Rounder, warmer, and more like a piece of sculpture, the new Google Nest WiFi Pro represents a different direction for this essential piece of home hardware.
We spoke to Isabelle Olsson, senior design director for the Google Nest and Wearables portfolio, and Ivy Ross, the company’s vice president of Design for Hardware, about Nest WiFi Pro and what it means for the company’s hardware division.
Ivy Ross: ‘It almost looks like a glass vase’
Google has made its own routers for several years now, adding functionality and simplicity to an inescapable element of domestic infrastructure. Its newest roll-out upgrades the internal chipset to take account of WiFi 6E, the latest standard that is nearly three times as fast as the previous WiFi 6, taking advantage of a new band on the spectrum (6 GHz, instead of the familiar 2.5 or 5 GHz) to take us ever-closer to a world without Ethernet (wired) connections.
There are also added security measures, with authentication between devices made more robust and less reliant on old-fashioned, hackable passwords.
‘A device like this has to work well and be out in the open,’ says Olson. ‘That’s why we have a range of colours so it can really fit into your home.’
The finish, too, is also a step away from the soft matt surfaces that have defined the last few years of domestic tech. ‘Glossy is new for us,’ says Ross. ‘It almost looks like a glass vase.’
The seamless, soft shape of the Google Nest WiFi Pro is explicitly designed to slot into any home, while still referencing the form language of Google’s earlier hardware devices. ‘We have a room with all our previous products,’ Ross admits. ‘It helps show the evolution of the technology.’
The new router also taps into the colourways introduced in the recent drop of Google Pixel products; it’s available in Fog, Snow, Linen and Lemongrass finishes.
Nest Wifi Pro incorporates 60 per cent recycled material by weight, including large amounts of the plastic and aluminium used in the construction.
Google is also rolling out a recycling programme in the US, which allows you to mail back electronics and devices to the company to be refurbished or recycled as appropriate.
Google Nest Wifi Pro, from £189.99
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