Your Nest security devices are getting a major update for free - including a big one for Google Home

Aside from understanding and responding in a more conversational way than Google Assistant, Google Home will support richer notifications through Gemini. You'll be able to ask the upgraded virtual assistant more specific questions about your smart home, like "When did the kids come home from school today?"

Also: Use Google Chat? Gemini can edit your messages now

Google is implementing this feature to make communicating with your smart home more natural, and will introduce new voices that sound more like a casual conversation.

All Google Nest devices released in the last decade are compatible with the new updates Google announced this week.

Also: Gemini just aced the world's most elite coding competition - what it means for AGI

Here's a list of all devices that will support the Google update:

Security cameras

• Nest Cam Indoor (2015)
• Nest Cam Outdoor (2016)
• Nest Cam IQ Indoor (2017)
• Nest Cam IQ Outdoor (2017)
• Nest Cam Battery (2021)
• Nest Cam Wired (2021)
• Nest Cam with Floodlight (2021)
• Nest Cam Indoor 2K (2025)
• Nest Cam Outdoor 2K (2025)
• Walmart onn Indoor Camera Wired (2025)

Video doorbells

• Nest Doorbell Wired (2018)
• Nest Doorbell Battery (2021)
• Nest Doorbell Wired (2022)
• Nest Doorbell 2K (2025)
• Walmart onn Video Doorbell Wired (2025)

Smart speakers

• Google Home (2016)
• Google Home Mini (2017)
• Google Home Max (2017)
• Nest Mini (2019)
• Nest Audio (2020)*

Smart displays

• Nest Hub (2018)
• Nest Hub Max (2019)*
• Nest Hub (2021)*

*This device will also get Gemini Live.

Some of the updates coming to Google Home will require a subscription, much like the current Nest Aware subscription. In fact, the prices for what Google is calling a Home Premium subscription will carry over from Nest Aware.

Also: Your Google TV may be getting its biggest update in years - what Gemini offers at no cost

The company will offer two tiers: a Standard tier for $10 per month, and an Advanced package that includes Google One subscriptions, costing $20 per month.

The Standard tier will offer Gemini for Home, Gemini Live, automation features, 30 days of event video history, intelligent alerts, familiar faces, garage door and package detection, smoke and CO alarm, and alerts with zoomed-in previews.

Also: You can Google the world around you by video now for free - with Search Live

The Advanced tier supports everything in the Standard option, plus Ask Home for video history, AI notifications, AI descriptions, Home Brief, 60 days of event history, and 24/7 video history.

The Google Home features will be included with Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra at no extra cost.

Aside from these software upgrades for Google Home users, Google also announced new Nest hardware, including a new Google Home Speaker, a new Nest Cam, and a new Nest Doorbell.

The Google Home Speaker is planned to be available in Spring 2026 for $99. It'll come in four colors, feature 360-degree audio, and can double as the audio output for a Google TV Streamer. 

The new Nest Cams Indoor and Outdoor feature 2K resolution and a wider and taller field of view than the previous models. Google also announced a new Nest Doorbell with a 1:1 aspect ratio, allowing it to capture more footage at once. The device also supports zoomed-in previews in notifications.

Through a Walmart partnership, Google announced a new onn Indoor Camera for $23 and an onn Video Doorbell for $50.

Aside from replacing Google Assistant, Gemini will be able to offer descriptions of captured security footage. With Ask Home, you can use natural language to ask Gemini about specific events that may have been captured during surveillance. Google says you can get as specific as asking Gemini, "Did something eat my plants?" and it'll pull footage of a qualifying event.

If Google can deliver on these promises, the company would prove that smart home surveillance has surpassed simple "motion detected" notifications.

Also: Why I recommend the Google TV Streamer over competing Roku and Amazon Fire models

A Home Brief feature gives you a recap of noteworthy events recorded over the past day, though you can also customize your recap's length and even the subject of its focus, in case you'd like it to give you a recap on what your pets did while you were out.

Generative AI also enables the creation of automations more naturally, which is one of the most valuable upgrades for smart home users. You can ask Gemini to come up with automations without having to go through an if-this, then-that scenario. Just say "Help me feel safer" or "Make it look like someone's home if my house is empty at night."