The Google Home Hub is one of the niftiest little gadgets set to hit the market, but a criticism of the Google branded Smart Display is that without a camera it’s a little lacking next to its cousins from Lenovo and JBL. But even without a camera, it can still be used for voice calls.
In a briefing with Google Australia yesterday it was confirmed that the Home Hub does indeed support their Duo calling app. You obviously can’t transmit video without a camera in the Home Hub, but you can however still see video from users making a video call.
There wasn’t a demonstration of the function, however it should be accessed by using Google Assistant to initiate a call.
At this stage, Google hasn’t spoken about using other apps for voice calling, or video calling on their Smart Displays. Duo has proven itself to be quite the capable application when making either video or voice calls on less than ideal connections, an important concern for users in emerging markets. Here in Australia we’ve been using Duo since launch and found it to be very good.
The Google Home Hub is launching in Australia on October 23 for $219. There will be a range of retail partners stocking the Chalk (grey) and Charcoal (black) coloured options including JB HiFi, Harvey Norman, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, The Good Guys, David Jones and Big W; or you can purchase an Aqua (blue) or Sand (pink) coloured model in addition to the Chalk and Charcoal model from the Australian Google Store.
