After around a decade of Nest Protect Smoke & CO Alarms dominating the market, Google is moving away from the established platform to partner with First Alert. The company announced today that it would cease manufacturing Nest Protect smoke & CO alarms, instead devoting those resources to the production of First Alert Smart Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarms. These new devices will work existing Nest systems and can be controlled through the Google Home app.
“At Google Home we’re deeply committed to building a platform that makes it easy to set up, control and automate all of your smart home devices in one place,” said Anish Kattukaran, Chief Product Officer at Google Home & Nest. “The Nest Protect has been one of our most beloved devices and we are excited to be partnering with established industry leaders like First Alert so users can manage more of their safety devices together, for a safer and more protected home.”
At the same time, Google also announced it’s ending sales of the Nest x Yale lock. Though a long-time staple of its smart home lineup, Google is now diverting its focus to the Yale Smart Lock with Matter. The new home security option is set to release this summer and work with a wider range of devices. However, the Nest x Yale lock will still be available for purchase while supplies last, and the company isn’t ending support for it (and that means you might be able to snag one for a nice discount).
Though it’s a bummer to see Google sunset such an iconic product, the new First Alert Smoke & CO Alarm has a lot of features that make it better suited to modern use. It has better Wi-Fi range, audible voice alerts that describe where in the home it detects a problem, and even an early warning system.
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As First Alert points out, fires burn both hotter and faster in homes that have more modern, open floor plans and are made of greater numbers of synthetic materials. The advanced features in these new detectors could provide families with more time to get out in case of an emergency.