A mysterious new Google device has appeared in filings at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US – but we’re not sure exactly what it is. It could be a new Nest Thermostat, or perhaps a smart speaker or smart display.
As reported by Android Authority, the gadget in question unsurprisingly supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. More interesting is a mention of 60GHz radio support, which sounds similar to the Soli radar tech built into the current Nest Thermostat models.
The Soli chip senses motion at close range, essentially, which enables the displays on Google’s thermostats to light up when someone approaches. It would make sense that a new thermostat would have the same feature.
However, we’ve also seen Soli built into other Google products like the Pixel 4 (for gesture control) and the 2nd-gen Nest Hub (for tracking your sleep), so while a thermostat is most likely, it could be something else we’re looking at here.
Time for a refresh
You could make the case that smart thermostats don’t need to be updated all that often, but even so, the Nest Thermostat range could use a bit of a refresh: the most recent one launched by Google came out all the way back in 2020.
Despite its age, it remains top of our best smart thermostats list, ahead of rivals from the likes of Hive and Ecobee. Unfortunately, there’s not enough in this FCC listing to really tell us anything about potential upgrades that could be on the way.
The flagship Nest Thermostat is currently discounted on the Google UK Store, while the more affordable model (which you can’t get in the UK) is on offer over on the Google US Store – perhaps a sign of a new device in the range arriving soon, or perhaps not.
All we can really do at this point is speculate, though we will of course bring you the news as soon as anything is made official – or as soon as there are any more leaks. If you’re thinking of buying a Nest Thermostat, you might want to hold off just for a while.
