After nine long years, Google is finally refreshing its namesake device, Nest: The company announced the launch of the Nest Learning Thermostat 4 on Tuesday ahead of its Made by Google 2024 event next week, 13 years after the original was released and nearly a decade after the launch of the Learning Thermostat 3.
Google hopes the release will herald a new era for its smart home business, which has seen its performance slow significantly over the past few years and led many to believe the sector had largely stalled, with the Nest line's stagnation coinciding with a period of relative stagnation for Amazon's Echo line.
It's no coincidence that the new learning thermostat arrives at a time when Google is ramping up development of its generative AI model, Gemini: The system is expected to replace Google Assistant on Pixel and other Android devices, but the brand name will carry over to the smart home line, although many of Google's new LLM-based models will feature it.
Gemini effectively powers the conversational capabilities of the Assistant, with generative AI enabling more natural language interactions that Google and Amazon have been working on for over a decade.
“We're excited to share how Gemini models make your devices smarter and simpler than ever, including cameras and home automation. We're also using them to make the Google Assistant more natural and useful on Nest speakers and displays,” Google said in a release.
Image credit: Google Nest
The fourth-generation Learning Thermostat improves on the series' familiar design with thinner, sleeker hardware. The always-on display is now more customizable, with four different faces to choose from that give you more situational information when someone approaches. Each face shows a combination of time, temperature, and air quality.
Google has removed touch functionality from the display, opting instead to keep the familiar rotating hardware, and the screen itself is 60% larger than the third generation, with an edge-to-edge design that finally does away with the thick black bezels.
In addition to a more conversational assistant, new AI models are being used to power what Google calls “micro-adjustments” based on your habits — that's exactly what the “learning” part of the product name means. The improvements also use the outside temperature to determine adjustments, all to save energy consumption.
The $280 smart thermostat comes packaged with an extra temperature sensor: Place these pebble-like hardware in strategic locations in your home to help the system get a more accurate sense of the average temperature. Additional sensors are available for $40 each, or in a three-pack for $99.
The third-generation Learning Thermostat will remain in stores until stocks are fully depleted, and the lower-priced Thermostat E, currently selling for $130, will remain available.
Preorders for the new Nest Learning Thermostat begin today, and it'll hit stores on August 20th.