These Are The Best Digital Wall Calendars For 2027, According To Consumer Reports

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Keeping the whole family on the same page shouldn't be stressful, but it definitely can be. Our phones, tablets, and laptops help us schedule and organize our lives, but not everyone uses the same apps and devices. One family member may prefer using Google Calendar, while another leans on Apple software to log weekly events. Then there's the headache of trying to fit in a last-minute appointment without knowing what the rest of the family is up to on that date.

If that's all too familiar, then you and your clan might benefit from a digital wall calendar. Similar to a smart display, a standalone digital calendar lets everyone stay in each other's loops with several at-a-glance widgets and tools. You can view upcoming appointments, get a breakdown of the week ahead, delegate familial tasks, and much more. Some of the best models even sync with the calendar apps you use on your iPhone or Android device.

Consumer Reports (CR) has been vetting and testing these digital wall calendars for quite some time, so we thought we'd lean on the publication to help us hone in on the best of the best. Here are three of the top touchscreen calendars recommended by CR, along with pros and cons for each entry.

While it's much more than just a digital wall calendar (it's technically a big smart display), the $500 Amazon Echo Show 21 is less expensive than both the Skylight Max and Hearth Display, the other two top picks from CR detailed below. It's the most feature-rich, especially if you own one or several smart home devices. The Alexa app is compatible with hundreds of products, many of which you'll be able to control via the Echo Show touchscreen or voice commands.

At 21 inches, the overall footprint is perfect for a small to medium-sized gathering space, like a kitchen or living room. The Echo Show 21 supports shared calendars, lists, and reminders, and family members can add, remove, or edit events using the smart display or the Alexa app. The Show 21 has an integrated camera for taking video calls, and it can also be set up as a stationary security cam. You'll even be able to watch movies and TV shows via platforms like Prime Video and Netflix using the built-in Fire TV interface.

We do wish there were more calendar customizations to experiment with; CR's reviewer noted that the shared calendar can only be as large as half of the screen. It's also worth mentioning that the Echo Show's many entertainment features could distract users, and keeping everyone sharp and focused is the name of the game with an interactive calendar device.

Skylight is one of the leading brands in the world of touchscreen calendars, and the $600 Skylight Calendar Max is the end-all, be-all of their interactive displays. Measuring in at a whopping 27 inches, the Max features HD visuals and an auto-brightness screen, on top of an 8-watt speaker system. It's also meant to be wall-mounted and comes with all the installation hardware. It's not battery-powered, though; that means wherever it ends up living, an AC outlet shouldn't be far away.

Once connected to the internet, the Max gives the whole family access to a unified calendar. You can add, remove, or change events via touchscreen, the Skylight app, or whatever calendar app you use on your personal devices (the Max is compatible with Google, Apple, Outlook, Yahoo, and more). You'll also be able to view shopping lists and assigned chores, and each family member's personal events can be color-coded. While CR reviewed the Max, the Skylight Calendar is sold in 10- and 15-inch sizes, too.

Additional features are locked behind an $80 subscription paywall (Skylight Plus), including a tool called Magic Import that automatically scans and converts emails, PDFs, flyers, and other media into calendar events. It's certainly one of the most expensive digital calendars on the market, but the Skylight Calendar Max is tough to beat.

Believe it or not, there's a digital wall calendar that supersedes the price of the $600 Skylight Calendar Max. It's the $700 Hearth Display, another mammoth of a touchscreen device, and this one doesn't have the option of being mounted horizontally; it's portrait mode only this time around. Fortunately, Hearth delivered a beautiful-looking display that remains legible even in the largest rooms. 

Your family's aggregated events are shown on the main shared calendar, but you'll be able to have multiple user profiles set up. Each family member can use a different calendar app on their personal devices; Hearth supports most major platforms, including Apple, Google, Outlook, and more. Similar to the Skylight Max, there's also chore-tracking, shopping lists, and other organization tools, but these features (and several more) are locked behind a paywalled subscription — $9 per month or $87 annually.

Unfortunately, you'll also need to activate a Hearth membership when setting up the device; though you'll be able to cancel as soon as your Hearth Display is online. There's no built-in battery either, so you'll definitely want to make sure you're mounting it in proximity to an electrical outlet.