- When it comes to smart homes and the smart assistants,
one of the best platforms you can use is Google Home.
Google currently offers a variety of home devices,
starting from the Home Mini, regular Home,
the Home Max, and even the new Home Hub.
In this video, we take a look at the differences
between a standard Google Home and the Google Home Hub,
which gives you a screen.
So if you're wondering which Google Home
is the right one for your smart home,
this is the video for you.
What is going on Tech Squad, Andru Edwards here,
editor-in-chief of GearLive.com.
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As I mentioned, today, we are taking a look
at the Google Home and the Google Home Hub.
Both of them run on the Google Assistant.
One of them is voice controlled with voice feedback,
and the other is voice controlled as well,
but also offers a touchscreen, which allows you
to do some things without having to use your voice at all.
Before we jump in, I wanna give a big shout out
to Lowe's Home Improvement for sending over
both the Google Home and the Google Home Hub
and for sponsoring this video.
If you didn't know, your local Lowe's Home Improvement store
is the place to go for hot deals
on the latest smart home tech, and if it's something
that requires professional installation,
they've got you covered there as well.
I'll leave a link down in the description below
if you wanna check out the Google Home Hub for yourself
over at Lowes.com.
Now without any further ado, let's take a look
at the Google Home.
The easiest way to think of the Google Home
is that it's a device that gives you hands-free access
to the Google Assistant.
Using just your voice, you can get answers to questions,
tackle your day, enjoy entertainment,
and even control your smart home.
Let's talk about some of these.
Since the Google Home has a pretty decent speaker built in,
you can say it to play it when it comes to things
like music, podcasts, audiobooks and more.
But it's not just about entertainment.
I also mentioned that you can tackle your day
with the Google Home too, and what I mean by that
is you can use the Google Assistant
as, well, an assistant.
For example, you can get personalized help
with your schedule, get reminders, make phone calls,
and even get news tailored to your preferences.
And as I'm saying these things,
it should become pretty obvious that despite the name,
the Google Home isn't just about your home life.
It can actually assist you with your work life as well.
That said, stepping back into the home,
let's talk a little bit more about entertainment.
The Google Home works with Google Chromecast Protocol,
which means you can stream shows, movies, and music
right to your TV or speakers just by asking it to do so.
And controlling your TV is just the start
of smart phone integration.
Google Home works with more than 5,000 smart home devices
from over 150 different brands.
That includes smart lights, smart door locks,
thermostats, air conditioners, fans, smart outlets,
garage door openers, and much more.
And all the things I just mentioned
are things you can do with the Google Home,
again, using just your voice.
So in that case, what's missing?
Well, while Google Home allows you to make a request
with just your voice with ease,
getting feedback from the Google Home is also audio only,
which may not be the best in every scenario.
Sometimes, you wanna ask a question
and get the response back in a visual form.
Now, that means you need a display,
and that's where the Google Home Hub comes in.
The Google Home Hub is a Google Home through and through,
but with an integrated touchscreen on the device itself.
That means it does all the things that I just mentioned
that the Google Home could do,
but it's got some extra tricks up its sleeve
thanks to that integrated touchscreen.
In fact, the screen allows the Google Assistant
to offer you help without you even having to ask for it.
So with the standard Google Home, you have a device
that's ready to answer any question you have,
but when you're not asking it anything,
it's just waiting for your next command.
With the Google Home Hub, the display
is constantly offering you information proactively.
Wake up and say good morning,
and you can visually see your events for the day,
your commute, your reminders, and more.
Throughout the day, the Google Assistant
will offer you things like news updates, recommendations,
and more right on the screen without you having to touch
or say anything, and when controlling things
like your smart home, instead of having to ask
for the status of a device like,
"Is my front door locked," or, "Are my lights on or off,"
you can see the status of everything
right on the Google Home Hub's display.
Not only can you see everything,
but you can actually manipulate the state of devices
using touch rather than using your voice.
The screen also allows you to tap
into even more smart home devices
than the standard Google Home.
For example, smart home cameras,
you can ask the Google Home Hub to pull up something
like a nest camera so you can see the video feed live
right on your Home Hub.
For me, this is great when someone rings my doorbell,
I have a video doorbell.
When the doorbell rings, I get an alert saying
someone's at the door.
I can ask to see the video feed,
and I can see who's there and communicate with them
right with the Google Home Hub.
You can also pull up YouTube and watch YouTube videos
right on the Home Hub as well as play music
through the built-in speaker.
Being a Google device, the Home Hub also works
with Google Photos and can even show you your photos
with live albums and will allow you to pull up collections
of pictures with just your voice as well.
So if you're sitting at your desk,
and you wanna see the photos you took in Hawaii last summer,
all you need to do is ask the Google Home Hub,
and they'll all appear right on the display.
Now, you can't really go wrong with either one,
and of course, you can mix and match Google Homes
throughout your home.
You can also throw in the Google Home Mini
and the Google Home Max.
The Mini and the Max replicate the features
of the Google Home itself.
One of them is just a lot smaller,
and the other one is a lot bigger.
If you want one with a display for somewhere
like the kitchen or your desk,
the Google Home Hub is a great option.
Now, the best part here is probably the price difference.
When comparing the price between the Google Home
and the Google Home Hub,
the Hub is only about $20 more expensive
despite the fact that it has a better speaker
and a display as well.
Of course, no need to splurge if you're totally fine
using just voice commands to control your smart home
and your entertainment, but it is nice to see
that Google is offering a more premium experience
without adding a super premium price tag to match.
Now, I wanna hear from you guys.
Let me know about what smart home devices you have
in your homes and what do you use to control them.
Drop a comment down below, and I will meet you there
for further discussion.
That is it for this one, guys.
I hope you're having a fantastic holiday season.
CES is right around the corner, and I will be there
on the ground bringing you first looks
at all the new tech that should be dropping sometime
in 2019, don't forget drop a like on this video
if you enjoyed it, and you can always click
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Until next time, thank you so much for watching.
As always, guys, I appreciate your support.
I'm Andru Edwards, and I will catch you in the next video.
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