Nest Learning Thermostat review: pretty smart

There are lone a fistful of astute location gadgets I unequivocally urge to everyone, and a astute thermostat is 1 of them. They’re incredibly useful, combining the 3 C’s of the astute home: convenience, comfort, and outgo savings.

For 2 reasons. First, it’s the smartest astute thermostat. The learning Nest is the lone thermostat with an algorithm that automatically adjusts your heating and cooling docket based connected however you usage it, and the fourth-gen is smarter than ever. Second, it looks gorgeous. If your thermostat is successful a salient spot similar mine, looks matter, and nary different thermostat looks this good.

I loved the third-gen Nest, with its sleek benignant and tactile dial, and the fourth-gen Nest takes that iconic plan to the adjacent level. Adding a larger screen, thinner body, and much integrated dial, the fourth-gen Nest besides has a smaller base, making it look similar it’s floating connected the wall. The all-gold colour I tested is stunning, and the crystal LCD surface reflects airy beautifully. As my workfellow Victoria Song enactment it, “The Nest is truthful pretty, it makes the remainder of my location look drab successful comparison.”

The bigger surface makes it easier to power and navigate settings, and the Farsight dynamic show has caller options that instrumentality vantage of the space. Farsight uses the device’s Soli radar sensor to power the Nest’s show based connected however adjacent you are to the thermostat.

From a distance, it shows a simplified presumption with conscionable the time, weather, oregon somesthesia settings; up close, it transitions to amusement much elaborate information, including a caller enactment of 3 customizable “complications.” These tin show assorted data, specified arsenic temperature, humidity, time, date, and adjacent an outdoor aerial prime scale score. (There’s nary indoor aerial prime monitoring, which is thing Ecobee, Nest’s main rival astatine this terms point, does offer.)

I chose to usage the upwind look connected my upstairs unit, which shows animations of the upwind implicit the existent outdoor somesthesia and the day’s forecast. I added complications for the feels-like temp, date, and time, which person been adjuvant erstwhile I’m dashing betwixt my kids’ bedrooms successful the morning. For the downstairs unit, I went with the modern analog timepiece that looks ace stylish connected my entryway partition and is utile to glimpse astatine from the surviving room. 

I americium besides thrilled to yet beryllium capable to power the Nest natively successful Apple Home — my family’s preferred method of astute location control. The fourth-gen Nest is the archetypal Learning exemplary from Google with Matter support. This means it tin enactment with immoderate astute location level that supports Matter. (There’s a Nest thermostat with Matter support, but nary learning algorithm.)

However, you can’t acceptable it up with Matter initially, arsenic determination is nary Matter codification connected the thermostat itself; lone erstwhile it’s acceptable up utilizing the Google Home app tin you make a codification and stock the thermostat with different Matter platform. (Note: this exemplary doesn’t enactment with the Nest app astatine all.)

I connected the thermostat to Apple Home and Amazon Alexa via Matter, and the process was amazingly smooth. Response times person been instantaneous connected each platforms, whether utilizing dependable oregon app control; with Matter, the commands are routed locally.

Sadly, Google has ditched Thread here. Thread is 1 of Matter's main wireless protocols, but it was primitively developed for the Nest Learning Thermostat. A mentation of Thread has been connected each erstwhile Learning model, truthful its exclusion here, connected the archetypal Learning thermostat with Matter support, is baffling.

The Nest Learning Thermostat (4th-gen) is Nest’s astir almighty thermostat to date. It works with more systems than the third-gen, including up to 3 heating and 2 cooling stages. Plus, it’s compatible with humidifier, dehumidifier, and ventilation equipment. It besides has more bundle features designed to trim vigor usage portion keeping you comfortable. At $280, it volition instrumentality a portion to offset the thermostat’s outgo with vigor savings, but you mightiness beryllium eligible for a decent rebate from your vigor provider.

I’ve installed dozens of astute thermostats implicit the years, and the Nest is inactive 1 of the simplest to install, acknowledgment to wide steps, bully guidance from the app, and click-in connectors. (Pro tip: insert the wires before you screw the backplate to the wall.)

It’s besides 1 of the lone astute thermostats that doesn’t necessitate a C wire, but I urge installing 1 if you tin — oregon utilizing the Nest Power Connector. Without dedicated power, the Nest Learning Thermostat uses a power-sharing trick to trickle complaint its interior battery, but that whitethorn not ever enactment consistently. When my C ligament went atrocious connected my aged system, the non-learning Nest Thermostat I was investigating kept disconnecting from Wi-Fi and yet stopped moving erstwhile its AA batteries died.

This clip around, however, I had a caller HVAC system. My aged single-stage strategy had fixed retired aft 12 years of sweating done South Carolina summers, and we’d decided to instal a much energy-efficient Trane vigor pump strategy with a multistage high-efficiency compressor and a TEM6 variable-stage aerial handler. 

Connecting the Nest required maine to interaction Google. According to their techs, the fourth-gen Nest is compatible with my strategy since it tin tally the aerial handler successful 2 stages, allowing the portion to determine what percent to usage astatine each stage. However, my HVAC installer told maine I had to usage Trane’s ain thermostats to get the compressor’s afloat efficiency.

This isn’t unsocial to Nest; variable-speed systems astir ever enactment champion with the manufacturer’s thermostats. But this makes maine bittersweet due to the fact that the Trane XL824 thermostats that came with my strategy look similar mini Windows computers connected my partition and not similar beauteous pieces of jewelry. They are besides fiddly to program, and the app is indecipherable. 

Even without entree to the afloat scope of compressor settings, I was inactive capable to trial the Nest Learning Thermostat, including its signature function: Smart Schedules. This diagnostic is wherefore I’ve ever liked and recommended Nest thermostats — it’s a overmuch much hands-off acquisition than astir astute thermostats. 

Smart Schedules uses 3 modes: eco, sleep, and comfort. During setup, you take preset heating and cooling temperatures for each mode. The thermostat is programmed with a starter docket that sets your location to comfortableness mode astatine 6:15AM and slumber mode astatine 10PM. From there, I conscionable needed to set the somesthesia (in the app, with dependable control, oregon connected the device) for a week oregon so, and the thermostat automatically adapted the docket to my preferences. 

I’ve been investigating the Nest for 2 months now, and successful that time, it has continuously tweaked the clip and somesthesia of the docket arsenic my household’s habits and the seasons person changed, with small to nary input from me. The location has consistently felt comfy contempt the chaotic somesthesia swings of the South Carolina autumn and winter. 

On earlier models of the Nest Learning Thermostat, I’ve tally into issues with astute scheduling, particularly during seasonal changes. Thankfully, Google has mostly addressed these with the fourth-gen exemplary by making the device’s decision-making much transparent. It present sends notifications successful the app erstwhile it adjusts your docket and tells you what it’s doing connected the thermostat. This lets you hole immoderate erroneous changes earlier you consciousness them and is simply a invited alteration from the sometimes inscrutable actions of the earlier versions. (You tin archer it not to marque adjustments without your support if you are truly acrophobic astir losing control.)

Along with Smart Schedules, you tin adhd the thermostat to Google Home’s location and distant routines. These usage beingness sensing to cognize erstwhile nary 1 is location and enactment the strategy into eco mode to assistance prevention energy. You tin besides necktie different astute location actions into these routines, specified arsenic having your lights crook disconnected erstwhile you permission and crook backmost connected erstwhile you get home. 

The distant mode was impressively close successful my testing, switching connected arsenic soon arsenic I got successful the car successful my driveway. This is much businesslike than the 2 hours it tin instrumentality the Ecobee to determine if the location is empty. Google uses respective signals here, including the Soli radar sensor successful the thermostat, question sensors successful immoderate wired Nest Protect fume alarms you have, interactions with immoderate Nest speakers, positive your phone’s location, if you alteration that mounting successful the Google Home app. While you’ll privation to person household members download the Google Home app truthful it tin see them, the different signals should assistance forestall anyone near astatine location without a registered telephone from getting frozen out.

On the third-gen thermostat, distant mode often fto the somesthesia driblet excessively much, struggling to instrumentality to a comfy level erstwhile I got home. A caller adaptive eco mode connected the fourth-gen addresses this, taking into relationship the upwind and staying adjacent capable to the comfortableness somesthesia truthful that it tin get backmost to it wrong an hour. Last week, it was successful the precocious 20s present successful South Carolina, and alternatively of dropping each the mode down to 62 degrees Fahrenheit (my heating threshold successful eco mode) erstwhile I near the house, it lone went down to 66F and was backmost to a comfy 68F wrong a fewer minutes of my return.

Another caller diagnostic connected the fourth-gen is earthy heating and cooling. This likewise leverages its cognition of extracurricular temps and volition intermission the strategy if Mother Nature tin people vigor oregon chill your home. I haven’t seen this hap yet, but successful theory, if it’s a sunny, lukewarm day, the thermostat tin intermission heating and usage passive vigor to decorativeness heating your house. There’s besides an enactment to get an alert telling you to unfastened the windows to assistance with this. Google besides added a astute ventilation diagnostic that automatically activates your ventilation strategy to bring successful caller aerial if outdoor aerial prime is bully and temperatures are compatible. I couldn’t trial this due to the fact that I don’t person a ventilation system.

The Nest’s distant somesthesia sensors person a caller plan to lucifer the thermostat, and 1 present comes successful the container (which helps offset the terms bump from the third-gen). These fto your thermostat people the somesthesia successful the rooms you’re really in, and not conscionable wherever the thermostat is. With the fourth-gen thermostat, you tin present prime aggregate sensors and purpose for an mean somesthesia crossed them, which is much businesslike than targeting conscionable 1 room. This is simply a diagnostic competitors similar Ecobee and Honeywell Home person had for years, truthful Nest is playing catch-up here, but it’s inactive a bully improvement. 

I person a two-zone system, and I placed the sensor for the upstairs thermostat successful my bureau and the 1 for the downstairs thermostat successful the kitchen. I tied the daytime comfortableness docket to the bureau sensor to support maine cozy erstwhile I’m moving and the evening comfortableness docket to the room sensor truthful I enactment comfy erstwhile cooking. This is much intuitive than the third-gen model, which has you make separate fixed schedules for the sensors.

However, Nest inactive hasn’t added occupancy detection to the sensors (again, thing Ecobee’s and Honeywell Home’s distant sensors offer). This would fto the thermostat set to the country I americium really successful alternatively than wherever the docket says. For example, the comfortableness docket that assumes I’m moving successful my bureau during the time volition inactive tally upstairs, adjacent if I determine to enactment connected my eating country array downstairs. I person to manually set the Nests if I determination rooms, whereas the Ecobee could set automatically based connected my presence. In lieu of beingness detection successful the sensors, it would beryllium bully if the devices Google Home uses for location and distant detection besides worked for occupancy sensing for the Nest’s heating and cooling modes.

Also, the somesthesia sensors disappointingly usage Bluetooth, not Thread, and truthful don’t enactment successful Matter. This means they’re lone accessible successful the Google Home app, truthful you can’t usage them to tally temperature-based automations connected different platforms. As mentioned earlier, Google ditched Thread from the thermostat with this version, and portion the thermostat itself whitethorn not person seen a batch of payment from Thread (other than helping form a stronger web successful my astute home), the battery-powered country sensors would surely spot immoderate payment from the protocol. 

If you similar the thought of your heating and cooling adjusting to you arsenic you determination astir the house, past the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium volition beryllium a amended fit. Its newest plan volition look precise bully connected your partition (although it’s much techy-looking than the Nest), and astatine $250 with a country sensor, it’s a small much affordable. Compatibility is comparable to the Nest, though the Nest offers 3 stages of heating, portion the Ecobee Premium is optimized for up to two. 

I’ve utilized some Ecobee and Nest thermostats for galore years, and the simplicity of the Nest makes it the amended prime for me. Plus, it's easier to integrate into my astute location present that the Nest works natively with Apple Home (something Ecobee has done for years). Overall, the Ecobee is much analyzable to acceptable up and usage but has much features and capabilities. This includes being a smart speaker, a video doorbell intercom, a home information system, and monitoring your generator. However, astir of these capabilities are proprietary, and Ecobee doesn’t enactment Matter (yet).

In contrast, the Nest has conscionable 1 occupation and it does it well. It’s casual to acceptable up and casual to use, and easier to understand, present that it tells you what it’s doing erstwhile its smarts footwear in. It takes astir of the enactment retired of your hands and requires little tinkering than the Ecobee to support you comfortable. I similar and urge some products, but if you privation thing simple, stylish, and truly smart, spell with the Nest.

Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge