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. The maker also sells an optional paid 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: Inconclusive — we read the vendor's own material and it does not answer this either way. 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 →

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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