The good, the bad, and the ugly behind the push for more smart displays

After a couple of years without much happening, smart displays are in the news again. Aside from smart TVs, consumer screens that connect to the Internet have never reached a mainstream audience. However, there seems to be a resurgence to make smart displays more popular. The approaches that some companies are taking are better than those of others, revealing a good, bad, and ugly side behind the push.

Note that for this article, we'll exclude smart TVs when discussing smart displays. Unlike the majority of smart displays, smart TVs are mainstream tech. So for this piece, we'll mostly focus on devices like the Google Next Hub Max or Amazon Echo Show (as pictured above).

The good

When it comes to emerging technology, a great gauge for whether innovation is happening is by measuring how much a product solves a real user problem. Products seeking a problem to solve or that are glorified vehicles for ads and tracking don't qualify.

If reports that Apple is working on its first smart display are true, there may be potential for it to solve the problem of managing multiple smart home devices from different companies.

Apple has declined to comment on reports from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman of an Apple smart display under development. But Gurman recently claimed that the display will be able to be mounted on walls and "use AI to navigate apps.” Gurman said that it would incorporate Apple's smart home framework HomeKit, which supports "hundreds of accessories" and can control third-party devices, like smart security cameras, thermostats, and lights. Per the November 12 report:

The product will be marketed as a way to control home appliances, chat with Siri, and hold intercom sessions via Apple’s FaceTime software. It will also be loaded with Apple apps, including ones for web browsing, listening to news updates and playing music. Users will be able to access their notes and calendar information, and the device can turn into a slideshow display for their photos.

If released, the device—said to be shaped like a 6-inch iPhone—would compete with the Nest Hub and Echo Show. Apple entering the smart display business could bring a heightened focus on privacy and push other companies to make privacy a bigger focus, too. Apple has already given us a peek at how it might handle smart home privacy with the HomePod. "All communication between HomePod and Apple servers is encrypted, and anonymous IDs protect your identity," Apple's HomePod privacy policy states.

Apple's supposed smart display would also likely, and hopefully, leverage HomeKit Secure Video, which has already been adopted by non-Apple smart products and "ensures that activity detected by your security cameras is analyzed and encrypted by your Apple devices at home before being securely stored in iCloud," per Apple. This could help address concerns around the security of things like managing footage from smart doorbells.

Looking further ahead, I'm curious how an Apple smart display could impact Google's efforts here. Google hasn't released a new smart home display since 2019's Nest Hub Max. And with voice assistants like Google Assistant losing popularity, Google has seemed more interested in Pixel Tablets lately than smart displays. Recent sleuthing, however, has spotted code pointing to a new Nest Hub Max amid suspicion that Google is canceling future Pixel Tablets.

If Apple put out its own smart home display, how might Google respond? And how might generative AI impact interest or final products from either side? Surely, the Nest Hub Max isn't where smart home hubs max out.

The bad 

Over the past couple of years, we've seen more web-connected desktop monitors released. Some were driven by the growth of videoconferences boosted by the pandemic. Others are more about providing access to common consumer apps, like Netflix, without needing to connect to a personal system. Neither gives me enough reason to put another device on my network.

Smart monitors for videoconferencing could be useful for workplaces or for someone less technically inclined to see loved ones. But for most, a monitor dedicated to web calls isn't practical or necessary. The demise of devices like the Facebook Portal and Lenovo ThinkSmart View Plus (which Lenovo is no longer selling) support that view.

Meanwhile, smart monitors like Samsung's M-series or LG's MyView-series have the same ads and privacy concerns as smart TVs. As we've discussed at Ars before, smart TVs are increasingly used to push ads and track users, giving TV operating system (OS) owners, such as LG and Samsung, an alternative revenue stream from hardware sales.

Samsung and LG smart monitors use the same OSes as their respective smart TVs. LG and Samsung TVs are better at keeping ads to a respectable minimum than other, often cheaper, TVs. However, LG and Samsung have been seeking ways to grow their ad businesses.

For the most part, smart monitors don't seem to fill a gap in demand like a well-executed, privacy-focused smart home hub might.

Interest in tracking users and selling ads via TVs is what has caused dumb TVs to be exceptionally hard to find. I'd hate for dumb monitors to be elusive one day, too.

The ugly

Amazon markets its Echo Show displays as hubs for managing smart homes, calendars, and shopping lists. However, Amazon doesn't have a good reputation for maintaining user privacy. And with Amazon under pressure to make Alexa financially successful, it wouldn't surprise if more ads or subscription fees were eventually forced on Echo Show owners.

This week, Amazon announced the Echo Show 21, its biggest smart display yet. The bigger size makes the device more appropriate for watching stuff on platforms like Netflix and (as Amazon would love) Amazon Prime Video. Since Amazon owns the Echo Show OS, it could track user habits to fuel its ad business to generate insight for its businesses. Additionally, Echo Shows encourage tasks like researching and saving recipes and making shopping and to-do lists—all representing e-commerce opportunities for Amazon.

Amazon can use its smart display to track streaming habits.

Credit: Amazon

Amazon says it doesn't sell customer data, but it also says it may use user data for targeted ads, to inform its own business decisions, and to share non-user-specific trends with third parties.

Amazon has also been building a generative AI version of Alexa that is expected to require a subscription fee and seek more user information. However, Amazon hasn't done much to make Alexa easier to trust. As I wrote when Amazon first demoed gen AI Alexa:

The use of visual IDs to enable using Alexa without a wake word heightens the dependence on cameras and microphones, yet Amazon hasn't disclosed any revamped approaches to customer privacy. The company was previously caught keeping recordings, including children's, forever, and Amazon workers have been caught listening to Alexa audio and spying on Ring users. Alexa audio has even been used in criminal trials. Amazon says it doesn't send images or videos to the cloud and emphasizes Echo Show devices' microphone/camera off button and integrated physical camera shutter.

The free version of Alexa is expected to stay available when the generative AI alternative releases. But it remains possible that Amazon could eventually lock feature features behind a paywall or remove them.

Smart displays push

With smart home enthusiasts more excited than ever about Matter and with smart display talk already on the rise, I'm expecting more discussion around what makes a good, bad, or ugly smart display in 2025.

As tech companies push these devices out, Ars will focus on whether those devices are solving problems and if they're doing so with privacy and other user needs at the forefront. Smart displays built around company needs rather than users' will see limited interest from technologists.