The Best Smart Home Displays for Kitchen Use in 2025

The kitchen has always been the heart of the home, but in 2025 it's also becoming its command center. Between juggling timers, pulling up recipes mid-chop, checking the family calendar, and controlling smart lights or appliances, a smart display is the one device that ties it all together hands-free.

We tested the leading smart displays in real kitchen conditions — splatter, steam, sticky fingers, and all — to find which ones earn a permanent spot on your countertop. Here are the ones actually worth buying.

Why Put a Smart Display in Your Kitchen?

A smart display is more than a tablet stuck to your fridge. The best ones offer:

• Hands-free operation — "Alexa, set a timer for 12 minutes" or "Hey Google, show me how to julienne carrots" without touching a screen with flour-covered hands.
• Visibility from across the room — A bright, large display means you can glance at timers or step-by-step recipes from the stove.
• Smart home hub integration — Dim the lights, preheat the oven, or check the front door camera without leaving the recipe.
• Family organization — Shared calendars, shopping lists, and sticky notes that everyone in the house can see and update.

Top Overall: Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen)

The Echo Show 8 hits the sweet spot for kitchen use. Its 8-inch display is large enough to read recipes from across the counter but compact enough not to dominate your workspace. Reviewed calls it one of "the best smart displays" available, and for good reason1.

Why it wins in the kitchen: The adaptive color display automatically adjusts to kitchen lighting — bright and punchy during daytime cooking, warm and easy on the eyes during late-night snack prep. The built-in Zigbee smart home hub lets you control compatible lights, locks, and thermostats directly without an extra bridge. And the audio is genuinely good for listening to podcasts or music while you cook.

The camera can be used for video calls (handy for showing Grandma your finished dish), and there's a physical shutter when you want privacy.

Best for Google & YouTube: Nest Hub Max

If your household runs on Google services, the Nest Hub Max is the obvious choice. Its 10-inch display is the largest in this lineup, making it the best for following video recipes on YouTube — which works natively, no sideloading or workarounds needed1.

Kitchen-specific perks: Google Assistant understands natural language better than any competitor, so "Hey Google, add milk to the shopping list" or "show me pasta recipes" works reliably even over the sound of a running faucet. The Nest Hub Max also doubles as a security camera with its built-in Nest Cam — useful for keeping an eye on the kitchen from the living room.

The Soli radar chip enables Motion Sense gestures: wave your hand to snooze a timer without touching the screen. That's a genuinely useful kitchen trick when your hands are messy.

Best Compact / Privacy-First: Nest Hub (2nd Gen)

Not everyone wants a camera in their kitchen, and not every counter has space for a 10-inch screen. The Nest Hub 2nd Gen solves both problems with a 7-inch display and no camera at all.

Where it shines: It's small enough to fit beside a coffee machine or spice rack. The ambient EQ display automatically adjusts to look like a digital photo frame when idle — think of it as a beautiful kitchen clock that also runs your timers, shows your calendar, and plays music. TechRadar notes its compact size makes it ideal for tighter spaces2.

Because there's no camera, there's zero concern about a smart display watching you in your own kitchen. For privacy-conscious households, that's a feature, not a missing one.

How They Compare

Which One Should You Buy?

Choose the Echo Show 8 if you want the best balance of screen size, audio quality, and smart home control. It works with Alexa, which has the widest third-party skill ecosystem for kitchen appliances and recipe apps.

Choose the Nest Hub Max if you're deep in the Google ecosystem, watch a lot of YouTube cooking channels, or want the largest display for reading recipes from across the kitchen.

Choose the Nest Hub (2nd Gen) if counter space is tight or you want a smart display without a camera in a private space like the kitchen.

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