Google shouldn’t give up on alarm systems like Nest Secure
Earlier this month, Google brutally pulled the plug on Nest Secure, its 3-year-old alarm system that doesn’t have a successor of any kind in sight. While that product won’t be fully left out to dry anytime soon, Google has been completely silent regarding a new alarm system. Here’s why they shouldn’t give up on it.
Cameras are great, but alarm systems give peace of mind
The cornerstone of the Nest brand is cameras and, admittedly, they’rep an excellent way to keep an eye on your home. But as far as security is concerned, they aren’t foolproof. Cameras have blind spots, they can be blocked, they can lose power. A proper alarm system like Nest Secure, though, is a lot harder to trip up.
Generally speaking, it’s hard to beat an alarm system. The Nest Guard hub is the only way for a potential intruder to disarm the system — assuming they haven’t stolen your phone that is. Before they reach that Guard, they have to get in a door or window that’s connected to the Guard with a Detect sensor. That sensor immediately sets off the alarm countdown when opening the door or window and, should that fail for some reason, there’s also a motion sensor that will go off. The alarm as a whole can even be tied to a professional monitoring system which can alert the local authorities.
The Nest Guard hub is a central point for an entire home security system, and importantly it’s also the most reliable. If it loses power, it continues to sense motion and opening doors even once the cameras go out by using a battery backup. The sensors themselves, too, run on battery power all of the time which means they can be used in more places compared to Google’s wired cameras.
Nest Guard actually made Nest Cams easier to use
Beyond the very real security benefits that Nest Secure delivers, Google’s decision to pull the plug on its alarm systems has further implications for the company’s cameras. For quite some time, Nest has offered “Home” and “Away” presets. These can be used to automatically adjust various settings on your cameras, thermostats, and other Nest products.
With a Nest Guard hub installed in your home, this feature becomes far more powerful. Instead of…