Google’s Nest speakers and displays will soon detect your presence (if you want to)

Motion sensors are not something that are typically included in your Nest smart speakers or displays, but that doesn’t mean that these devices can’t detect your presence. Unlike Nest devices like Thermostat, Protect, Guard, and Yale Lock that have their own sensors for motion detection, Nest speakers and display won’t rely on that to detect your presence because they lack these types of sensors.

According to Google, all Nest speakers and display will be able to detect your presence, but only when you interact with the device using touch or voice control. On the other hand, the Google Nest Hub (2nd gen) will also use a Soli sensor to detect if someone is nearby, in addition to touch or voice control.

For those who don’t know, the Soli sensor is “a miniature radar that understands human motions at various scales: from your heartbeat to the movements of your body.”

If you’re worried that your Nest smart speaker or display will trigger when it detects ambient noise, don’t be. Google specifically says that only directly interacting with the Nest device via touch or voice control will make it detect your presence.



There’s one other thing that you should be aware of about the new improved presence sensing on Nest devices. While this is a feature that everyone can get, it’s totally optional. You can opt in to the feature via the Google Home app.

Enhanced presence sensing on Nest devices is meant to automate some actions / routines based on your location, which is very useful especially if you have more than one intelligent device in your household.

As far as support goes, Google confirmed that improved presence sensing will work on any Nest speakers or display, including Google Home, Google Home Max, and Google Home Mini devices. Make sure that you enable the feature from the Home app if you want to use it though.