Like many smart speakers and displays, the Google Nest Hub 2 has a physical microphone switch on the back, which allows you to disable the microphone if you do not want the Assistant to hear you. However, if you want to use Google Assistant or take full advantage of the device’s sleep sensing capabilities, you will need to turn the microphone on.
Instead, you calibrate the Soli sensor and microphone to monitor individual movements and sounds throughout the night, which took less than a minute with Google Fit integration and a few seconds of simulated sleep. Apple Health notifies you every morning with sleep tracking information on your Apple Watch. Just as Apple Health notifies me of my sleep tracking information on my Apple Watch every morning, when I wake up I see a summary of my sleep on the display.
[content-egg-block template=offers_logo hide=price]While the Nest Hub does not provide specific sleep cycle data like some fitness trackers, the actionable sleep tracking data is one of the most comprehensive I have seen in a consumer device. One night I accidentally put a glass of water in front of the display, which interfered with the radar sensing, but only if the data was accurate. It is also imagined that sharing a bed with another human being might reduce the accuracy of the readings, but Google says this is not a problem. However, on most nights, my Apple Watch and Google Nest Hub sleep time readings were within 10 minutes of each other, giving me confidence in contactless sleep tracking.
I tracked my sleep with the Nest Hub for about two weeks and compared it to my naps, which the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active tells me. So far, the results are similar, but not exactly the same. It may vary depending on the wearable used, but my watch and Nest Hub were never more than 15 minutes apart in their estimates of when I fell asleep and when I woke up. The wearables certainly provide more detailed information on sleep quality, such as the duration of deep sleep, light sleep and REM sleep, while the Nest Hub provides more detailed information on my environment and how it affects my sleep. Neither is a detailed picture.
What does Google collect during sleep? With no cameras, Google obviously does not record facial images or movements. There is a microphone, light sensor and temperature sensor, but you can adjust what Google records and stores. Cough and snore data (captured by the microphone) is only stored locally on your device. You can also disable cough and snore detection and leave sleep tracking on. You can review and delete your sleep data at any time in the Google Fit app, and Google has a helpful page explaining the ins and outs of the Sleep Sensing experience.