Google Nest Learning Thermostat (4th Gen) Review: Blending Beauty and Brains

Nest’s sensible thermostats have been an icon of the sensible house since they hit the market in late 2011. Nothing stated sensible like a tool that would study your habits and make your own home function extra effectively with out having to fiddle with settings and automations. Within the 13 years since, Nest Studying Thermostats have been simple to establish, with the identical thick silver bezel and compact round display screen. This design was radical at a time when most sensible thermostats appeared like boring, rectangular, beige bins.

Google’s fourth-generation Nest Learning Thermostat has a completely new look, reworking what now appears to be like like a fundamental tech gadget into one thing of an artwork piece in your wall. It is bought new smarts too, and features a temperature sensor to position elsewhere within the house. It is a refreshing improve to a longtime staple, and feels sensible with out being intrusive or overly complicated—an necessary center line not all sensible gadgets discover.

Slim Setup

In case you’re hoping to pop the fourth-generation Nest Studying Thermostat onto the backing of a earlier Nest thermostat, you are out of luck. The thermostat base for the brand new mannequin is a special measurement, so you may have to change out the outdated base for the brand new one.

Whereas the third-generation thermostat itself is smaller, its base is slightly bigger with bigger connectors; the brand new thermostat base is smaller with positively tiny connector buttons. You’d assume with the bigger 3.9-inch display screen that the bottom could be bigger, nevertheless it has a smaller footprint in your wall, which is good. It comes with an optionally available plate as with earlier generations, however the brand new model is an oval somewhat than a rectangle. A 3.9-inch display screen won’t sound that massive, nevertheless it appears to be like surprisingly massive on the wall in case you’re used to the smaller Nest thermostats, and even one thing like my earlier thermostat, the sq. Honeywell T6.

{Photograph}: Nena Farrell

Putting in the Nest is straightforward; make sure your system is compatible and that you’ve got flipped off the related breaker to chop energy. The Nest app is not at play with this mannequin. Google has been steadily transitioning lots of its options and capabilities to the Google Dwelling app, and that is what you may use for this new mannequin. Google Dwelling walks you thru the steps of eradicating your outdated thermostat, labeling the wires, and putting in the brand new thermostat over it.