New Nest Wi-Fi is clearly on the way: it’s just not clear why

Last fall, Google launched the Nest Wifi Pro router as an update to their aging Nest Wi-Fi series, integrating the more-advanced Wi-Fi 6E as the main, highlighted upgrade. Interestingly, in a departure from the prior iteration of the Nest Wi-Fi routers, this new Pro version did away with the idea of Wi-Fi mesh “points” that had the added (and mostly-unnecessary) Google Assistant speakers built in.

A new find by 9to5 Google suggest that Google isn’t completely satisfied with its current router offerings, however, as the latest release of the Google Home app (version 3.4) now available on the Play Store reveals a few secrets. There are various references in the app’s underlying code pointing to a new Nest Wifi model code named “Breeza”: a likely nod to the Italian word brezza, meaning breeze.

The same code also unveils the model number: GS4VD. Though it would appear that the Google Home app’s treatment of this new model is largely similar to the existing Nest Wifi Pro, the question remains: how would the Breeza/Brezza make sense in the current Nest Wi-Fi lineup? The code doesn’t indicate a return of any sort of Assistant speaker, so what exactly could Google be doing, here?

A possible reason for a new router option

If you recall, back in 2020, Google re-introduced the original Google Wi-Fi router that was first launched in late 2016. The change? A more attractive price point. In a similar fashion, this updated Google Wi-Fi also made a distinct appearance in code prior to its arrival, so it makes sense that Google may be plotting a similar move for this new Nest Wi-Fi. How they go about doing this to make yet another Nest Wi-Fi model make sense in the current lineup isn’t clear, but a move to make a newer, more-affordable option could work.

The next Nest Wifi could potentially debut alongside the anticipated Pixel 8 series this coming fall, but if it is simply a play to introduce a cheaper, modern router, I’d bet it won’t be part of the bigger hardware presentation. Like it happened with the refreshed Google Wi-Fi units, I’d imagine we might just see these new Nest Wi-Fi units on store shelves in the coming months. And if they come with Wi-Fi 6E enabled, I’ll be really curious to see how Google markets them against the Nest Wi-Fi Pro.