Nest vs Hive: Which is the best smart thermostat?

Are you torn about which smart thermostat to buy? Well, two of the best options to choose between are Nest and Hive. But which is the best? Let’s take a look at the benefits and downsides of each.

Nest vs Hive

Love it or loathe it, technology is here to make our lives easier. Well, usually. And the problem is, we often see these new gadgets and think it’s something that provides no help whatsoever.

Take smart thermostats, for example. We already have a thermostat in the home, what benefit could a smart one provide? Well, delve a little deeper and it soon becomes apparent that there are quite a few plus points. And the big one? It can save you money. And ultimately, that’s what I’m all about.

I recently wrote a post about whether a Nest thermostat was worth buying. I don’t want to spoil it, but the answer was a resounding yes. But although I’m a Nest owner, I’m well aware that there are other smart thermostats available on the market. So, I decided to compare Nest with one of the most popular thermostats on the market – Hive.

Nest vs Hive – head to head

So, how do they stack up against each other? This comparison compares the 3rd Generation Nest Learning Thermostat vs the latest generation Hive Thermostat.

Cost

	Nest	Hive
RRP	£219.99	£179.99
Target price	£130-£150	£140-£160

Although, when originally released, Nest cost over 20% more than Hive, prices have reduced a lot. In fact, you’ll usually find Nest slightly cheaper than its rival. If you’re willing to wait, you may find an extra £10 off around Black Friday or New Year.

It’s important to note that you can find the Hive thermostat for under £100 in certain places. However, this doesn’t include the Hub, an essential piece of kit needed to link your equipment together.

As for subscription costs, you can use your Hive for free once installed. Or, you can pay £3.99 per month or £30.99 per year for Hive Heating Plus (more on that below). Nest does not charge any subscription fees.

When it comes to installation, both Nest and Hive should cost similar amounts. However, it does depend on who you choose to do the fitting.

Tech specs

	Nest	Hive
Thermostat size	840mm diameter 28mm depth	95.9mm x 95.99mm 46.22mm depth
Weight	243.7g	265g (including batteries)
Batteries	Built-in, rechargeable lithium-ion battery	4 x AA
Connectivity	802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) Wi-Fi 802.15.4 (2.4 GHz) Bluetooth low energy	Zigbee

Nest is the smaller of the units. Although it’s circular, Nest measures 80mm at its widest and top to bottom. It’s also very slightly lighter, although the AA batteries are what adds to the weight of Hive.

Hive uses Zigbee rather than Wi-Fi for connection purposes. This helps to reduce the drain on the batteries. However, this only operates at 2.4Ghz and can cause issues for Wi-Fi in that band. Zigbee also isn’t compatible with all devices, which can be an issue if you’re planning to set up a full smart home.

The range of Zigbee is often a little shorter compared to Wi-Fi, but this won’t make much of a difference in a home setup.

Features

Both thermostats are great if you want to control your heating from your phone. But what else do they offer?

	Nest	Hive
Control hot water from the app?	✅	✅
Control hot water from the app?	✅	✅
Built-in motion sensor?	✅	❌
Auto turn-off when away from home?	✅	❌
Heating zones	20	6
Frost protection?	✅	✅
See heating history?	✅	✅

The Nest and Hive apps are both easy to install and use. However, there are a couple of differences.

Once you have set up your main Nest account, you can invite a further ten people to have full access to the features. On the other hand, Hive only allows for one account and all users must share the login details.

Because Nest is linked to your phone, you can set it so it will automatically turn the heating off when you’re away from home. Hive will track you but won’t turn your heating off. Instead, it will send you reminders.

Both thermostats allow you to set a manual schedule, but the Nest has the standout feature here with its learning programme. Give it a week or two, and Nest will soon learn how you like your heating and will set its schedule around you. Not only will this save you time, but it should also save you money as the heating only turns on when needed.

For anybody who wants complete control of the heating in their home, you can set up ‘zones’ (rooms to you and me). Each zone can have its own temperature, which may be more comfortable for some families, especially if your other half constantly complains of being cold from the other room. Of course, you will need a separate thermostat for each zone and heating controls. It’s not a cheap business. Nest will allow you to have 20 zones (anybody here with that many rooms?), whilst Hive is limited to 6.

And it’s not just heating that you can control with Hive and Nest, but the hot water too. If you have a separate hot water tank, you can use the thermostat to turn the water on when needed. This is quite a breakthrough, as early versions of the Nest only had heating controls.

Finally, Nest has a rather fancy motion sensor built in. As you approach the thermostat, the screen turns on to tell you the temperature. Hive does have this sensor available, but it’s a separate piece of kit and will cost you £20-£30.

But… as I mentioned above, there is an option of Hive Heating Plus. For a monthly or annual fee, you’ll receive these features:

• Set your own monthly budget
• Integrated Weather feature to give you tips to prepare your heating schedule
• Heating Efficiency Monitor to let you know if there’s an issue with your heating
• See your usage trends and how much you actually spend
• Extended warranty for thermostat and radiator valves
• 10% off Hive products

Flexibility

Do you really need a thermostat to be flexible? Of course you do!

The Nest unit has to be hardwired into your house; there’s no way around it. But, the thermostat comes in 2 parts, with the head being able to be detached from the base. That means you can carry it around with you or can it be placed in any room. However, you can’t do anything with it unless it’s plugged in at the USB port.

With Hive, you have a choice of hardwiring or opting to run the thermostat from batteries. This is much easier if there isn’t a suitable place on the wall to mount the unit. You will need 4 AA batteries, but it is claimed that you will only have to change these once every two years.

Linked devices

Another appealing feature of smart technology is the availability to link it to other devices.

Nest currently has a smoke and CO detector, video doorbell and various security cameras that work alongside the thermostat. It can be linked to smart speakers like Alexa and Google Home, so you can change the temperature just by using your voice. There are also plenty of third-party devices that can be linked to Nest – just look for the ‘Works With Nest’ sign.

Hive provides several devices that can be linked to their thermostat and controlled through the app, including smart lights, a home security system (for a monthly cost), plugs and a motion sensor. Again, Hive can be connected to Alexa and Google Home.

Customer service and reliability

Your new smart thermostat may look great and have all the necessary features, but what if something goes wrong? Unfortunately, according to Trustpilot, neither company covers itself in glory.

Hive scores a fairly good 3.9 out of 5 from almost 20,000 reviews. The main issue comes from problems with the app and Hive not being helpful in providing solutions.

On the other hand, Nest scores a bad 1.2 out of 5. Although these reviews don’t just relate to the thermostat (they include the Nest camera and other devices), the general consensus is that Nest support is majorly lacking.

Nest vs Hive – the winner

Nest wins it… but not as comprehensively as it should do.

The Nest is a better looking unit, slightly smaller, has more functions and is now cheaper.

But customer support is always handy to have and this is where Nest falls down. I always take reviews with a pinch of salt, but I can’t ignore the amount of negative comments about Nest.

If the thermostat works well, you’ll have no issues. However, if something goes wrong, you may be in for a bit of a battle.

Where to find the best deals?

Amazon usually has competitive deals, which include free delivery. Find out the latest price for Nest and the latest price for Hive.

Alternatively, Toolstation offers some good prices. Plus, if you have a trade account, you’ll get an extra 5% off. Latest price for Nest or latest price for Hive.

FAQs