Google Nest Hub Max Review - 6 Months Later

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 is 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 Nest hub 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 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 will be cloudy with a forecasted high of 67 a low of 48 .

Currently , it's 66 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 PM .

You have film Nest Hub Max video .

Remind me to call mom this afternoon .

Ok .

I'll remind you at 4 11 PM .

Play Rick and Morty on Hulu .

Ok .

Playing Rick and Morty on Hulu .

Show me the what can the Google assistant do in 2020 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 max 10 inch 12 80 by 800 H D 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 E Q 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 device's 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 it 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 also what makes this device a great gift for a parent grandparent or other family member .

You can set up their nest hub 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 U eye for the device swipe to the left to see recommendations Google has for you like recommendations or 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 three 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 Home Max .

Here's the 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 .

The nest hub 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 face match 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 1 27 degree field of view .

The wide angle camera make 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 hub 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 feed , 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 Nest to Max uses the camera for is to recognize your face with a feature called face match with face match .

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 six 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 mute switch 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 disconnected 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 .

Ok .

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 desktop Mac .

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 like 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 six months later .

I'm Josh Tedder .

Thanks for watching .