Nest WiFi announced, wants to be more than just a router
At Google’s event today, the company announced the new Nest WiFi. This is essentially an upgrade and successor to the Google WiFi, and it is more than just an exercise in rebranding as Google has given the Nest WiFi pretty substantial changes that might make current Google WiFi owners consider upgrading.
For starters, Google claims that the Nest WiFi is more powerful than Google WiFi by being able to deliver twice the speed (your mileage may vary depending on your ISP and internet plan). Google is also boasting that it offers 25% better coverage, so if you thought that Google WiFi’s coverage wasn’t as good, maybe the Nest WiFi could do a better job.
The company is saying that a two-pack Nest WiFi system will be capable of covering a 3,800 square foot home. In addition to faster speeds and better coverage, the new Nest WiFi is also “smarter”. This is because the Nest WiFi point comes with a built-in speaker that features Google Assistant integrated into it.
This basically transforms your Nest WiFi into a pseudo Nest Home/Nest Mini device, where you will be able to summon Google Assistant and get it to do all the things you would normally do.
Another key new feature of the Nest WiFi is smart home support. What this means is that Google has been talking to various smart home manufacturers where ultimately, Google wants the Nest WiFi to act as a hub for all these smart home gadgets, eliminating the need for separate individual hubs that some smart home devices come with.
The Nest WiFi is priced at $269 for the two-pack, $349 for the three-pack, and will be available in brand new colors that will help it better blend into your home. It will be available on the 4th of November.