Google Home Display Rumored as Nest Hub Max Successor
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- Google ended a five-year dry spell last month by launching the Google Home Speaker at the Nest Hub's $99 price point — its first central smart home pillar since the second-gen Nest Hub in 2021.
- Google Home's chief alluded to a forthcoming "Google Home Display" prior to the Speaker's launch, and the product name surfaced in code on May 13, 2026, per the article.
- Ben Schoon reviews three past Google smart displays: the $99 Home Hub/Nest Hub (speaker with visual feedback), the Nest Hub Max (supersized with built-in Nest Cam), and the Pixel Tablet, dismissed as "jack of all trades, master of none."
- The author argues a modernized Nest Hub Max with a built-in Nest Cam — plus night vision, which the original lacked — is the best template for the rumored Display at a price comparable to the Speaker.
- 9to5Google podcast guest Abner believes Google's smart home hardware future won't extend far beyond the Speaker and a rumored Display, leaving variations to third-party brands like those returning to Walmart.
Why it matters: With just the Speaker and Display as Google's planned first-party smart home hardware and third-party brands like Walmart's Gemini partners handling variations, Google's roadmap is narrower than its experimental Pixel Tablet era — clearer choices at the $99 tier, but no more mid-range Google-built alternatives.
