[New user]

Hi there,

As of 04 Sep 2020, what features have you found now available on the Nest Hub in NZ?

My Nest Mini is a lot of fun but does not complete routines nor play NZ radio stations...

Few enquires before I buy the Nest Hub,

- Can it play any Youtube video via voice command?

- Can it play any NZ radio station?

- Does it accept and complete all the options and requests under 'routines'?

- Does it actually speak commands that you type yourself?

Does anyone have a list of the limited functions due to being in NZ?

Any help here would be appreciated before I purchase it.

Thank you,

My Nest Mini is a lot of fun but does not complete routines nor play NZ radio stations...

These seem more like set-up problems  - our Minis do both these things. Radio stations - only tend to listen to RNZ ones (which work fine), but just tried asking the Mini in this room to play The Edge and it did so fine (interestingly, it did it via TuneIn not I Heart Radio, which it uses for RNZ). As for routines, yep they work on all our Minis, but if they use 'scenes' they won't work unless that individual also has access to the account used to set up those scenes (if that makes sense!).

 Few enquires before I buy the Nest Hub,

- Can it play any Youtube video via voice command?

Well, yes, but it's a matter of ensuring the command is accurate; it'll 'display videos that match', and you can scroll through and select.

- Can it play any NZ radio station?

As per my reply earlier, pretty much yes provided it's available via TuneIn or I Heart Radio.

- Does it accept and complete all the options and requests under 'routines'?

Sure, but as with the Minis it does depend on them being set up correctly, scenes access etc. 

- Does it actually speak commands that you type yourself?

Sorry, don't understand this one... Do you mean can you type on the screen? If so, no; interaction is via voice only, but that said you can type a command on another GA device for it to do something on the Hub itself (so I could type on the GA interface on my phone to 'Play Radio New Zealand National on [device name]', for example). 

Does anyone have a list of the limited functions due to being in NZ?

There are a decreasing number of functions not available here now, and overall the number of functions are expanding - for example, in the last few weeks we've been finally able to play Netflix on the Hubs (and, given GA links to a specific NF account, voice commands will ensure it plays from that person's NF account).

We've got a couple of Hubs - a standard and a Max - and I would recommend the Max for a larger space like a kitchen; the standard is perfect for a bedroom or smaller room.

I picked up a pair of 7 inch Lenovo Smart Displays and the Lenovo Smart clock last week so adding that info into this thread.

The smart clock is a great clock + google mini.  It also has a usb port to charge your phone with which is a logical addition.  Clock was $99 less the $10 spam voucher from Noles.

The two smart displays were $300 for two from JB HIFi.  I read reviews which said the touch interface was a bit slow but decided that if all it was is a better clock I would still be happy.  One is in the lounge and one is in my WFH office.  As predicted the touch interface was a bit slow but it's a voice first device.  It's a good (large) clock + google mini.  Playing youtube is a bit weird as you have to voice command the exact video, no access to your favorites.  I haven't tried netflix but will do.  It has a physical block switch for both the mic and video.

Lenovo is built on the Android\Smart things OS and Google home hub is built on Chromecast OS.

I am curious to see what the difference is with the home hub so plan to buy one from Kogan nz.  I would like a smart doorbell which claims to work with the home hub.  I don't know if this also means it works with the Lenovo but if I get one of each it will still be ok.  The 3rd device will go in the kitchen.

One weird thing is you can pair your phone to the Lenovo via bluetooth but you can't pair a bluetooth speaker to the smart display like you can with the google products.  There goes my plan to use the smart display as the center of my WFH office PsyTrance setup in the rare precious moments that I am not in a video call.

I can't see myself paying $300 for one of these so I am stuck with the mid size models.  No regrets on the purchase so far.

Also Lenovo have just released a gen 2 of the smart clock which is also cheaper.  That puts it in the similar price range to the Google Nest Mini.  Seems like a no brainer to me.

landcruiserguy:

 

Also Lenovo have just released a gen 2 of the smart clock which is also cheaper.  That puts it in the similar price range to the Google Nest Mini.  Seems like a no brainer to me.

 

RRPs may end up similar, but whether Lenovo is willing to discount like Google has been recently with the Hub Minis is another matter (I doubt the smart clock will make it near to $44, which is what Bunning's is charging for the Minis). My assumption is Google's ploy is more about winning market share and/or simply getting more people into their GA ecosystem than it is about making money on the sale of the Minis.

I looked at one of these Lenovo smart clocks for a bedside device, but reading some reviews it became clear the differences between a Google Hub and the Lenovo units were significant and I'd find this frustrating having been used to the Hub features; in the end I just moved a Hub from the lounge to my bedroom (yep, taken that leap!) and bought a $44 Mini for the lounge (which is all we need there).

jonathan18:

 

As per my reply earlier, pretty much yes provided it's available via TuneIn or I Heart Radio.
Ahh that may be the problem, do I need to have TuneIn and/or I Heart Radio apps on my Ph to access any radio stations on my Mini? 
I have downloaded TuneIn and will test on my Mini when I get home tonight.

 

I dont really understand how I set it up wrong, I do have the language set to 'English US' so I can access more things, I used to have it on 'English Australia' but that limited me.

 

Sure, but as with the Minis it does depend on them being set up correctly, scenes access etc.
Im not sure how to set them up any other way than just following whats on screen. 

 

Do you mean can you type on the screen?
Sorry, the question should have been, "Can I make the Mini/GA say anything I want under the routines?"

 

What I mean is, I go on my Ph then go into the Google Home app / Routines / Manage Routines / Good morning / Add action / Custom responses - 'Say something', it then goes to a new screen saying "What would you like the Google Assistant to say?" 

 

Can I type anything I want into this and the Mini/GA will say it?

 

 
At the moment no luck, I am able to customize all the routines but it still only plays the default routines.

 

 

 

Thank you for your responses, 

 

jonathan18:

 

landcruiserguy:

 

Also Lenovo have just released a gen 2 of the smart clock which is also cheaper.  That puts it in the similar price range to the Google Nest Mini.  Seems like a no brainer to me.

 

 

RRPs may end up similar, but whether Lenovo is willing to discount like Google has been recently with the Hub Minis is another matter (I doubt the smart clock will make it near to $44, which is what Bunning's is charging for the Minis). My assumption is Google's ploy is more about winning market share and/or simply getting more people into their GA ecosystem than it is about making money on the sale of the Minis.

 

I looked at one of these Lenovo smart clocks for a bedside device, but reading some reviews it became clear the differences between a Google Hub and the Lenovo units were significant and I'd find this frustrating having been used to the Hub features; in the end I just moved a Hub from the lounge to my bedroom (yep, taken that leap!) and bought a $44 Mini for the lounge (which is all we need there).

 

I see the difference between the smart clock and a google nest hub being significant, but not between the Lenovo smart displays either 7 or 10"

The reviews I've seen say they are much of a muchnesses - I'd be keen to see any further infor you have as I've ordered 3 of the lenovos due to great pricing, and still have time to return if there are material issues.