Best Nest and Google Assistant Devices of 2020

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The Google Nest Hub (formerly Home Hub) is a great way to start a Google-centric smart home. It uses the Google Assistant to respond to the same voice commands as a Google Home smart speaker. The touchscreen shows you additional information when asking about the weather, searching for restaurants and much more. Also, you can use this smart home hub to watch videos or scroll through family pictures.

In fact, unique adaptive brightness sensors make the Nest Hub a great digital photo frame as it adapts to both lighting conditions and color temperature and always looks like a physical photo in a frame. You can play a scrolling slideshow of family pictures as a screen saver.

The Nest Hub is also a great kitchen helper as it walks you through the recipes step by step and allows you to multitask as you cook. Set a timer, play music, add an ingredient to your grocery list, and more – the Nest Hub even keeps your place in the recipe when you next need to review it. You can plug it in with the Google Home app and set it up on your Wi-Fi network and ask the Google Nest Hub any questions you would ask the original Google Home.

All of these voice control features make the Nest Hub useful in many ways, but a simple control panel makes it the best choice for your centrally connected home device. Swipe down from the top to get shortcuts that you can use to turn off the lights or check your smart home security cameras. You can then tap to view a room-by-room (living room, kitchen, etc.) overview of all your devices. The control panel is well organized and helpful, especially if you have family members who have a hard time remembering which voice commands work. Now you can just type.

The Nest Hub is our favorite smart display overall, and it regularly sells for even less than the reasonable price of $ 130. It’s useful even if you don’t have a lot of smart home devices, but it’s essential if you want a smart home that works with the Google Assistant. Read our Google Nest Hub review.

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If having an extra screen in your house were bothering you, the Google Nest Mini is another great starting point for smart homes. The small smart speaker from Google is now in its second generation and offers the same Google Assistant-enabled voice commands as the others as well as helpful extras such as intercom functions and stereo pairing with several minis. Control compatible devices, search the web, play music, and more with just a simple ask. The audio quality on the Nest Mini is surprisingly good, especially on this second generation model.

The Nest Mini is cute too and comes in four colors. At $ 50, this is the most affordable way to start your smart home without sacrificing voice control. The Nest Mini is also a good secondary device. If you have a Google Nest Hub in your kitchen, you can move a Nest Mini in another room. Both can control any compatible smart device you have set up. Even if they both hear you, only the next one will answer. Read our Google Nest Mini review.

Chris Monroe / CNET

Once you’ve set up control points with a smart display or speaker, the next step is to figure out which smart devices you want. A smart lightbulb is a great first step, and the C by GE lightbulbs work especially well with Google.

These inexpensive Bluetooth smart lights can use a Google Home device (both the Home Mini and Nest Hub will work) as a bridge. You can set up the lights using the Google Home app and then control them from anywhere as long as the light is near your Google gadget. Even better, since the lightbulb communicates directly with your Google device, the response time is incredibly fast. (If you want to upgrade the light switch, read more about the Lutron Caseta In-Wall Dimmer.) Read more about C by GE lights.

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Changing the temperature of your thermostat with a voice command is a cool trick that never really gets old. Many smart thermostats work with the Google Assistant. For options, see our list of the best thermostats. Since Google owns Nest, the third generation Nest Learning Thermostat is the obvious choice here, but I’ll give the Ecobee3 Lite the nod.

Ecobee’s budget model and its companion app (for iOS and Android) have most of the smart features of higher-priced competitors, including the $ 250 Nest model. It responds to the same voice commands and the intuitive controls make manual planning easy. Read our Ecobee3 Lite review.

Everything that works with Google Home and Home Mini can be found here

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A smart plug is a great way to efficiently add connectivity to dumb devices. Plug in a lamp or fan and you can control it with an app. The TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug offers smartphone app controls and Google Assistant compatibility. In addition, the smart plug is an attractive design and does not block adjacent sockets.

It won’t monitor energy, but the smart plug allows you to control an old-fashioned floor fan with your voice for a reasonable price. Like most smart plugs, it works on a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network connection. Read our TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug review.

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The obvious choice of Nest makes the most sense here. The $ 300 Nest Cam IQ Indoor is a great security camera in itself. You can check out a live stream remotely and receive motion sensor and person notifications for free. Sign up for Nest’s premium service, Nest Aware, and you’ll be able to receive notifications based on who the camera sees thanks to built-in facial recognition.

Even better, Nest Cam security cameras have a built-in microphone that allows you to communicate directly with the Google Assistant. This is an excellent choice for securing your home and expanding your connectivity with Google. Read our Nest Cam IQ Indoor review.

Tyler Lizenby / CNET

The $ 500 Arlo Pro 3 is a great outdoor security camera with solid performance and strong features. It comes in a two camera package along with a required hub. Older Arlo hubs will also work with this system. Individual additional cameras cost $ 200 each.

The Pro 3 has a built-in siren and works with Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri. A USB drive in the hub manages the local storage.

The Arlo Pro 3 has great 2k streaming, quick alerts and a host of advanced features that set it apart from other outdoor surveillance cameras. If you have the money to spend, the Arlo Pro 3 should be high on your list. Read our Arlo Pro 3 review.

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SimpliSafe’s wide range of accessories can compete with professional options from companies like ADT. The starter kit costs a reasonable $ 230. Unfortunately, you have to pay for remote app access, but $ 25 a month gets you that and professional monitoring.

The $ 25 monthly subscription also lets you control your system with the Google Assistant, and Simplisafe’s devices respond quickly to your voice commands.

Again, Nest has an option that is a viable alternative. Nest Guard has a higher upfront cost, but there’s a lot more you can do without a subscription. Thanks to the reliable accessories, SimpliSafe is particularly advantageous if you want monitoring. Read our SimpliSafe Home Security Review.

Chris Monroe / CNET

Speaking of house locks: The easy-to-install August Wi-Fi Smart Lock fits over your existing bolt. With the built-in Wi-Fi, you can control it remotely and use voice recognition so you can tell Google Assistant to lock your door.

The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is packed with features including open / close sensors that you can use to check if you closed the door on the way out. August is responsive and reliable. Therefore, the Wi-Fi Smart Lock is a great choice if you want to hold the Google Assistant in charge of your Smart Lock, your door and your entrance. Read our August Wi-Fi Smart Lock review.

Tyler Lizenby / CNET

Finally, a Nest by Nest, but to be honest, Nest Hello is our most popular video doorbell overall. So it’s definitely the best for a Google-centric smart home. The Nest Hello has bi-directional audio sound and great video quality if you want to get the feed from your Android or iOS devices. You will receive an alert when someone rings the doorbell.

Even better, if you have the Nest Hub, you can use your smart display to talk to the person at the door. The Nest Hello even offers facial recognition for a premium subscription. It connects well with other Google products and is the smartest and most powerful video doorbell on the market. Read our Nest Hello review.

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The Google Home Hub is a cute little home control center

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