Google Nest Hub Max vs. Amazon Echo Show 2: Battle of the high-end smart displays

Let's start with your newest option, the Google Nest Hub Max. At $230, it costs $100 more than the original Nest Hub, and it offers the same, voice-activated Google Assistant smarts plus a bigger screen, better sound quality and the addition of a camera.

It's not just any camera, either; it's an intelligent, face-tracking camera with a 127-degree wide-angle lens. Teach it what you look like, and the display will show you personalized bits of data like reminders, messages and calendar entries whenever it recognizes you. Making a Google Duo video call? The camera will automatically pan and tilt to follow you as you move about the frame. It can even recognize gestures -- just raise your hand to pause or resume playback.

The camera can double as a Nest Cam, too. Enable the feature, and you'll be able to view its feed via the Google Home app or the Nest app, the latter of which also lets you set motion activation zones and save recordings to the cloud via Nest Aware.

All of that makes for a more sophisticated camera experience than we've seen with other smart displays, none of which can recognize faces or gestures. I just wish Google had given us a camera shutter, too. You can flip a switch to disable the camera digitally, but you can't cover it up. That's too much of a trust ask for my bedroom, thank you very much.

Beyond the camera, Google's smart display features the same visual operating system as the smaller-size Nest Hub -- a good thing, because that visual interface is better and snappier than Amazon's. Information is organized and presented well, it frames your photos neatly without too much clutter on the screen, and it'll actually show you what the Google Assistant is hearing as you speak, something you still won't get from the Echo Show.

You also get the same ambient light sensor as the original. It can automatically adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen to keep your photos looking their best when it's cycling through them in ambient mode, and to keep the thing from blinding you when the room is dim. That's one of our favorite features among any of the smart displays we've ever tested.

All of that adds up to an impressive combination of hardware and software -- particularly at that $230 price. That's the same as the second-gen Echo Show, which is a year old at this point, and less than the full retail price of other Google Assistant smart displays that don't do as much.

That said, keep an eye on Google's current Works with Nest quagmire. The company ended support for that popular partner program earlier this summer, and recently began asking users to migrate their Nest accounts over to unified Google accounts -- an irreversible process that renders many of the best Works with Nest integrations inoperable. In other words, buying in with the Nest Hub Max might mean that you're buying into a smart home garden with more walls than you'd expect.

Amazon's second-gen Echo Show is about a year old at this point, but it's still a competitive choice among smart displays with 10-inch screens. The main reason: Alexa's ecosystem of third-party partners and services, which is more open and expansive than what you get with Google.

As mentioned before, Google recently ended support for the Works with Nest partner program, which many gadget makers and services providers relied upon to keep their offerings compatible with Google smart homes. Now, as the search giant asks users to migrate their Nest accounts over to a single, unified Google account, those connections are breaking in ways that have left many upset.

For instance, you used to be able to open the Nest app on an Apple TV and stream the feed from your Nest Cams straight to your television. Once you migrate accounts, that app won't work at all. Same goes for partner products like the Haiku smart ceiling fan and the Abode smart security system -- both were Works with Nest partners, but each is now in limbo.

There's no such drama with Alexa (at least not yet). In fact, Amazon has managed to find ways of playing nice with key competitors like Apple, Microsoft and yep, even Google. All of that makes it the better option for anyone planning on building a smart home setup with a voice-activated smart display at the center. You'll have more device options as you expand that setup than you will with Google, especially if you're a fan of connected cameras. 

On top of that, the second-gen Echo Show features its own, built-in Zigbee hub, which the Nest Hub Max lacks. That lets it connect directly with Zigbee smart home gadgets like smart bulbs, smart locks and motion sensors with no need for additional hub hardware.

Beyond the smart home strengths, the Echo Show does a decent job with routine smart display functions. It's good for streaming music, with support for services like Tidal and Apple Music that don't work with Google, and, to my ear at least, slightly fuller sound than the Nest Hub Max. It's great for keeping up with the latest headlines or checking a quick sports score or weather forecast. 

As for video, the Echo Show uses Skype for video calls and supports streaming from Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. Meanwhile, Google places calls via Google Duo and supports playback from YouTube, HBO Now and CBS All Access (CBS is CNET's parent company, by the way). Each device also works with a number of other video service providers, including names like Dish, so check to see if the stuff you like to watch is watchable on your smart display of choice before you make a purchase. 

And no, the Echo Show doesn't include a shutter for the camera, either -- just a digital kill switch. I've included two alternatives with camera-covering shutters that are each worth considering below.