Google’s hardware event 2022: What’s coming from Nest?

We just finished covering Amazon’s big hardware event for 2022, where we saw the e-tailing giant unveil new Echo Dots, a revamped Echo Auto, and a faster Fire TV Cube, among other announcements.

Next week, it’s Google’s turn, and while Pixel phones and watches will be the main course, new Nest devices are sure to be on the menu as well. What can we expect?

We’ve scanned the rumors and read the tea leaves, and there are at least a couple of Nest announcements we think are almost certain to arrive next Thursday. We’re not so sure about a few others, while some would-be Nest refreshes simply aren’t in the cards this year.

Read on to learn which Nest products we believe are–or aren’t–on tap for Google’s imminent 2022 hardware event.

Second-gen Nest Doorbell (wired): Almost certain

Update (10/4/2022): Google went ahead and announced the second-generation Nest Doorbell (wired) on October 4, two days before its annual hardware event.

Google’s original wired doorbell, the Nest Hello from 2018, got a new name–the Nest Doorbell (wired)–last year. But otherwise, Google’s only wired doorbell is looking decidedly long in the tooth. And while a more recent Google doorbell–last year’s Nest Doorbell (battery), pictured above–snagged our editor’s choice award, it lacks a key feature of its wired brethren: the ability to record 24/7 video.

Google execs promised last year that a second-generation Nest Doorbell (wired) was in the pipeline, and earlier this month, we saw the first leaked images of the new model, which appears to be slightly shorter but thicker than 2021’s Nest Doorbell (battery) while sharing the same basic design.

We’ve been hearing a steady drumbeat about the second-gen Nest Doorbell (wired) for months now, and combined with Google’s promise about the new doorbell last year, we think this announcement is pretty much a lock.

Nest Wifi Pro: Almost certain

Update (10/4/2022): Alongside the Nest Doorbell (wired), Google unveiled the Nest Wifi Pro a couple days shy of its annual hardware reveal.

We don’t generally cover Wi-Fi routers here at TechHive, but our next item is, officially, a Nest product, so we’ll bite.

The Google Nest Wifi is a mesh Wi-Fi 5 router with optional extender points that double as Google Assistant speakers, and while we don’t think a second-gen version of the Nest Wifi is coming this year, it’s virtually certain to get a bigger, more powerful sibling.

Rumors of the Nest Wifi Pro began circulating in June, while an FCC filing spotted in August described a “wireless product” that supported Thread, Bluetooth, and–tellingly–the Wi-Fi 6E standard. A close read of the filing and the methods used to test the device pointed toward a product that “sure sounds like a router.”

But the kicker came just a couple of weeks ago: a now-scrubbed B&H Photo product listing for a “Google Nest Wifi Pro 6E Router” complete with price tags, detailing a $199 sticker price for the router itself, $299.99 for a two-pack, and $399.99 for a three-pack.

The premature B&H listing hints at a product that’s on the cusp of release, so we’d be mighty surprised if we didn’t see the Google Nest Wifi Pro break cover next week.

Second-gen Nest Mini: Probably not (but it’s overdue)

We haven’t heard a peep about a refresh for the smallest Nest speaker, which was announced at Google’s 2019 hardware event. The successor to the Google Home Mini, the Nest Mini added a tad more bass, a mounting hole, and some control tweaks to the older speaker, making it a somewhat modest upgrade.

Meanwhile, Amazon has put its small speaker, the Echo Dot, on a much more aggressive update schedule, with the fifth-generation Dot–complete with a bigger speaker and the ability to act as an extender for Eero mesh Wi-Fi routers–arriving during Amazon’s hardware event just a few days ago. Indeed, the fifth-gen Echo Dot is the second new Dot to be released in just two years.

It certainly seems like high time for a second-gen Nest Mini to make its debut, yet when it comes to a refresh, we’re hearing…well, silence. Maybe Google has a surprise in store for us next Thursday, but if there is a next-gen Nest Mini waiting in the wings, it’s a well kept secret.

Second-gen Nest Hub Max: Probably not

Like the Nest Mini, the 10-inch Nest Hub Max display first came out in 2019, and it’s seen its fair share of software updates since then, most recently gaining the ability to respond to certain Google Assistant commands without the “Hey Google” hotword. The Nest Hub Max will also work as a Thread border router for the upcoming Matter smart home standard.

But while Amazon has been busily upgrading its own 10-inch display, the Echo Show 10 (which now has an attention-getting swiveling screen), Google has seemed content to sit tight with the original Nest Hub Max, and we’ve not expecting to see a successor to the three-year-old display next week. (Although you never know!)

Second-gen Chromecast with Google TV (4K): Not gonna happen

If we were talking about Amazon, we’d definitely peg a two-year-old streaming video player as being on the cusp of a refresh. But this is Google, and there are no hints that a second-gen version of the 4K-enabled Chromecast with Google TV is imminent.

In fact, all the signs seem to point the other way, the biggest being Google’s announcement last week of a cheaper, HD-only version of the Chromecast, effectively filling out the low end of Google’s Chromecast-with-Google-TV line. With Google debuting the HD Chromecast so recently, it seems unlikely that a new 4K Chromecast is in the offing, or at least not this year.

A brand-new Nest product: You never know

Of course, Google could have an all-new Nest product–or products–to show off next week, so it’s a possibility worth mentioning.

But unlike Amazon, which delights in springing crazy Echo and Ring surprises on us (some of which never quite escape early-access status), Google is more conservative and methodical with Nest, sticking to tried-and-true categories. Google will also have its hands full showing off all its new Pixel devices at next week’s event, so we’re not sure how much time might be left over for Nest bombshells.

So if we had to guess, we’d say no big Nest surprises next week. But again–you never know.