’s a ton you can do with a smart home, but if you want to control it all without carrying your phone around, grabbing a smart home device to act as a hub is a good idea. To that end, if you’re already in the Google ecosystem, this deal on the Google Nest Hub will let you nab a great hub device for relatively cheap. While it usually goes for $100, you can grab it from Best Buy for just $60, a great $40 discount you can put towards something else.
Why you should buy the Google Nest Hub
The Google Nest Hub is a mix between a smart screen and a smart speaker, and while it can do both, it can’t do them particularly well, which, surprisingly, isn’t a dealbreaker. In terms of the screen, you get a 7-inch display running a 1024 x 600 resolution, which, truthfully, is not great for watching shows or films. That said, if you’re using it next to your nightstand for time, weather, and other general controls, that’s fine, and it’s similarly great if you want to stick it in the kitchen to have something to look at from time to time as you cook. Sadly, there’s no webcam for you to have video calls on, but it also means you don’t have to worry about privacy, so the Nest Hub can go into any room without issue.
As for the speaker, part of it is also not that great, with it not being much louder than an Echo Dot, if at all, which is a bit disappointing for such a large device. Even so, if you’re not using it as a main device for watching stuff or listening to music, that’s not a dealbreaker, especially at this price point. That’s especially the case since it works with lots of integrations, such as Google Assistant, Nest, Hue, and SmartThings, and it lets you access all the main apps you’d expect with a smart TV, so it’s versatile and a great option as a smart home hub.
All in all, the Nest Hub is a great little device, and while it does falter a little bit regarding the video and audio, it’s pretty great overall. Much of that has to do with the deal from Best Buy bringing it down to $60, and if you’d like something a little bit better, check out our page on smart home deals for alternatives.
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