Google may be best known for its search engine, but it has a growing slew of branded devices, including smartphones, smart speakers, thermostats, media streamers, and more. This guide is all about finding the best Google products you can spend your money on.
Read more: The best Google Assistant devices
The best Google products:
Editor’s note: We’ll update our list of the best Google products as new devices launch.
Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
Eric Zeman / Android Authority
The most obvious difference, aside from design, is the company’s choice in display technology. Both use OLED panels sporting HDR and 24-bit depth. The Pixel 6 runs at Full HD+ resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate, which is good enough on its own, but the Pixel 6 Pro takes things a step further with QHD+ and a butter-smooth 120Hz refresh rate.
Performance gets a boost thanks to Google’s proprietary Tensor chipset, as well as 8 or 12GB of RAM, depending on the model. There’s also plenty of battery power on board. The regular Pixel 6 is equipped with a 4,600mAh battery, while Pro owners are treated with a massive 5,000mAh unit.
Google Pixel 5a
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For starters, the Pixel 5a is the first A-series device to offer an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. Other specs include an OLED display, a Snapdragon 765G processor, 6GB of RAM, and a respectable 4,680mAh battery. Then there’s the camera system, which Google’s phones are famous for.
You may want to hold off though — pre-orders for the Pixel 6a start on July 21, and your patience will net you upgrades like a faster processor and an in-display fingerprint sensor.
Nest Hub Max
The Nest Hub Max may be the best smart display on the market, beating most anything Amazon has to offer so long as you can afford it. It combines a 10-inch display with a powerful speaker, as well as a front-facing camera that enables video calls, face recognition for personalized content, and security monitoring if you spring for Nest Aware.
Related: The best smart displays
Most importantly, Google’s interface is attractive and intuitive, making it a solid foundation for a smart home whether you use touch controls or Google Assistant. On its own the Max is great for both music and video, thanks to a selection of native apps and support for Google Cast.
If you’re looking for something more affordable and don’t mind giving up a camera, some sound quality, and some screen space, you might consider the standard Nest Hub. It even has something the Max doesn’t — sleep tracking.
Nest Learning Thermostat
The key feature of the Nest Learning Thermostat is right in the name. Within a week of recording manual adjustments, it starts to learn your routine and adapt accordingly. If you turn down the temperature around 10PM every night, for example, the thermostat will begin doing that on its own.
More: The best smart thermostats at every price point
You can alternately turn to scheduling, and/or Home and Away modes, which ease off temperatures when no one’s around. However you use it the product it should ultimately pay for itself, cutting power bills by optimizing heating and cooling.
To save money upfront you might consider the Nest Thermostat, although it does away with learning features and is incompatible with the Nest Temperature Sensor.
Google Pixel Buds A-Series
There’s no wireless charging, no touch-based volume control, and they lack attention alerts to catch outside sounds like sirens or crying babies. If you can live without these features however, the Pixel Buds A-Series may be a fantastic deal.
If you can wait, the Pixel Buds Pro is launching on July 28 with features like active noise cancellation, wireless charging, longer battery life, and multipoint connectivity (for easier device switching). It’ll cost you an extra $100 though, so you might still prefer the A-Series.
Chromecast with Google TV
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Unlike earlier Chromecasts the current model comes with a Google Assistant voice remote, so you’re no longer reliant on a phone, tablet, or laptop for control. You can still use Google Cast, of course, or Assistant-compatible smart speakers.
Nest Audio
Adam Molina / Android Authority
Speaking of smart speakers, Google’s best audio-only product is the Nest Audio. It’s equipped with a 19mm tweeter and a 75mm woofer, as well as two important software features, Media EQ and Ambient IQ. The former automatically tunes the speaker based on content (music, podcasts, audiobooks, etc.), while Ambient EQ adjusts volume based on how noisy your home is.
Related: The best smart speakers
Google’s cheapest speaker is the Nest Mini. We mention it because it’s extremely affordable, but we’d only really recommend it as a way of extending Assistant in a smart home, or for listening to news and podcasts. For music, you’ll probably want the Nest Audio or a Nest Hub Max.
Nest Doorbell
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The latest version of the Nest Doorbell can be used both wired or on battery power, and can keep recording for an hour in the event of a power or Wi-Fi cut. It also performs on-device person, package, animal, and vehicle detection, so when you get an phone notification, you’ll know if you should care.
Here: The best smart security cameras you can buy
There are a few drawbacks. Video resolution is small compared to some rivals, and you only get three hours of cloud recording for free — you’ll need to pay for a Nest Aware subscription to expand that to 30 days. Aware does enable recognition of familiar faces, so you’ll be able to tell when a specific friend or family member is stopping by.
Google Pixelbook Go
Eric Zeman / Android Authority
The Pixelbook Go is the current Chromebook model designed by Google itself. It starts at $649, and is made with magnesium, weighing just 2.3 pounds. Its specs date back to 2019, but considering the product runs the lightweight Chrome OS, that may be more than enough.
More: These are the best Chromebooks available right now
We’d recommend avoiding the base model with a Core m3 processor. Thankfully there are multiple tiers, up to system with a Core i7 chip, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and 4K resolution. That version costs $1,399 if you can find it, however, at which point you should probably be looking at Windows laptops.
Nest Wifi
The Nest Wifi is a mesh router, generating a consistent signal throughout your home by way of extenders, which Google calls “points.” The standard bundle of one router and one point covers up to 3,800 square feet, and you can add more points to grow coverage further, so long as the router can maintain a link with them.
The router is easy to install and configure. Each point even doubles as a Google Assistant speaker, though you’ll still want something like a Nest Audio if you care about sound quality.
There are a few downsides to the product. The only Ethernet ports are two on the router, and Google is still using Wi-Fi 5 when a lot of routers have progressed to Wi-Fi 6. There’s also no dedicated backhaul between the router and points, which limits connection speeds for devices.
