Product Library / Hubs & Controllers

Google Nest Hub (2nd gen)

Compiled by SmartHomeWorkflow Research · Google Nest · Hubs & Controllers · ~$99.99 (Google Store US list, re-checked 2026-08-13 — never treated as a live price. Unchanged at $99.99, and all four colours (Chalk, Charcoal, Mist, Sand) are still marked 'Out of stock'. That is now roughly 25 days of continuous unavailability across every colour, first recorded 2026-07-19, with still no discontinuation notice published.)

Compatibility

Protocols: WIFI · BLUETOOTH · THREAD · MATTER^{[6][7][8][9][20]}

Needs before it works: No — this device is the hub. Google's own specification page for it reads "Thread border router built-in" and lists Matter support, which is what this record's provider block records.^[6][9][18]

Subscription reality^[4]

◐ Works without a subscription: Yes, but material features need a plan.

• Free: Smart home control, media, alarms and timers, calendar/notes/lists, Q&A (Gemini for Home basic tier), Sleep Sensing via the Soli radar — still a free preview, no payment information required
• Behind a plan: Google Home Premium (either tier): Gemini Live on compatible devices, Advanced plan: camera livestream and video-history search, Advanced plan: Home Brief (from $10/mo)
• Plan tiers: Standard $10/mo · Advanced $20/mo
• 5-year cost if you add the plan: ~$600–$1200 depending on tier — price verified 2026-08-13

Vendor account required: Not established — we have not sourced this yet.

Google Home Premium gates Gemini Live, camera livestream and history search, and Home Brief; Google puts the latter two on the Advanced plan specifically. Tier prices are published and we verified them on 2026-08-13 — Standard $10/month or $100/year, Advanced $20/month or $200/year. Both tiers are now held as structured data behind this page, which is why the five-year cost above is shown as a range. ⚠ Sleep Sensing's announced move to a paid tier still has not happened as of 2026-08-13; Google now describes the destination as 'the Fitbit and Google Health Premium experiences', and it remains a free preview five years on.

Maintenance reality^[5]

• Works without the internet: Not established — we have not sourced this yet. It does not mean the product fails without the internet.
• No camera on this model (the Hub Max has one) — Google's own sensor list for this device names only the Soli radar, an Ambient EQ light sensor and a temperature sensor. Soli handles Motion Sense and Sleep Sensing on-device.
• Security updates: ⚠ Google Nest's declared security-update support ran to March 30, 2026 (US-declared — the maker states this commitment for its US market) — that date has passed. It keeps working exactly as it does now, and no security flaw is known or implied here — but the manufacturer no longer has a stated obligation to issue security fixes for it.^[17] ⚠ THIS DATE HAS PASSED AND GOOGLE'S SAME TABLE ROW SAYS THE DEVICE IS STILL BEING PATCHED — both halves are recorded because a reader needs both. Google's connected-home security-updates page lists “Nest Hub (2nd gen)” with a release date of 3/30/2021 and a five-year minimum of 3/30/2026, which elapsed roughly five months before this reading — and marks the same row “Yes” under “Currently receiving critical security updates”. A lapsed minimum is not an abandoned device: what expired is Google's stated obligation, not the updates themselves. The date is recorded as published rather than softened or withheld, because the alternative — waiting for a vendor to restate a commitment it has no reason to restate — would leave the page silent about a real change in the buyer's position. Google states the figure as a floor rather than an expiry, and the table computes it rather than declaring it: the column is headed “Release date + 5 year minimum”, and the page's commitment reads “Google Nest connected home devices will receive automatic security updates for at least 5 years from the date we start selling them on the US Google Store. Security updates will address critical issues known to Google Nest that are able to be resolved with a remote software update.” ⊕ Google's UK PSTI Statement of Compliance names this model by number — “Nest Hub 2nd gen (GUIK2)” — in its Group 2 list, whose UK Defined Support Period is “At least five years from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US”. That is the same five-year rule the table applies, so rung (a) and rung (b) agree here; the declaration simply gives it as a period rather than a date. ⊕ REGION: US — Google's own commitment is anchored to its US storefront in the sentence this value rests on: 'Google Nest connected home devices will receive automatic security updates for at least 5 years from the date we start selling them on the US Google Store.' The scope comes from the document's own words, not from the fact that we list the US SKU (S-1b).

The catch

It is listed at $99.99 and cannot actually be bought from Google — all four colours were out of stock on 2026-07-19 and still were on 2026-08-13, with no end-of-life notice published. Treat availability as unresolved rather than as either current or discontinued. Separately, opting into Gemini for Home removes Google Assistant across your whole home, permanently, by Google's own documentation. On the Bluetooth listed above: Google documents it as a way to pair a phone and play music, podcasts or audiobooks through the display — it is an audio path, not a way to control the device or the things attached to it.

Who it's for

Google-ecosystem households that want a Thread border router and Matter controller in a display, and who are comfortable that the voice assistant is mid-migration and the hardware's availability is unclear.

Sources & method

Numbered sources below back the facts marked with the matching number above. This is a research profile: compiled from manufacturer documentation, certification registries, and published testing — we state facts, not verdicts, and we have not physically tested this unit. How we work →

1. [1] https://store.google.com/us/config/nest_hub_2nd_gen — read 2026-08-13 from server-rendered markup: four AggregateOffer blocks (Chalk, Charcoal, Mist, Sand), each <meta itemprop="lowPrice" content="99.99"> with <link itemprop="availability" href="https://schema.org/OutOfStock">, plus four 'Out of stock' labels in the page text. No discontinuation or 'no longer available' wording anywhere in the source. ⚠ The disabled 'Add to cart' button was NOT used as evidence: the same button is disabled on Google's in-stock camera configure pages, so it signals 'no variant selected', not unavailability. — vendor-page research, verified 2026-08-13
   Backs: Price, Market availability
2. [2] support.google.com/googlehome/answer/16618650 (read 2026-08-13): "Once you switch your home to Gemini for Home voice assistant, it can't switch back to Google Assistant." · "Compatible devices in your home and devices you add to your home later always use Gemini for Home voice assistant instead of Google Assistant." The page additionally scopes camera livestream/video-history search and Home Brief to the Advanced plan: 'This feature requires the Advanced plan of Google Home Premium'. — vendor-support-doc research, verified 2026-08-13
   Backs: Service status
3. [3] Full bar-#10 re-verification performed 2026-08-13 across every claim axis, each against a first-party source read the same day: connectivity and sensor specifications (store.google.com/us/product/nest_hub_2nd_gen_specs) · price and per-variant stock (store.google.com/us/config/nest_hub_2nd_gen) · Gemini for Home irreversibility and plan scoping (support.google.com/googlehome/answer/16618650) · Home Premium tier prices (store.google.com/us/product/google_home_premium) · Sleep Sensing's free-preview status (support.google.com/googlenest/answer/10357290) · Matter hub list (support.google.com/googlehome/answer/12391458), which independently names 'Nest Hub (2nd gen)'. No integration level changed and no protocol changed. — record re-verification (BQ-107 batch 31), verified 2026-08-13
   Backs: Research status
4. [4] store.google.com/us/product/google_home_premium (read 2026-08-13; .../product/nest_aware redirects here): 'Standard $10/month or $100/year — Save $20 with an annual subscription' · 'Advanced $20/month or $200/year — Save $40 with an annual subscription'. Corroborated by the trial footnote: 'auto-renews ... at $10/month or $100/year for Standard plan or $20/month or $200/year for Advanced plan.' Tier scoping from support.google.com/googlehome/answer/16618650: 'This feature requires the Advanced plan of Google Home Premium' for camera livestream/video-history search and for Home Brief. — vendor-page research, verified 2026-08-13
   Backs: Subscription
5. [5] https://store.google.com/us/product/nest_hub_2nd_gen_specs — read 2026-08-13, 'Sensors' row verbatim: 'Soli sensor for Motion Sense · Ambient EQ light sensor · Temperature sensor'. No camera appears in the sensor list or anywhere in the specification table. — vendor-page research, verified 2026-08-13
   Backs: Maintenance
6. [6] https://store.google.com/us/product/nest_hub_2nd_gen_specs — read 2026-08-13, Connectivity row verbatim: '802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) Wi-Fi · Bluetooth® 5.0 · Chromecast built in · Thread border router built-in (802.15.4 at 2.4 GHz)'; Smart Home Compatibility row: 'Matter · Works as a hub for Google Home'. Independently corroborated by support.google.com/googlehome/answer/12391458, which lists 'Nest Hub (2nd gen)' among Google's Matter-compatible hubs. — vendor-page research, verified 2026-08-13
   Backs: Protocols, Required hub or bridge
7. [7] support.google.com/googlehome/answer/7381505 'Play media on Google smart speaker or display using Bluetooth' (read 2026-08-09, full article text): 'Connect your mobile device to your Google smart speaker or display with Bluetooth to listen to music, audiobooks, podcasts, and other media.' · Step 1 pairing via Google Home app: 'Tap Settings Audio ... Tap Paired Bluetooth devices Enable Pairing Mode' · Step 3: 'Your mobile device can now play media on your speaker or display.' Corroborated for per-model radio presence by support.google.com/googlehome/answer/7072284 'Google Nest and Home device specifications', Nest Hub (2nd gen) block: 'Wireless network — 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) Wi-Fi · Bluetooth® 5.0 · Google Cast · 802.15.4 (at 2.4 GHz)'. — vendor-support-doc research, verified 2026-08-09
   Backs: Protocols
8. [8] Nest Hub (2nd gen) manufacturer specification (read 2026-08-09): 'Connectivity: Wi-Fi ∙ Bluetooth ∙ Thread — 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) Wi-Fi · Bluetooth® 5.0 · Chromecast built in · Thread border router built-in (802.15.4 at 2.4 GHz)'. No statement anywhere on the page describes what the Bluetooth radio is used for — not audio streaming, not setup, not control. — vendor-page research (fetch escalated to browser render for the Google store), verified 2026-08-09
   Backs: Protocols
9. [9] https://store.google.com/us/product/nest_hub_2nd_gen_specs — verbatim spec text: '802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz) Wi-Fi', 'Bluetooth 5.0', 'Chromecast built in', 'Thread border router built-in (802.15.4 at 2.4 GHz)', 'Matter', 'Works as a hub for Google Home' — vendor-page research, verified 2026-07-19
   Backs: Protocols, Required hub or bridge
10. [10] https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/16618650 — 'upgrades and replaces the Google Assistant on speakers and smart displays'; 'Once you switch your home to Gemini for Home voice assistant, it can't switch back to Google Assistant'; Gemini Live, camera livestream/history search and Home Brief listed as Google Home Premium — vendor-support-doc research, verified 2026-07-19
    Backs: Google Home compatibility
11. [11] https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/10357290 — 'you won't be required to add payment information as the preview is available at no extra charge' — vendor-support-doc research, verified 2026-07-19
12. [12] https://store.google.com/us/product/nest_hub_2nd_gen_specs — hub role scoped to 'Works as a hub for Google Home'; Google publishes no Alexa/Apple Home/SmartThings compatibility for its own display hardware. Weaker evidence than a documented denial; flagged for re-check against Amazon/Apple/SmartThings primary docs. — vendor-page research (absence-of-claim), verified 2026-07-19
    Backs: Google Home compatibility, Home Assistant compatibility, Amazon Alexa compatibility, Apple Home compatibility, SmartThings compatibility
13. [13] support.google.com/googlehome/answer/16618650 — migrated hand stamp, verified 2026-07-19
    Backs: Service status
14. [14] Internal schema migration of values already sourced on this record. No page was read for this entry; the evidence is the existing 2026-08-13 Google Home Premium entry above. — schema migration, verified 2026-08-13
15. [15] store.google.com, Nest Hub (2nd gen) specifications — vendor-page research, verified 2026-08-17
    Backs: Wi-Fi bands it can use, Power source, Role in a Thread network
16. [16] Google Store configurator and specification pages, Google Home Premium page, and the two cited googlehome help articles, all re-read 2026-08-18 — vendor-page research, verified 2026-08-18
17. [17] Google, “Security updates & security validation results for Google's connected home devices” (support.google.com product-documentation answer 10231940), read 2026-08-19. Table row, verbatim across its four columns (Device | Release date | Release date + 5 year minimum | Currently receiving critical security updates): “Nest Hub (2nd gen) | 3/30/2021 | 3/30/2026 | Yes”. Page-level commitment: “Google Nest connected home devices will receive automatic security updates for at least 5 years from the date we start selling them on the US Google Store.” Cross-read against Google's UK PSTI Statement of Compliance at https://support.google.com/product-documentation/answer/14869041 (signed Louise Bohmann, April 8, 2024), whose Group 2 UK Defined Support Period is “At least five years from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US” — the same rule the table applies. — first-party read (BQ-192 security-support sweep, method note 69 source precedence), verified 2026-08-19
    Backs: Security-update support period
18. [18] This record's own sourced `provides` block: matter-controller and thread-border-router, from store.google.com/us/product/nest_hub_2nd_gen_specs, Connectivity row verbatim: "802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) Wi-Fi · Bluetooth 5.0 · Chromecast built in · Thread border router built-in (802.15.4 at 2.4 GHz)" plus "Matter", re-read 2026-08-13. — documented-provider-role inference (BQ-191 provider backfill, population (b); R-3 of the 2026-08-19 evening rulings), verified 2026-08-19
    Backs: Required hub or bridge
19. [19] The Google support article this record cites returned content about Gemini for Home availability rather than a specification table on 2026-08-20 — it names the Nest Hub (2nd gen) as compatible and enumerates no sensors. The store configuration URL this record also cites returns content the fetch ladder could not read whole. — vendor + ecosystem-documentation research (BQ-187 capabilities population, the `hubs` shelf), verified 2026-08-20
    Backs: Capabilities
20. [20] This record's own sourced `provides` block, establishing the device as a Matter controller. Re-read 2026-08-20 against the ruled definition of `protocols`; no new external source was fetched. — protocols-definition sweep (BQ-222 batch 2; ruling §1 of docs/decisions/2026-08-20-RULINGS-SITTING.md), verified 2026-08-20
    Backs: Protocols
21. [21] home-assistant.io/integrations/cast, read 2026-08-20, which names no Google device models — see the sibling record. This record separately carries Google's own Bluetooth-pairing documentation ("to listen to music, audiobooks, podcasts, and other media"), which describes a phone streaming TO the display rather than an ecosystem commanding it. — vendor + ecosystem-documentation research (BQ-187 capabilities population, batch 12), verified 2026-08-20
    Backs: Capabilities
22. [22] support.google.com, 'Prepare your smart home for Matter' (read 2026-08-21). THE MODEL IS ENUMERATED OUTRIGHT, twice — under 'Hubs for Google Home (Wi-Fi only)': 'Displays: Nest Hub (1st gen), Nest Hub (2nd gen), Nest Hub Max', and under 'Hubs for Google Home (Wi-Fi and Thread)': 'Displays: Nest Hub (2nd gen), Nest Hub Max'. The local-path statements, verbatim: 'Matter-enabled devices work locally over your existing home wireless network without the need to connect to the cloud over the internet'; 'Increased responsiveness and reliability: Matter-enabled devices carry out your commands over your existing home network versus communicating over the internet'; and 'Before you can add Matter-enabled devices to Google Home, you need a Matter-enabled hub device set up on your home wireless network to: Add Matter-enabled devices to your smart home / Control your Matter-enabled devices locally instead of over the cloud on the internet / Control your smart devices remotely when you're away from home.' — vendor-page research, verified 2026-08-21
23. [23] SmartHomeWorkflow record maintenance (BQ-250 securitySupport.region backfill) — internal-review of the document this record already cites, verified 2026-08-27
24. [24] Record-keeping entry: the migrated research stamp was retired from this record on 2026-08-30 — internal, verified 2026-08-30
25. [25] Google, "Devices that work as a hub for Google Home" — verbatim: "Many of the hubs for Google Home have a Thread border router built-in" … "The following hubs support Matter over both Wi-Fi and Thread: … Displays: Nest Hub (2nd gen), Nest Hub Max …" and, for the controller half, "Before you can add Matter-enabled devices to Google Home, you need a Matter-enabled hub device set up on your home wireless network." — vendor-page research (BQ-319 provides sweep — first-party re-read through tools/lib/gated-fetch.mjs), verified 2026-09-02
    Backs: What it provides to your home
26. [26] the record's own customer-facing prose fields as they stood before 2026-09-06 (no new external read) — consumer-translation pass (07 §2A.12) — customer-facing prose rewritten to the three-layer rule; NO FIELD VALUE, LEVEL, PATH OR TRANSPORT CHANGED. The research trail that used to sit inside those fields is preserved here verbatim., verified 2026-09-06

Compatibility and lifecycle information reflects the last-verified date above and can change without notice (firmware updates, cloud-service changes, discontinuations). It is provided as-is, for information — verify with the manufacturer before purchasing. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it. Full terms: Terms of Service.

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