it's been six months since we bought our
Nesta backs and in this video I'm going
to go over the top features of the
device how the device has held up over
the past six months some downsides we've
encountered while using the device and
my overall recommendations for whether
or not you should pick one up yourself
let's dive in released in the second
half of 2019 the Google desktop max is a
Google assistant display and the larger
cousin of the popular nest hub which was
released in 2018 after using a nest hub
max for over six months I think the main
selling points are the Google assistant
integration photo display capabilities
Google Photos integration the great
sound quality for playing music and
podcasts and a camera for music control
security and video calling the device
retails for 229 US dollars and comes in
both charcoal and chalk colors if you're
trying to decide between a nest hub and
a nest hub max
in short what sets the nest hub max
apart is mainly its larger size better
sound quality and the inclusion of a
camera if you're looking for a more
in-depth comparison between the nest hub
and the nest hub max we've actually
already made that video you can get to
it by clicking the card in this video or
checking out the link below in the
description now let's talk about our
first main feature of the device which
is the Google Assistant the Google
assistant is incredibly powerful on the
nest hub max and can be used for a wide
variety of requests you can ask it
things like what's the weather in
Raleigh today it'll be cloudy with a
forecasted high of 67 and a low of 48
currently at 66 and partly cloudy play
Billy Eilish on Spotify here's Billy
Eilish on Spotify show me some chicken
recipes sure here are some recipes set a
timer for 45 minutes 45 minutes and
that's starting now what's on my
calendar there's one entry for today at
3:30 p.m.
you have film nest hop max video remind
me to call mom this afternoon okay I'll
remind you at 4:11 p.m. play Rikki
morty on hulu okay playing rick and
morty on hulu
show me the what can the google
assistant do in 20 20 video on youtube
sure here are some videos now that last
video you saw it's actually a recent
video we did it's about the top things
you can do with the google assistant in
2020 now if you want to watch that video
you can do that by clicking the card in
this video or as always checking out the
link below in the description the google
assistant does make really good use of
the nest hub maxes 10 inch 1280 by 800
HD display but the thing that I think
really utilizes that screen the best is
a feature called photo frame what photo
frame allows you to do is you can set up
in the settings of the Google home app
you can choose to have photos display on
your nest hub max and the best part is
you can choose photos from your google
photos library the ambient light each
you sensor next to the camera on the
front of the device helps adjust the
brightness and color temperature of the
display so your photos always look great
in any given lighting situation you can
favorite photos that show up on the
display share them with friends and
family through google photos or if
there's a photo that comes up that you
don't want to see you have the option to
archive it right from the display the
photos displayed on the nest hub max
have been one of the most impactful
parts of this devices experience because
they evoke emotions when you're seeing
these photos constantly being displayed
on the device you're reliving memories
from your past you're rediscovering
things you may have forgotten and
probably the most emotional and
impactful things is when you see friends
family members and pets that have now
passed away and you're rediscovering the
memories that you've shared with them
and that definitely gives you a positive
experience interacting with this device
in a way that you don't normally get
with many other tech products the Google
Photos integration is all
so what makes this device a great gift
for a parent grandparent or other family
member you can set up their nest stop
max to show photos from a shared album
that you can share with multiple
different family members and you all can
contribute more photos to the shared
album throughout the year so as you go
on vacations or take new pictures of
your kids or grandkids you can
contribute those photos to the shared
album and they'll continue to show up on
the nest hub max now there's more to
display than just photos on the nest hub
max tap the screen once and you'll see
the main UI for the device swipe to the
left to see recommendations Google has
for you like recommendations for YouTube
videos music playlists that it thinks
you'll like news stories reminders or
calendar events that you may have swipe
down from the top of the device to
control your smart home from lights
smart plugs to robotic vacuum cleaners
to security cameras and thermostats
there are a lot of things that you can
use the Google assistant to control
through the nest hub max next up let's
talk about sound the nest hub max
features much improved sound over the
nest hub thanks to its stereo tweeters
at the front of the device and the 30
watt 3 inch woofer in the rear in terms
of Google's speaker lineup I'd say it's
the best sounding smart display out
there and the only product that Google
makes that sounds better is the Google
Hall max here's a sound test between the
nest hub and the nest hub max just to
give you an idea of how much better the
nest hub max sounds
[Music]
the nest up max is great for playing
music and podcast and it integrates with
several streaming services like Spotify
Google Play Music YouTube music Pandora
Google podcasts and more the speakers
are also great for watching cooking
videos on YouTube or your favorite shows
through services like Hulu and HBO now
to see the full list of music and video
streaming service integrations with this
device check out the link below in the
description all right now let's move on
to our last big feature of this device
and that is the 6.5 megapixel camera
included with the nest hub max the
camera is used for a variety of
applications including video calling
security
facematch and my personal favorite music
gesture controls the video calling
features of the nest hub max are
actually pretty useful you can make
video calls through a service called
Google duo which is google's competitor
to apple's FaceTime except that google
duo actually works on many more devices
than FaceTime the camera on the front
has a wide 127 degree field of view the
wide-angle camera makes sure that it can
fit you and multiple people around you
all in frame during a video call if you
shift or move your location while on a
video call the camera will actually
follow you to keep you in frame which is
pretty neat you can also leave video
messages for people as well if they
don't pick up on their devices the
camera on the nest of Max isn't just for
video calling though it can also double
as a nest security camera for your home
as well you can check in on the live
feed of the device from the Google home
app and you can also subscribe to the
nest secure subscription service and
have your footage saved for a certain
period of time on Google's cloud when
someone is looking at the live feed of
your nest hub max a green LED will
display at the top of the device and a
little pop-up will come up on the screen
letting you know that someone is
currently viewing the feed now if you
don't want to allow people to drop in on
the fee
but still want to use the camera for
video calling you can disable the
security features of the camera in the
device settings through the Google home
app another thing the Nesta max uses the
camera for is to recognize your face
with a feature called face match with
face matched it will display proactive
notifications just assigned to you like
reminders someone may have assigned to
you events on your calendar or even a
video message left specifically for you
lastly the camera is used for one of my
personal favorite features on the nest
hub max called music gesture controls
you can raise the palm of your hand
towards the nest hub max when media is
playing to play or pause media in the 6
months I've been using this feature I
have to say that it actually works
consistently well like better than you
would expect a feature like this to work
at least in my experience now not
everyone necessarily wants to have a
camera on all the time and you can turn
off the camera with two ways the first
way is by swiping up from the bottom of
the display and tapping the camera icon
to turn it off the second way is by
sliding the mute switch on the back of
the device which will physically
disconnect both the camera and the
microphone from the device now the
camera mutes which leads me to my first
downside about this device there's no
camera cover like there is on the Lenovo
smart display I have now there are some
situations where you will want to
disable the camera physically disconnect
it from the device but leave the
microphone connected that's why I feel
like a camera cover at least would cover
the camera and you would see that okay
there's no way this camera is recording
any footage other than that though
there's not much else that I wish Google
would change with this device I haven't
run into any reliability issues with the
device over the past six months overall
I've really enjoyed using the Google
Nest hub max I think it's a great device
if you want a photo frame if you want a
great Google assistant speaker and
probably most of all if you want a great
gift to give either your parents or your
grandparents or other relatives
now if you're stuck between deciding on
a nest hub or a nest hub max I really
would recommend checking out our
comparison video between those two
devices you can find a link to that
video in the description below well
that's it for our review on the Google
nest hub max if you liked this video and
found it helpful
make sure to hit that thumbs up button
below and subscribe to the channel to
see more Google and Google product
related videos like this one for 6
months later I'm Josh Tedder thanks for
watching