Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) review

Google offers smarts, sound and a screen at a budget price Start from 99$

Google’s Nest-branded, screen-enhanced smart home device is into its second iteration and now cheaper than ever. The Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) has a two-figure price tag and for that offers you a range of new features, including Motion Sense for gesture control, support for Netflix, Disney Plus, YouTube and All 4 TV content, built-in Google Cast functionality, and Sleep Sensing to help you get a decent night’s sleep – courtesy of Google's Soli sensor technology.

The second-generation Nest Hub comes in one extra shade compared to the original (a light blue, although our ‘sand’ colourway is more of a light pink suggestion) and also boasts a step up in the sound department, with a larger, 43.5mm diameter speaker that promises up to 50 per cent more bass. A third mic and on-device machine learning chip make it even more responsive to your beck and call, too. But what’s it really like to use, how does it sound, and is it a good investment?

In an era of smartphones, tablets and laptops with both displays and front and rear snappers, any device that boasts a screen but not a camera is something of a rarity – a bit like an old SatNav device, perhaps. That does the Google Nest Hub a disservice, though, because there’s still plenty of new tech under the hood, and the lack of a snapper is a conscious decision. This is a device aimed squarely at those who want the added benefit of visual smarts afforded by a display but aren’t keen on letting their tech film them.

ou can also cast music. We open Spotify on our phone, start playing the What Hi-Fi? playlist, tap the bottom left of the screen for available devices, select the Google device and it begins playing on our Hub.

Google clearly sees this particular Nest Hub as a lifestyle aid above all else – it even wants to optimise your sleep. Swiping down from the top of the Hub’s screen gives you a variety of options to scroll through, including your morning, afternoon or evening routines, Wellness, Home control, media (to see a history of what you’ve been watching and listening to, or to get top news stories) Communicate, and Discover.

But the headline-grabber here is Sleep Sensing, which is free to trial on the Hub this year but will come at a cost from 2022. As the Nest Hub includes Google’s Soli sensor for motion detection, plus light and temperature sensors, not only can you stop and resume tracks by simply showing your Hub the palm of your hand, the chip housed within the speaker can tell you how long you slept for and how restful your sleep was.

To set it up, you need the Google Home, Assistant and Google Fit apps, all linked to your Google account. Then, you need to calibrate the Hub by placing it as level with your mattress as possible and aiming it at your torso. Finally, you lie on your bed and wait for it to finish setting-up. Because of the light sensor, the Hub’s screen dims (it just shows the time, like an alarm clock) as soon as you switch off your lights at night. In the morning, under the Wellness tab, you get a review of your night involving three circles to represent Schedule, Quality and Duration. If you went to bed on time (select an ideal bedtime during set-up), slept restfully and caught between seven and nine hours of shut-eye, the circles should be relatively well-aligned to become almost one, and purple. If not, they’ll be scattered and orange.

You’ll also get details on how many times you coughed or snored and for how long, the temperature of your room and your respiratory rate. Is it an invaluable sleep aid? No, but it is quite addictive – and emphatic proof once and for all that your partner snores.