Google Nest Hub (1st Gen) 7”: Review, Pros & Cons

Summary

A 7-inch Google Assistant smart display for the bedroom — compact, camera-free, strong on YouTube, Photos and smart-home control, and cheap on the used market. Check the update history before buying: Google has discontinued the line, and its own updates have bricked many of these units.

Strengths

Compact footprint that fits a nightstand; reviewers praised the small size.
Ambient EQ dims and warms the screen so it blends into a room at night.
Far-field microphones hear the wake word reliably hands-free.
Strong Google services integration: YouTube, Photos live albums, Calendar and Search answers on screen.
A useful smart-home control dashboard for lights, cameras and thermostats.

Weaknesses

No camera, so no Duo video calls.
Google’s own updates have bricked many units, and factory resets often do not fix it.
Discontinued and sold out at the Google Store, with the 1-year warranty long expired.
No repair channel: replacement LCD panels do not exist.
Still running 2016-era Google Assistant with no Gemini upgrade path.

Verified specifications

Model	Google Nest Hub, 1st generation; US model GA00516-US.
Display	7-inch touch screen, 1024 × 600 (below 720p).
Dimensions	4.65 × 7.02 × 2.65 in (118 × 178.5 × 67.3 mm).
Weight	16.9 oz (480 g).
Microphones	2 far-field microphones, with Voice Match and ultrasound sensing.
Speaker	full-range driver; the retail spec sheet lists a 1.57 in (40 mm) driver, Digital Trends calls it a 1.7-inch tweeter.
Speaker output	up to 80 dB SPL at 1 kHz, 1 m (retail spec sheet).
Light sensor	Ambient EQ, which auto-adjusts screen color and brightness.
Camera	none; Duo audio and one-way video calls are supported.
Wireless	Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/ac on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, Bluetooth 5.0, Google Cast built in.
Power	15 W adapter (100–240 V, 50/60 Hz), DC power jack, ~1.5 m cable; no battery.
Controls	capacitive touch on the top edge, volume rocker behind the right edge, mic mute switch behind the top edge.
Audio formats	HE-AAC, LC-AAC, MP3, Vorbis, WAV (LPCM), Opus and FLAC, including 24-bit/96 kHz streams.
Software	Google Assistant built in; ran Android Things at launch; OTA updates; no Soli, Thread, temperature sensor or Sleep Sensing.
Setup	Google Home app on Android 9.0+ or iOS 17.0+.
Warranty	1-year limited warranty from Google.
In the box	Nest Hub and AC power adapter.
Colors	Chalk, Charcoal, Sand and Aqua.

Full research notes and sources

Sound and screen

The 7-inch 1024×600 screen sits below 720p but is bright and colorful, and GSMArena called the resolution “plenty” at arm’s length. PCMag’s lab listening found essentially no bass — it described “bouncing ping pong balls” on The Knife’s “Silent Shout” — and a treble-heavy presentation, louder than an Echo Spot but not better. Digital Trends was not the biggest fans of the sound, calling it lacking sonic range and volume overall. The driver is a single full-range unit with no mid-range drivers or woofers behind it. For a bedside alarm clock and photo frame this is fine; for music it is clock-radio-level. The standout is Ambient EQ: a light sensor adjusts color and brightness so the screen dims at night and blends into the room.

Updates and bricking

This is the section that decides the purchase. In July 2023 an overnight update froze many Nest Hub and Hub Max units on a 99%-stuck “Updating” screen; voice still worked, but the screen never recovered, and factory resets frequently did not fix it. Google’s own community staff published a Recovery Mode procedure for 1st-gen grey-screen issues in February 2023, confirming a systemic problem. A March 2024 community thread documents a 1st-gen (H1A) that loops from “Updating” to the grey G screen after a factory reset or Wi-Fi change; power-cycling for 30 minutes or 24 hours, different routers and 24-hour waits all failed for that owner. In 2025, Reddit threads report 1st-gen units dying at the grey loading screen. Owners also report streaks at the top and bottom of the LCD, and camera live feeds became unavailable after 2025 firmware updates, unresolved into March 2026. A December 2024/January 2025 Google outage left Nest speakers and displays unable to answer even basic voice commands for nearly a week — a taste of the dependency risk when the vendor can reach your device remotely. Nobody has published a failure rate, so treat bricking as a known risk rather than a certainty.

Repairs and running costs

Repairability is effectively zero. The fabric-wrapped base is sealed, iFixit’s Nest Hub forum shows owners asking for replacement LCD panels with no supply available, and Google sells no parts. The 1-year limited warranty expired years ago for any used unit. Running costs are low: a Google account is free, and the only optional spend is a Nest Aware or Home Premium subscription for some features. Setup requires a phone or tablet running the Google Home app (Android 9.0+ or iOS 17.0+). If the unit dies, the fix is replacement, not repair.

Is it worth it?

Google sold this display new at $149 at launch in October 2018, cut it to $129 after the May 2019 rebrand, and $89.99 by May 2020; Digital Trends had it at $89 in 2022. Those prices are the reference point, not today’s asking prices. PCMag’s review page shows a $149–$174 Walmart price for the discontinued unit — a legacy tax, not a feature price. Under about $50, used or new-old-stock, it is a defensible bedside Assistant, alarm clock and photo frame for someone already in the Google ecosystem who accepts the bricking risk. Between about $50 and $89 it is hard to justify next to a used 2nd-generation Hub with current support. At $89 or above — what Google itself charged new — there is no rational case: you would pay full price for an unsupported, unrepairable device with a known remote-brick failure mode. At $149 or more you are paying launch pricing for a product Google no longer sells.

Which model this is

This page covers the Google Nest Hub, 1st generation (US model GA00516-US), launched as the Google Home Hub in October 2018 and renamed in May 2019. It has a 7-inch 1024×600 touchscreen, two far-field microphones, Ambient EQ and no camera. It is not the 2nd-generation Nest Hub (2021, adds Soli radar, Thread, a third microphone and Sleep Sensing) or the Nest Hub Max (2019, 10-inch, with camera).

Sources

Manufacturer:

Google Nest and Home device specifications (Google Support)

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

Google Nest Hub (1st Gen) 7”