This $50 Nest Hub 2nd Gen is a Black Friday smart home deal you cannot miss

Black Friday is a great time to pick up smart home gear, and Google is doing its part by discounting the Nest Hub 2nd Gen. The Assistant-enabled speaker comes with a 7-inch screen and usually retails for $100, but now you can get your hands on it for $50, half off what it costs.

Google didn't change too many things from the first-gen model, with the Nest Hub 2nd Gen featuring the same design with a fabric finish - and the same 7-inch panel. You can easily control your smart home lighting or other products connected to your Google account, and should you wish to do so, there's also the option to stream YouTube videos or Netflix on the Nest Hub.

It's also decent for streaming music, but for me, the reason I use it the most is the reminders feature. It's just easy to ask Assistant to set reminders and see a visual confirmation on the screen. On that note, the Nest Hub is particularly great as a digital photo frame, sourcing images from your Google Photos albums.

New in this generation is a sensor that monitors your sleep activity, and the ability to use gestures to control the interface. It is also well suited for music thanks to the reworked audio drivers that deliver significantly more bass than the first-gen model.

Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen

$50 at Best Buy$50 at Walmart$50 at Google Store

The Nest Hub 2nd Gen is the ideal choice if you want a Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker with a screen. It does a fantastic job controlling your smart home products, the screen is ideal as a dashboard for controlling music or for getting a heads-up notification about upcoming calendar events or reminders.

There's really not much missing here, and when you account for the savings, the Nest Hub 2nd Gen is an easy recommendation at $50. Looking for more smart home products on sale? You'll want to take a look at our best Black Friday smart home deals for all the details.