The best technology compatible with Google Assistant to create your smart home

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Google Assistant is the best voice assistant on the market. There we said it. More intelligent than Alexa and compatible with more kits than Siri and Apple's HomeKit, a house optimized by Google is a safe bet if you have decided to embark on the design of a smart home.

Since Google decided to buy Nest, Google Home has also become Nest Home and Google is doing its best to convert Nest Homes into Google Homes. (There have been a lot of protests and Works with Nest is still alive). Google also makes a lot of its own hardware, which works well with the wizard, with one or two notable exceptions: Android TV, for example, is not always as integrated as it could be. # 39; be.

Here's our selection of the best Google Assistant-enabled devices to get you started. Some of them act as assistant controllers, that is, they have built-in microphones so you can talk to them, some are controlled by the assistant and others do both.

WIRED Recommends is your definitive guide to the best technology. Check our guide to the best gadgets to know our best choices in all categories that we tested. When you buy something using the retail links of our stories, we earn a small affiliate commission. This has no impact on the products we recommend.

Nest Hub Max

The mother of all Google Assistant controllers, the new Nest Hub Max (£ 219) is an oversized version of the Google Home Hub from last year (now renamed below). It has a beautiful 10 inch 1280×800 touchscreen, which you can easily see throughout the room, and 10W respectable stereo speakers, which are the main advantage over the smaller "smart display".

The other major novelty is the 6.5 megapixel front camera. These are very clever things like Face Match, which actually works – download your face model via your phone's camera, and then move to the screen and maps with your personalized ride, news and features. videos appear. This is also, of course, for Google Duo video calls. This will suit families with space on the kitchen counter or living room console who see the camera as a friend, not a privacy issue. If you find it useful, a slider allows you to mute the microphone and the camera when you need it.

Price: £ 219 | Check price on Google | Very | John lewis

Nest Home Hub

The dinkier Nest Home Hub (£ 119) looks more like a 7 inch tablet on a rack, not a 10in and it makes a lot of sense in small kitchens than in family houses. It has all the same features – minus the camera and Face Match – and is very easy to use as a voice controller for Google Assistant.

As with the Nest Hub Max, swipe down from the top of the screen to access quick controls to turn on and off smart lights, or to stream audio messages to devices Google nearby. In addition, the ambient light sensor does a wonderful job of matching the on-screen display according to the room's lighting.

Price: £ 119 | Check price on Google | Very | John lewis

Google Chromecast Ultra

As we noted above, Google has not yet fully harmonized Assistant and Android TV. But if you take a 4K Chromecast Ultra (69 €) streaming key, you can do clever things like setting up Voice Match with Google Assistant and adding your streaming services in the Google Home app on your phone and getting Google to open not only Netflix, but also your exact Netflix profile.

Elsewhere, you have access to Google Play Movies & TV and Amazon Prime Video, which allows you to stream content from phone apps when you do not feel like talking and that Ultra takes also support HDR playback. This is not as complete as some rivals, but for a Google home wizard, it's by far the most sensible.

Price: £ 69 | Google | Currys PC World | Argos

Nest Learning Thermostat

The original device of the Nest smart home, the Nest Thermostat (£ 219) is now in his third generation, but he still has to be beaten. A smart thermostat is the first thing you should buy if you are looking to reduce your bills with remote controls and energy monitoring statistics in the app. Some Wi-Fi connected thermostats are based on geo-fence on a daily basis, but Nest learns your habits after about a week of use. Anything out of the ordinary can then be controlled and planned by voice via the wizard or main hub commands.

Price: £ 219 | Check price on Google | Currys | Argos

Nest Protect

OK, £ 100 for a smoke detector looks ridiculous. But listen to us. You will not want to return to regular alarms after hearing the soothing tones of Nest Protect (£ 109) informing you that it has detected smoke in your kitchen before you set off an alarm. The alerts on your phone also work well and the Protect also acts as a CO2 alarm. The cherry on the top? Its "split-spectrum" sensor automatically tests itself every night and lasts a decade.

Properly integrating Google Assistant would be an easy solution, for example. tell the wizard to turn it off instead of doing it in the smartphone app, but that has not happened yet. There remains however a firm recommendation for Google / Nest households from us.

Price: £ 109 | Check price on Google | Currys | John lewis

Philips Hue

We would like to be a fly on the wall of the room of ideas without any doubt superbly enlightened of the Hue HQ. Because Philips Hue (from £ 24) continues to add smart light bulbs to its already complete series. Turn on the mirror in the bathroom? Check. Waterproof, outdoor lighting? Check? Regular bulbs E27 and B22? Sorted.

The Hue range not only includes a light bulb for every occasion, but is also reliable, with easy-to-use application controls, to add to the "OK Google, turn off the light" rituals that you will soon be getting into. (In fact, this will probably become your most used smart home phrase). Hue is not afraid to have fun either: Hue has most third-party apps designed for this, up to colorful party lighting features. Far from voice commands and applications, the wireless dimmer is also a pleasure – click to switch to the predefined smart lighting scenes.

Price: Starting from £ 24 | Check the price on Amazon | Argos | John lewis

TP-Link smart socket

Our smart plug-ins are not the cheapest – that goes to IKEA's offer – but the TP-Link Smart Plug (from 16 €) the range is reliable and does the job. The work consists mainly of turning on and off devices, lamps that you can not install, for example, when you use Google Assistant.

An affordable way to fill the gaps of semi-connected smart homes, with an accurate planning bonus, it's also a solution that can offer unexpected peace of mind – you can not remember if you have left the rectifiers? No problem, just control it remotely from iOS or Android applications and the smart plug will save you the day. If you want to pay a little more, TP-Link will monitor and also show you your energy consumption, but this is not essential to realize savings.

Price: Starting from € 16 | Check the price on Amazon | John Lewis | Argos