Google’s Nest Hub gets more sleep tracking features

Google’s second-gen Nest Hub already comes with the ability to help you track your sleep pattern, thanks to its Soli-powered Sleep Sensing feature, but now Google is rolling out an update that should help you get a more detailed look at the quality of your slumber. According an announcement post on the company’s Keyword blog, the Nest Hub will now display a Sleep Staging chart that shows your various stages of sleep, including how long you were awake or experiencing REM, light, or deep sleep.

Photo: Google

Google is also adding an update to the Nest Hub’s sound detection. Instead of capturing all the sounds in your room while you sleep, it should only track the coughs and snores it detects from your calibrated sleeping area. Any sounds from outside this zone will be placed in a separate timeline named “Other sounds.” The inability to decipher between the sounds coming from one person or another was something noted in many reviews, including ours, as a limitation of the sleep tracking features when they first debuted.

Additionally, the Nest Hub is getting a new app this December called Calm. The app comes with a collection of sleep stories, relaxing music, and meditation sessions. To open Calm, simply say “Hey Google, start a meditation.” You access a number of tracks for free, but you’ll need a paid Calm Premium account, which is $69.99 / year or a one-time payment of $399.99, in order to access the entire library.

As for the Sleep Sensing feature, Google says you’ll be able to access a free preview through 2022. Google plans on rolling out the Sleep Sensing functionality in Fitbit Premium in 2023, which currently costs $9.99 / month or $79.99 / year. You’ll be able to access the new sleep tracking features starting today, but Google says it will reach global users “over the next few weeks.”