Nest Thermostat E Debuts with New Design, Cheaper Price

Nest has introduced the Nest Thermostat E, with a new look, added features and a lower price point ($169) than the Nest Learning Thermostat, which ran about $249.

Similar to its progenitor, the Nest Thermostat E can be controlled from a smart phone, but it comes with a pre-configured basic schedule. The new frosted display helps it blend more subtly into the wall than the very obvious orange disc on the wall. All the same functions for Works with Nest partner compatibility are maintained allowing for third-party smart home control, along with voice control via Google Home or Amazon Alexa.

Compare the two. On the left: Nest. On the right: Nest E.

Nest Thermostat E features:

• New industrial design— The Nest Thermostat E moves away from the prominent look of the Nest Learning Thermostat and replaces it with a more subtle design, highlighted by a white exterior ring and frosted display.
• Frosted display— The frosted display is designed to blend into the wall. It achieves this effect with display technology that lets light out but doesn’t let light in. When the frosted display is off, the screen is grey. When it’s on, it displays soft text and images that are designed to be easy to see and read with a slight glow. The frosted display uses an ambient light sensor to share information at just the right brightness.
• Pre-configured scheduling — The Nest Thermostat E comes with a pre-set schedule managed directly from the Nest app. It has the same learning capabilities as the Nest Learning Thermostat. It’s ENERGY STAR certified and expected to save between $131 and $145 a year per the results of an internal Nest study and two independent studies of the previous model.

“In 2011, we reinvented the thermostat category to make it easy for people to save energy,” says Matt Rogers, co-founder and chief product officer, Nest. ”Fast forward six years: Nest owners have saved more than 14 billion kWh — the equivalent of providing electricity to all the homes in New York State for over 100 days — and now we are bringing beautiful design and proven energy saving capabilities into even more homes. To do that, we needed to simplify.

“The more subtle look and feel of the Nest Thermostat E will seamlessly blend into any environment. It’s everything our customers have come to know and love from Nest thermostats with a renewed focus on user simplicity and control.”