Review of the Google Nest Hub
1 Aug 2019
Introduction
Google brings in the Nest Hub to Singapore a couple of weeks ago. You probably have seen it in the stores and thought that it was a photo frame.
It may look like a photo frame but it offers more than just that. We unboxed it and here is what we see.
The package consists of the actual “photo frame” with an embedded speaker and microphone. It hash a volume up / dn on the right and a circular power connector (which is non standard micro USB). There is no battery inside, so you will need to be connected to the mains.
Setting it up for the first time is straightforward too. You just need to power it up, use your Google Home App and search and add device, enter a pin code and you are done. The method is just like how you add chromecast or the Home Mini to your network.
[nextpage title=”What can you do with Nest Hub”]
What can you do with Google Nest Hub
If you are familiar with Google Home or Google Assistant, Google Nest Hub is now available in Singapore. With the Google Assistant built-in, you can use your voice to get the best of Google—Search, YouTube, Google Photos, Calendar, Maps and more—right on Nest Hub’s display.
The device is mulit functional. It can be a recipe finder and it can also help you reminded of low supplies as you can ask it to remind you of things or even where are certain things store at.
In the hall or bed room, it can play smoothing music and help you control the lighting all through voice. It also give you a full view of the devices connected on screen so that you can control them easily. You can also ask Nest Hub forthe latest news with both audio and visual. Simply your connected home with the single dash board without switching apps to control your air conditioning, vacumn cleaner, turn up volume of your TV etc. With Nest Hub, you can also beam your facebook videos to the screen. You can also use Google Duo to make video calls.
While on standby, it can be use as a photo frame which you could select photos of selected persons to be playback. You can also ask it to show you your photos taken from say your Malaysia trip.
You can also hook it up with Mi 360 degrees security camera and watch live streams and track who is at the door from the screen. Set up procedure may not be that straightforward as you would need to use the Mi App to connect to the Mi Cam before connecting Mi Cam to your Google Home App.
In the set up below, the Mi Cam is pointed at the snake plant and you can view the plant from the Nest Hub.
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Using the Google Nest Hub in the Kitchen
In the Kitchen
[nextpage title=”Using the Google Nest Hub in the Living Room”]Using Google Nest Hub in the Living Room
[nextpage title=”Using Google Nest Hub in the Bed Room”]Using Google Nest Hub in the bed room
[nextpage title=”Conclusion”]Conclusion
The Google Nest Hub can be considered as a Google Home with a touch screen display. Although the Google Nest Hub and Google Assistant on the smartphone provide visual answers, there are some fundamental differences. First, the Google Nest Hub is not as portable as it sits on a desktop and needs to be powered with a 3 pin plug. The Nest Hub provides larger screen which you could monitor your webcam or even stream youtube or facebook videos streamed from your smartphone.
Available today on the Google Assistant is Mandrarin voice recognition as you can query it in Mandarin. Unfortunately, Google Home and Google Nest Hub language supported are still quite restricted to English, European languages and Japanese. In fact, it is not as flexible as Google Home as it only supports a single langauge at one time.
The larger screen also lack a web browser. It will definitely be a welcomed move if Google decides to include a Chrome browser in a new firmware update. Instead of surfing on a small 6′ smart phone, it would be nice if they can continue on the silghtly larger screen.
In Conslusion, the Nest Hub is a product that brings speech power control into one central device. Although it works, there are still more that can be done in terms of langauge support etc. We look forward to seeing it supporting more languages and make it easier to hook up with the Mi Cam or other devices directly.