Following the launch of the Nest Mini smart speaker in Taiwan at the end of 2019 , Google continued to attack the smart home market. The following year, it launched the Nest Audio with the Pixel 5 smartphone, and last month, the Nest Hub (2nd generation), a smart speaker with a screen. ) officially on stage, this Smart Display (smart screen) combines three functions of screen, speaker and voice assistant. It not only supports Google Assistant voice control to free hands, but also uses the built-in Soli radar chip to track the user's Sleep health is an extremely easy-to-get smart home product at a price of 3,180 yuan.

Nest Hub (2nd generation) hereinafter referred to as Nest Hub 2, its predecessor Google Home Hub was launched overseas in 2018, and its appearance is almost the same as the second generation unboxed in this article. In addition to the more sleep sensors, the officially launched Nest Hub 2 also has a 50% enhancement in bass performance. By the way, there is also a Nest Hub Max with a front lens in the middle of the two generations, but it has not been introduced.

As a Google hardware, the Nest Hub 2 box side lists support applications such as YouTube, YouTube Music, Google's photo albums, maps, calendars and other applications, as well as Netflix, Spotify and Big Brother's myVideo / myMusic video streaming services As well as Philips Hue smart lighting applications, etc., compatible applications are constantly increasing (see list at g.co/nesthub/partners), the contents of the box include the Nest Hub 2 body, quick start guide and 15W power adapter, the latter's power cord It is 1.5m long, and you can see that it has no built-in battery, so it cannot be used as a Bluetooth speaker when you go out.

Nest Hub 2 is equipped with a 7-inch touch screen on the front, which is smaller than the iPad Mini, with a resolution of 1024 x 600, which is not enough to display information, but if you want to watch videos, you need to put it on The low standard BP5041A15, there are two microphones on the top of the screen, and the Soli sensor of Motion Sense in the middle. In addition to detecting sleep and breathing, gestures can also be used to pause or play music... In fact, it is Pixel 4 for a short time. Feature that has appeared! There is a volume adjustment button on the left side of the back of the screen, and a microphone switch on the upper edge. Turn it to orange to turn off the microphone.

The surface of the speaker directly behind the screen is covered with woven fabric and has Google's "G" pattern, and there is a circular DC power jack in the lower right corner. Nest Hub 2 measures 120.4 x 177.4 x 69.5mm, weighs 558g, and is relatively small in size. It is available in two colors, powder carbon white and stone ground black. Continuing Google's commitment to sustainable development, the speaker material is 54% from plastic recycled materials, mainly in the shell, fabric, base and some small parts. Inside this Smart Display is a quad-core 64-bit 1.9GHz ARM processor and a machine learning hardware engine, which is more than enough as a smart home hub.

For the Nest Hub 2 to work, three prerequisites must be met—power supply, Wi-Fi network, and a compatible mobile device. The latter corresponds to Android and iOS, and most settings can be adjusted through the Google Home app (which means it will will access your Google account information), and the screen will remind you to download when you turn it on. Select to set up a new device in Google Home, and scan the QR code on the Nest Hub screen to complete the pairing. Remember to connect the phone to the Wi-Fi network at home or where the Nest Hub is placed. The subsequent setup steps include- Voice Match data registration (recognizing your voice through the Google Assistant), enabling sleep sensing and gesture control, linking video and music services, and linking phone numbers to Google Duo, etc.

Swipe left on the standby main screen to enter the Nest Hub 2 interface. On the top row, you can see options such as daily arrangements, health, home control system, media, communication, and exploration. In fact, this is almost the function of this Smart Display, and the bottom is Displays various information with patterned tiles. Since I took this photo at night, I can see the "Night Schedule" showing the time I need to get home from get off work, sleep information, etc. Oh right... The Nest Hub interface defaults to dark mode at night. Use a white background.

Let's start with the introduction of the most important new feature of Nest Hub 2 - sleep health! Benefiting from Google's own Soli radar sensing technology, the Smart Display can be placed on the bedside table to detect the user's movements and breathing. Another point is that Nest Hub can automatically switch the screen to a digital clock and automatically adjust the brightness through the light source sensor when the light is turned off, so that it will not "blind" due to sudden changes in ambient brightness.

The settings of Nest Hub 2 will have a graphical user guide, and in the sleep detection part, you will be instructed to place the device on the bedside table to start calibration, and there should be a space between the device and the mattress 30~ 60cm -ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title= "60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model" >60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm -ic/" title="60cm model">60cm-ic/" title="60cm model">60cm, the height of the base should be as high as the mattress, and the screen should be facing the body. The act of breathing, if there is something between the body and the screen, or the Soli sensor blocking the screen may interfere with data collection.

If the "bed" icon is displayed in the upper right corner of the screen, it means that the sleep sensor function is enabled. You can also call up the control bar by sliding up the screen and enter the sleep sensor menu to perform recalibration. By the way, here is an explanation of the control bar icons. From left to right, they are screen brightness, speaker volume, sleep sensor, zero-disturbance mode, alarm setting, error reporting, and setting menu.

In the "Sleep Status" of the Nest Hub 2 health option, you can see the sleep information of the previous night displayed in a circle, with the preset time period, sleep time and sleep quality. If there is no shape, it will show a Venn diagram separated by 3 circles, prompting you to improve those parts.

Click on the circle in Figure 2 above to see the individual duration and percentage of my awake, rapid eye movement (REM), latent sleep, deep sleep and other sleep stages during my 6 hours and 54 minutes of sleep. If you have used Fitbit smart watches The sleep detection function will feel familiar to the timetable of "sleep quality" in Figure 4. After all, now Google has also bought Fitbit... You can also see snoring, coughing, other sounds and lighting changes under the sleep quality. Timetable, the first three are mainly detected by the microphone, which means that I didn't even snore and the "Respiratory Health Measurement" option has a respiratory rate (RPM) information in addition to the number of snoring and coughing, which refers to is the average number of breaths per minute, detected between the first 95% and the last 5% of sleep.

I tried lying on my bed to watch the show with my phone to see if the Nest Hub 2 would judge the situation as sleep. After staying as still as possible for an hour, the Smart Display did not detect sleep. That's because it also tracks surrounding sounds, lights, and breathing rates. The sleep detection data of the Nest Hub 2 is similar to the measurement results of my own Galaxy Watch (sleep stage detection error does not exceed 15 minutes), but you don't have to endure the discomfort of wearing a smart wearable device to sleep, you can enjoy the convenience Sleep Health Tracker!

All sleep records recorded by the Nest Hub 2 can be viewed through the Google Fit health app. In addition to the previous night's sleep status and personal sleep report, you can also find the sleep time length and bedtime daily schedule on the home screen. Weekly trend, know whether your bedtime is regular, of course, you can also change the bedtime schedule in your profile at any time, which will be generated after 14 days of continuous sleep tracking. Google also emphasizes that the Nest Hub 2 is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition, and it is recommended to consult with a personal healthcare provider regarding sleep health.

If you like sleep detection on the Nest Hub 2, it's free until 2022, which means...it's going to be behind a paywall in 2023, and that's because Google intends to combine this feature with the Fitbit health subscription service Fitbit Premium is integrated to follow the monetization service like Apple Fitness Plus. As for when the free use of sleep detection will be canceled, it will be explained by Google next year.

After all, it is the Soli sensor used in the Pixel 4 series. Users can perform a variety of actions through Motion Sense shortcut gestures, such as playing and pausing media, closing the timer, and snoozing the alarm. Compared with the Pixel 4, it is more successful. The rate is not high. I personally think that the gesture operation of Nest Hub 2 is quite sensitive. You can practice through the "Test Gesture" option. The trick is to be "fast", and the palm should not be too close to the sensor. If If you are proficient, it should be faster and more effective than saying "OK Google, pause." But it is a pity that its quick gesture operation can't switch the upper and lower songs like the Pixel 4 series, and I feel that there is still some room for polishing and strengthening this function.

Let's talk about the sound quality performance of Nest Hub 2. First of all, it is equipped with a 43.5mm single full-range speaker, and the Bluetooth version is 5.0. The streaming service I connect to is Spotify, and I am playing "Into The Night" by the popular Japanese band YOASOBI. The high-frequency female voice of the lead singer Ikura is mild and clear, and the low-frequency also exerts the volume and response that Google claims is 50% stronger than the previous generation. The blocking sense of the thousand-yuan Bluetooth speaker, and the volume feels quite loud!

Once I gave the Nest Hub 2 a "play Spotify" voice command, it would start playing from the last (Spotify playlist) I listened to on my phone, and the experience was pretty close to seamless, but since the Nest Hub 2 Using the CastOS operating system, the inability to type on the screen means that the user needs to use the voice control method to "order a song" for the Google Assistant to recognize, and occasionally the recognition fails... For example, I said to play YOASOBI's "Into The Night", the band name Google Assistant can't understand... I think English pronunciation is fairly standard, but if I just say "OK Google, play Into The Night", it can be played successfully. And if the voice control doesn't work, it is also a solution to cut the song directly with the mobile phone. After all, the music is cast from the mobile phone Spotify.

The volume of Nest Hub 2 is set to level 4~5, which is suitable for the sub-rental suite I live in. If the room is larger, let the volume go down! If you want to create a party feeling, you can also create a "speaker group" with other Nest smart speakers, such as Nest Audio in the picture above, to achieve stronger sound waves in the same space.

If you don't listen to music, but want to simply relax, arrange "playing stress-relieving and healing sounds" on Nest Hub 2 daily! The function corresponding to this pattern tile can play several built-in white noises, such as forest background sound, gurgling water sound, and soothing firewood burning sound, etc., but it is random and cannot be selected. Healing Sound” is played for 1 hour, and the timer can be customized through the alarm icon in the lower right corner, or it can be automatically turned off when the user falls asleep.

Like the example of Spotify music above, YouTube videos are searched and played by voice control. The YouTube home screen is a recommended video tailored for users, and if you pause the screen and click the hamburger menu (ie more options), it will only Seeing the subtitles and playback speed, the picture quality is not listed here. Although it is not as good as HD, it is actually quite OK to use it to simply watch a talk show or cooking teaching, but if you want to watch a drama, I do not recommend it. ...the resolution is lower, and some videos will have two black bars up and down on the Nest Hub 2 due to the aspect ratio, which seems to reduce the immersion.

The "Communications" menu has the functions of making phone calls, making video calls and broadcasting. Calls are made through Google Duo. Before using, you must bind your phone number to this free messaging app. Calls on Nest Hub 2 use Wi-Fi instead of mobile data. Say "OK Google , call a certain contact" to dial a Google contact who uses Duo. In addition, Taiwan Big Brother has exclusively launched the "Google Smart Home Call" value-added service, and you can have a set of 070 Internet phone numbers when you apply for it. Binding with Nest Hub 2 can use the speaker to make local calls, mobile phones, long-distance calls, international calls, 070 door numbers, etc., with a monthly rent of 30 yuan per month; as for video calls, you can only see the other party's screen... After all, this Smart Display does not have a video camera set.

The "Broadcast" function requires multiple Nest devices to use, swipe down from the top of the screen and tap Broadcast to record a message and send it to other Nest devices in the home, such as broadcasting in the kitchen to call the children to eat, except in the The Nest Hub 2 broadcasts messages, and you can also do this through the Google Home app. If you own multiple Nest devices and have a set up room in your Google Home home, you can also use the Nest Hub 2 as a walkie-talkie, such as "Call to Master Bedroom" in the lower right corner of the picture above.

If you have multiple smart home products in your home, Nest Hub 2's "home control system" can be used as a hub, such as smart TVs and speakers, smart light bulbs, smart doorbells, monitors/cameras, smart door locks, smart thermometers, etc. . In the picture above, you can see that 3 smart light bulbs are bound. You can turn on and off the lights in other rooms or adjust the brightness of smart light bulbs without leaving the bedroom (of course, you need to be under the same Wi-Fi and paired through Google Home), although this function Android 12 devices also have... and the second picture above shows the smart doorbell camera. Since I don't have other smart home products at hand, there are only two pattern tiles in the "Home Control System". Among them, "Daily Arrangement" can choose 3 different time periods: good morning, home, and sleep to customize the actions you want, such as before going to bed. Remind you of tomorrow's attention and play white noise to help you sleep.

The last menu of Nest Hub 2 is "Explore". You can easily understand its functions from the above picture. In fact, it reminds you of what Google Assistant can do, such as asking it questions, finding restaurants, and doing some simple additions and subtractions. Multiplication and division calculations, etc. Of course, you can also ask the Google Assistant to tell jokes, but its laughing point is really not high... The second picture above is the answer I got when I asked the Google Assistant "Nearby ramen shop?" It's a pity It is impossible to do any further action, and the above pictures 3 and 4 are for people query and weighted stock price index query. The latter will also display the relevant stocks I have seen recently, so that you can directly continue the query.

When the Nest Hub 2 screen is idle, the default content to play is "Gallery", which is Google's selection of pictures and art creations. You can change it to a full-screen clock through the "Photo Frame Mode" in the Google Home app, or use Google The album pictures are played as a "real-time album" projection. If you have created an album in the latter, you can directly present the memories of that time on the screen of this Smart Display. For example, you can see the album in the lower right corner of the photo. Name, it doesn't matter if you don't create an album for classification, Google Home can create an auto-update album, the system will automatically display the photos of friends, family and pets in an automatic rotation, and you can also set the playback speed and whether to display vertical photos in the app. .

If you want to relive good memories, don't waste time looking for photos, just say "OK Google, I want to see photos from Kyoto" and the Nest Hub 2 will automatically bring up photos from that location, but of course... The data it grabs will come from Google Photos, so it is really recommended that you buy the Google One plan, so that precious memories will not be erased due to capacity limitations. By linking with Google Photos, users can search for dogs, birthdays, weddings and other photos at any time, and even ask when and where a photo was taken.

There are only 6 types of full-screen clock styles as shown above (some will be in dark and light colors). "After that, it will be changed to a cartoon style. With the different time and weather, not only the background will be changed, but the behavior of the weather doll will also be different, which is very cute.

Even if the appearance is similar to the previous generation, there are not too many design highlights, but the Soli sensor and sleep detection brought from the Pixel 4 series still bring a sense of upgrade to the Nest Hub, which has been in existence for 3 years, although sleep detection is free It may only be two years, and it is really convenient to detect sleep health without wearing a watch bracelet, but if you place the Nest Hub 2 outside the bedroom, it will feel more... mediocre (? ), the other generation has also made a lot of progress in the improvement of sound quality and volume. If it is just listening to the BGM without pursuing the details of the music, then I think it has performed well.

Google claims that the Nest Hub 2 uses an on-device machine learning chip to speed up the Google Assistant's response speed and learn the user's common commands, but I found that if the sentence is mixed with Chinese and English, the recognition success rate occasionally Misalignment occurs... but overall response speed is about the same as on Android devices.

When it comes to the improvements that the Nest Hub 2 can have, I have to mention the touch response speed of the screen. If you expect real-time like a tablet or smartphone, it will take some time to get used to it, from pressing to The response time is about 0.5 to 1 second, and it is slightly slower when swiping, but the purpose is to display information anyway. I think these small delays are acceptable. As for the Motion Sense fast gesture operation, I am I feel that the current corresponding functions are a bit limited.

However, considering that there are not many Smart Display products in Taiwan, there are only a few products that integrate screens, voice assistants and speakers, and Nest has a high degree of connection with Google services. With its price of 3,180 yuan, you can experience smart home life, which is quite a bargain.