Google’s Nest Learning Thermostat is getting a major revamp after nearly a decade

Ben Schoon | Aug 6 2024 - 6:00 am PT

The most iconic Nest product of all time is the Nest Learning Thermostat, but in the years since Google took over the brand, the product hasn’t seen a refresh, despite being a sore thumb in the modern Google lineup. Now, that’s finally changing.

The Nest Learning Thermostat saw its debut all the way back in 2011 as the brand’s very first product. Its last update came just a few years later in 2015, with a third-generation that brought hardware improvements. But, since the Google acquisition (which took place in 2014, around the time the third-generation Learning Thermostat would have been in development) the product line has been relatively quiet, instead focusing on more budget-oriented devices like the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Thermostat (2020).

Launching on August 20, the new Nest Learning Thermostat (4th Gen) is a complete revamp of the iconic product but for the modern Google era. That starts with a brand-new design.

Coming off of 2020’s Nest Thermostat (which lacked the learning features), there’s a reflective glass front panel that’s comes to a dome and has a polished look. That makes the display look completely borderless, even more so than the 2020 model. That’s also helped by the fact that the display itself is 60% larger than that model (and even more so than the last Nest Learning Thermostat).

The display can show, of course, the temperature and has a UI similar to, but upgraded from the 2020 model, but it can also do more. When idle, the display can show the time, outdoor temperature in your area, and more. There’s also a new “Dynamic Farsight” feature that, using Soli (also present in the 2020 release) can show additional information such as air quality, weather, and more on the display when it detects someone is walking by.

To control everything, the rotating bezel is back, this time with a ring around the device that can be rotated to adjust the temperature or scroll through menus. Pressing the thermostat in selects whatever is highlighted. This was an iconic feature of past iterations, but Google swapped it out for a touchpad (that wasn’t quite as intuitive) on the 2020 Nest Thermostat.

Obviously, though, the headlining feature of the Nest Learning Thermostat (4th Gen) is its ability to learn.

Google is using AI to upgrade this experience, as well as making it more obvious for users and incorporating more user preferences. The new Learning Thermostat is able to take a general schedule that you’ve set up in the Google Home app (the Nest app is not compatible with this model) and tweak it using the help of specific conditions. Those include the outside weather, an upgrade over past iterations. By piping in data about outdoor temperature forecasts, the new Nest Learning Thermostat can help save you some money by taking advantage of days that are already warm or cool and adjusting the indoor settings accordingly. Another way this works is with presence sensing. Using the Thermostat itself and other devices (such as your phone, Nest Hub, etc), Google can start to adjust the time on your scheduled temperatures if you start waking up earlier or end up staying out late on a consistent basis.

New this time around with Learning features too is a focus on explaining the changes to users. The Google Home app will now show why a specific change was made, and users can also opt to have the app send a notification “suggesting” the change before it’s actually made.

Another new feature is “Smart Ventilation,” which can use information about the outdoor air quality and temperature to adjust ventilation in the home. This does require a compatible HVAC system, though, but other features designed to help extend the life of your system (such as alerts about the temperature not changing, etc) will continue to work on most systems.

Nest Renew is also returning, with “leafs” helping to encourage users to pick more efficient or energy-saving settings for their home.

Also returning from previous generations after being removed on the 2020 Nest Thermostat is the Temperature Sensor. This new Nest Temperature Sensor is shaped like a rounded pebble and can help even out the temperature in your home by sensing the temperature in more than one area, and also letting you prioritize the temperature in certain portions of the home. The device is designed to sit basically anywhere, and also has a mounting point on the back.

For installation, the Nest Learning Thermostat (4th Gen) does not require a C-wire, and has step-by-step install instructions in the Google Home app. This new version, like the 2020 release, is also compatible with Matter and works in apps other than Google Home (such as Apple’s Home app) for its basic functions.

Nest Learning Thermostat (4th Gen) is launching on August 20 in the US ($279.99) and Canada ($379.99). A Nest Temperature sensor is included with the thermostat, or available separately for $39.99 or in a 3-pack for $99.99.

Pre-orders are open now at the Google Store and expanding to other retailers in the future. It comes in three colors – Polished Obsidian, Polished Gold, and Polished Silver.