Google's new smart video hub is now controlled without touch, thanks to a radar that also tells us how we slept last night.
The official announcement is here. Google Nest Hub 2 has become reality and is ready to enter the homes of those who do not want to give up an all-rounder assistant with which to interact, manage the smart appliances in the house and on which to watch movies and TV series. Among the new features introduced with the new version, there are also gestures and the Soli radar that monitors sleep.
Two years after the previous model, Google churns out the new device for the home with a design essentially similar to its predecessor but a completely new internal equipment. In fact, Nest Hub 2 houses inside Soli, a real radar that we have already seen on the Pixel 4 smartphones (but then not confirmed on the Pixel 5). On Google Nest Hub 2 Soli is able to intercept the stages of sleep and, after careful analysis, provide a comprehensive report to help improve the effects of rest. In addition to this, there is also the system, also managed by Soli, which allows you to exploit the potential of air gestures made near the device, without the need to touch the integrated screen.
Google Nest Hub 2, the radar that monitors sleep
The focal point of the new device signed Google is precisely the radar that can keep under control the rest of those who use it, part of the Sleep Sensing function. Positioned near the bed, the sensor records movements and breathing of the user, recognizing the sleep phase and keeping track of any disturbances that may interfere with a proper rest. In the morning, then, Nest Hub 2 presents a comprehensive report on the night, which can also be recalled through the voice command "Hey Google, how did I sleep?"
The feature dedicated to sleep will be free until 2022, when it will be possible to exploit it through a specific payment plan to be integrated with the FitBit smartband as well. All data, in line with Google's decisions regarding user privacy, will always remain within the device and will not be sent to company servers for analysis or storage.
Google Nest Hub 2, technical features
The new Google hub can count on a 7-inch screen, with 1024×600 pixel resolution. The audio compartment of the second generation is characterized by a speaker with 43.5mm driver, three microphones to capture the voice of its user and a physical switch dedicated to the deactivation of microphones to protect privacy. Instead, as on the previous model, the camera is not present.
As for monitoring the surrounding environment, Google Nest Hub 2 is equipped with environmental and color sensor for the management and modification of the color temperature of the screen, in line with that of the environment. Not to be outdone is the already mentioned Soli, that is the one that records and captures the gestural movements of users and that, through the Sleep Sensing function, monitors sleep.
The device, weighing just over 500 grams and with dimensions of 177.4×120.4×69.5 mm is equipped with Wi-Fi ac connectivity and Bluetooth 5.0 and is available in four different colors, Charcoal, Mist, Chalk and Sand, nuances already seen and appreciated on Nest Audio.
Google Nest Hub 2, price and sale
Currently, Google Nest Hub 2 is available for pre-orders in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France and Germany, both through the Google Store and at all authorized resellers. The price set is 99 euros in the European countries of the group, lower than the previous model arrived on the market at 129 euros (but now costs 89.99 euros).
Italy will still have to wait to be able to touch the new Google device (how much, however, has not yet been disclosed), because it is not part of the first group of countries in which Google Nest Hub 2 was launched.