Google Nest Hub Review — The £27 Smart Display That Runs Your Home

What Is the Google Nest Hub?

The Google Nest Hub (1st generation) is a 7-inch touchscreen smart display that combines Google Assistant voice control with a visual interface for recipes, video calls, media playback, and smart home device management. It's the entry-level device in Google's Nest Display range, sitting below the Nest Hub (2nd Gen) with Sleep Sensing and the Nest Hub Max with its 10-inch screen and camera.

At £26.77 on Amazon, this is deep-discount territory for a device that originally retailed at £89. Whether this price reflects end-of-life clearance or simply aggressive Amazon pricing, the functional value at sub-£30 is compelling for any household with Google Assistant devices or Chromecast-enabled TVs.

The 7-Inch Display

The 7-inch 1024×600 touchscreen is the defining feature over a standard smart speaker. It adds a visual layer to Assistant responses: when you ask about the weather, you get a forecast graphic; recipe queries return step-by-step visual instructions with timers; YouTube music requests show album art and artist info. The screen is bright enough to be readable in a lit kitchen at normal use distances, with ambient light sensing that dims appropriately overnight.

As a photo frame when idle, the Nest Hub cycles through Google Photos images or curated art collections — a feature that makes it feel less like a technology device sitting on a counter and more like a natural household object when not in active use.

Google Assistant Integration

The Nest Hub's core competency is Google Assistant, which in 2026 remains one of the strongest general-knowledge voice assistants for UK queries. Recipe finding, weather, unit conversions, shopping list management, calendar access, and smart home control all work reliably with UK-specific information (weather by UK postcode, UK business hours, UK unit conventions).

The Nest Hub handles multi-step recipe assistance particularly well: voice-triggered step-by-step progression through a recipe while your hands are covered in flour is genuinely useful, and the screen confirms each step visually to reduce mishearing risk.

Smart Home Hub

The Nest Hub acts as a Google Home hub for local control of Google Home-compatible devices — Philips Hue lights, Nest thermostats, Google Assistant-compatible smart plugs, compatible security cameras, and more. Voice commands like "turn off all lights in the living room" or "set the heating to 20 degrees" work without touching a phone.

The visual display adds utility here too: showing a camera feed, displaying which devices are on, or confirming smart home commands visually reduces the uncertainty that pure audio assistants create ("did it actually turn off?" — you can see the confirmation on screen).

Chromecast Built-In

The integrated Chromecast allows the Nest Hub to receive audio cast from any Chromecast-enabled app. This makes it a kitchen speaker for Spotify, YouTube Music, or podcast apps — cast from your phone or simply ask Assistant to play something. Audio quality is reasonable for kitchen background music; it's not a high-fidelity speaker but fills a kitchen adequately at conversational listening distances.

No Camera

The original Nest Hub has no camera — it cannot make video calls or participate in Google Duo/Meet calls with video. If video calling is a key requirement, the Nest Hub Max (10-inch with camera) is the upgrade path. For most kitchen counter use cases — recipe assistance, music, smart home control, weather checks — the absence of a camera is not a limitation.

2026 Relevance

As a 2019 device receiving regular software updates, the original Nest Hub operates fully in 2026 with current Google Assistant capabilities. The hardware is showing age relative to newer models (lower display resolution, older processor), but for the sub-£30 price point it represents the lowest-cost entry into the Google smart display ecosystem with no meaningful functional compromise for the core use cases.

Verdict

The Google Nest Hub at £26.77 is an exceptional value proposition for Google ecosystem households. Recipe assistance, smart home control, Chromecast audio, and always-on photo display make it genuinely useful in a kitchen, bedroom, or home office at a price that eliminates most deliberation. The 4.0-star rating from 422 reviews reflects a solid if not flashy product that consistently delivers on its promises.

Rating: 4.0/5 — Excellent value at this price, reliable Assistant integration, useful visual display. No camera limits video calling; display resolution shows its 2019 origins. Right for Google households, less compelling for Alexa ecosystems.

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