The Google Nest Hub was Google’s answer to the Echo Show: a 7-inch touchscreen speaker, photo frame, and smart-home hub in one. Gadgetping posted this review back in 2022 — no price, no owner quotes, and a "10/10" in the title that no rating in the post backs up. In 2026: no new Nest Hub since 2021, a sold-out Google Store, and still no successor. So what was the 2022 post actually reviewing — and what should you buy instead?
Google Nest Hub (2026): the 2022 post, checked
The post tells the same eight features twice. What it got right: the 7-inch touchscreen, voice control, and routines. The rest:
| The 2022 post said | What’s actually true |
|---|---|
| "10/10" in the title | No rating anywhere in the post — expert consensus is solid, not a 10 |
| "part of his Google Nest family" · "including B. Stream video material" (×3) | Machine-translation garble: "the", a corrupted "e.g." |
| "Wikipedia, and Wikipedia" (×2) | A duplicated source artifact |
| "the Echo Show (2nd Gen) has a 10.1-inch display" | Wrong: the Echo Show (2nd gen) is 8"; the 10.1" is the 2019 Echo Show 10 |
| Streaming "Netflix, and Hulu" · "Google Play Music" | Neither runs on the Nest Hub; Play Music died in 2021, before this post |
| No price anywhere | 1st gen $149 (2019), later $89.99; 2nd gen (2021) $99.99 |
| "What people say" with zero quotes | Replaced with real owner quotes below |
What the reviewed Nest Hub actually was
The reviewed device is the original 7-inch: a 1024×600 touchscreen, one small speaker, no camera at all (a privacy win for the bedside), and routines. Google later cut the price from $149 to $89.99. The 2021 2nd gen kept the same 7-inch shell and added an 8MP gesture camera (not for calls), sleep sensing, Thread, and about 50% more bass — for $99.99.
What it did well:
- A photo frame that never needs charging — Google Photos in ambient mode, clock and weather on top
- Sleep sensing (2nd gen) — no wearable; PCMag called it "an ideal bedside companion for Google Assistant users"
- A quiet smart-home hub — lights, thermostats, and cameras by voice or touch, without the recommended-products carousel
What it did badly:
- Small speaker — fine as a bedside clock, thin as a room speaker
- No video calls — the 2nd gen’s 8MP sensor does gestures and sleep sensing only
- A known screen failure — 2nd gen panels develop "the infamous vertical black lines"
- Feature rot — owners report Google keeps quietly retiring pieces of the platform
The 2026 catch: new Nest Hubs aren’t for sale
- Google Store: sold out — owners confirm: "the hubs are sold out completely on the google store"
- Amazon US (checked September 2026): the original 1st gen listing now loads as a Nest Hub Max (Chalk) — leftover stock at $139.99 — while the 2nd gen survives only as third-party listings, the chalk buybox at $189.99, double its $99.99 MSRP
- Amazon.de / Amazon.fr: both Nest Hub pages gone (404)
- No successor since October 2021. In October 2025 Google’s head of Home told The Verge the company is "definitely committed to smart displays" — as of September 2026, nothing has shipped
- The used market is the real market: roughly $50–80, which is where the quotes below come from
Owners, in their own words
From r/googlehome: "Is it worth buying a Nest Hub (2nd gen) today?" (Aug 2024):
btbam666: "Mine work great. Hands down 10x better than Alexa or whatever Amazon ad hubs are called nowadays. If you can get a deal for like $50 then grab it"
Gamen4Bros: "I bought a 2nd hand one a week ago & I love it. For 55 euros it’s a great piece of tech. The sleep monitoring alone makes it worth it for me"
Level_Werewolf_8901: "I have 4 throughout my house, use it daily to view my Infants nursery… Weather forecast is nice, but as other have said it seams to be losing features regularly"
Counterpoint, same thread (CBergerman1515): "No. Avoid at all costs. Features and performance have degraded significantly lately"
And from r/googlehome: "Are nest hubs being discontinued" (Feb 2026):
Diddy7Kong: "the hubs are sold out completely on the google store, my current one has its screen going out with the infamous vertical black lines"
Chris22044: "There are no specific rumours from credible sources about new smart displays coming any time soon. However, Google did say last year that there will be new devices at some unspecified time in the future. If you wait, it could be a long wait"
Consistent pattern: the hardware works, the worry is neglect.
What to buy instead (2026)
Echo Show 8 (4th gen, 2025) — the direct replacement. 8.7-inch 1340×800 screen, 13MP auto-framing camera, spatial audio, Alexa+, full Matter/Thread/Zigbee hub. $179.99 list, street ~$149.99 — PCMag’s Best Overall smart display for 2026 (4.5). Check the price on Amazon
Echo Show 11 (2025) — when the screen is the point. 11-inch FHD panel, 13MP camera with 3.3× zoom. $219.99 list, street ~$189.99, PCMag 4.0. Check the price on Amazon
Echo Show 5 (3rd gen, 2023) — the budget nightstand. 5.5-inch screen, 2MP camera, $89.99 list and often ~$59.99. We broke it down in our Amazon Echo Show 5 post. Check the price on Amazon
Amazon Echo Hub — the smart-home-first pick. An 8-inch touch panel, no camera, wall-mountable, Alexa+ — PCMag’s 2026 Best Smart Home Control Panel (4.0). For people who wanted the control center, not the speaker. $179.99. Check the price on Amazon
Nest Hub 2nd gen (used) — if you’re deep in Google’s ecosystem. At ~$50–80, sleep sensing still works and the photo frame is exactly what the 2022 post described — with the vertical-line screen failure as the risk. Check the used prices on Amazon
Nest Hub Max (leftover stock) — the 10-inch route. The remapped Amazon listing is $139.99 and in stock — the only new Google display left with a real 6.5MP camera for video calls. Don’t pay more than that. Check the price on Amazon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Google Nest Hub discontinued?
Effectively yes. The Google Store is sold out, the European Amazon pages are gone, and nothing has shipped since October 2021 — despite Google saying it’s "definitely committed to smart displays."
Which Nest Hub did the 2022 post review?
The original 7-inch model (2019, $149 then $89.99) — while the purchase link pointed at the 2021 2nd gen ($99.99). Same 7-inch shell; the 2nd gen adds sleep sensing, a gesture camera, Thread, and a bigger speaker.
Does the Nest Hub have a camera?
The 1st gen doesn’t — that was the privacy pitch. The 2nd gen’s 8MP camera does gestures and sleep sensing only, not calls. If calls matter, you need the Max (6.5MP) or an Echo Show.
Is a used 2nd gen still worth it in 2026?
At $50–80, for a Google-ecosystem home, yes — and Gemini support is rolling out to it. Above ~$100, the same money buys a new Echo Show 5 3rd gen, and the Show 8 4th gen is the better buy either way.
So the map: the Google Nest Hub was a good, quiet bedside hub, and Google let it die without a replacement. Google households: a used 2nd gen at ~$50–80 is still the deal, warranty risk included. Everyone else in 2026: the Echo Show 8 at ~$149.99 — bigger screen, a real camera, a full smart-home hub.
Over at Gadgetping we test gadgets from Amazon, AliExpress and Flipkart so you buy the right one — not the loudest one: real prices, real runtimes, owner consensus over the spec sheet. The rotating 10-inch lives in our Alexa Echo Show 10 post, the budget screen in our Amazon Echo Show 5 post, and the rest of the connected-home gear in our smart home and security reviews.
