Google Home 13+

Hit and miss

Manually the switches work ok, connecting to the TV will only work some times. Chrome cast is a pain. I did a lot of work and is not paying off. I ask for a specific song and it only works on a single speaker, if I am using a group of speakers, google plays what ever it wants. I got three chrome cast and they were fine at first but after a few weeks voice commands to chrome cast stoped working on all three. Google says it doesn’t recognize that device, I reset to factory, start all over and nothing. I am getting board of this I am thinking of going back to apple TV. What a waste of money. I have 5 nest cams and they connect and disconnect constantly, that problem came after google took over. I am angry about that security problem. I tried everything to have the system recognize only my voice so people couldn’t open my garage or my front door, that does not work. I even had a google tech help me set that up, thats not safe, anyone who knows what I named the door can simply ask google loudly through my glass window or glass door and it opens anything. Google is not safe . I regret all the money spent on this worthless system.

Irksome, poorly designed (T-stat use only)

Edited after a season's use. Just don't. An advance that is far worse, cumbersome and otherwise difficult to use. I would put the old t-stat back if I hadn't recycled it. Junk. Overall, feels a bit like an acquisition they now regret and will let die. Like others say, the app is cumbersome, slow, and awkward. Using this for an old-style Nest t-stat obtained from my electric utility. As an example of poorly thought-out operation (that is, privileging circuit design over utility) it took me longer to find out which device version it was than to put it on the wall. (A page of text would be much better than lots of fun bouncy graphics-we're installing things like thermostats, not playing). Yes the device is an improvement (and is the only reason this isn't a one-star review), but really, it's easier to set the thermostat manually if you are away than it is to do it here. Just more things to go wrong with no actual advance. PS I really, really dislike the lack of a sign out in this app. Update 3/23: Pleasantly surprised that it has operated more or less faultlessly since setup, so will add one star (now 3) as I add another device to a different furnace. Just my opinion, but the secret seems to be to keep it local only (don't attempt anything other than in home & on same network) and use a simple routine-the rest is just a problem in search of something to do aka unnecessary.

Developer Response ,

Hey there, we appreciate customers who share with us their experiences and thoughts on our products. We're always looking for more ways to improve the Google Home app to make it more user-friendly. For more help, feel free to contact us here: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7072407?hl=en

Multiple Issues…

First of all, and most importantly their subscription is ridiculously priced and has even recently gone up. But the worst part about it is that you’re forced into a subscription if you want your cameras to record more than three hours of footage. Unless you sleep for only three hours at a time, this is completely useless. My car was actually stolen from my driveway in the middle of the night, but I didn’t get the recording footage because it erased after the three hour time period and before I woke up to review it.

Live video streaming is completely useless. Whenever I get an alert on any of my cameras, it usually locks up or tells me to retry because a problem has occurred and doesn’t let me view it live, no matter how many times I hit refresh. The lag is so tremendous and 99% of the time, by the time I get the camera to work after an alert, the person or activity are gone and I have to wait for a time before it lets me review the video. The lag also prevents you from actually talking to someone through the camera most of the time, like they show in the commercials. It isn’t my Internet speed. I have high-speed Internet.

The quality of my doorbell camera is so poor that sometimes it’s not even viewable. It’s blurry and glitchy most of the time. By the way, the lens is clean, before you ask. I spent a lot of money on cameras and I’m not happy with Google products right now. I’m currently looking for a different solution.