Gemini is coming to Google Home, and during yesterday’s Made by Google event, we saw our first glimpse of an unreleased Google Nest speaker – a roughly spherical device with a colored light at the base, seen sitting on a table beside F1 driver Lando Norris.
It’s about time too, given it’s been four years since Google’s last home hub, the 2nd-gen Nest Hub, launched in 2021. The question is, after such a long and rocky road, will anyone want it?
First of all, I find it interesting that Google has given us a peek at a speaker, not a smart display. It suggests that Google is taking a different approach to Amazon (which released two new Echo Show hubs late last year, and those are now the primary interface for its new subscription-tier Alexa+ service), and Apple (which is rumored to be announcing a new Apple Intelligence-powered display in September).
The Gemini presentation certainly didn’t tease a new Pixel Tablet – Google’s semi-portable smart home hub, which you can detach from its base and carry from room to room – though perhaps it’s keeping that up its sleeve for later in the year.
Despite its lack of a screen, the new Nest will need a serious silicon upgrade to keep pace with its rivals. The Echo Show 15 and 21 both sport Amazon’s new AZ2 processor, which the company claims will let them run an LLM locally with no latency, so the Nest will need a complete internal overhaul to compete, with a brand new chipset and more RAM.
That will mean a big price increase from previous Nest speakers – but will people be willing to pay? Google is currently facing an outcry from users who report that their existing Nest devices are throwing up error messages, or no longer recognizing commands. A US law firm has even announced that it has “begun investigating a possible class action” against Google because so many owners are reporting problems.
Device owners on the Google Home subreddit are certainly skeptical that the new speaker represents a fresh start for Google’s hardware.
“Not buying another Google Home product until they fix the thousand plus dollars worth of devices that I already bought and have been getting worse and worse with each passing week,” says the top-rated comment.
“Seriously I’ve never bought a tech product that literally got worse over time. It’s insane. Why should I give Google [any more] money?”
A chilly reception
That’s not the only issue – users living outside North America (including me) might not ever be able to use the new Nest to its full potential. In its Gemini for Home announcement, Google explained that users can “conveniently issue multiple commands at once to control your home: ‘Dim the lights, and set the temp to 72 degrees.’” But I won’t.
That’s because Google is ending support for its older smart thermostats in October, and won’t be selling any new ones in Europe – including the Fourth-Generation Nest Learning Thermostat that launched last year in the US and Canada. According to Google, this is because “heating systems in Europe are unique and have a variety of hardware and software requirements that make it challenging to build for the diverse set of homes.”
That also means we’ll miss out on hot water control – a feature coming to Google Home very soon according to Android Authority, which secured confirmation from Google Nest and Home Chief Product Officer Anish Kattukaran.
I’m curious to learn more about the new Nest, but with Google’s current usability issues, a potentially high price tag, and a lack of commitment to customers in Europe, it’ll have to work hard to convince me it’s a good investment.
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