Nest 2 Teardown

I had an opportunity to teardown the Nest 2 Thermostat – it is even more beautiful inside then the outside. It packs an amazing amount of technology, here is a list of major components I found as a part of the teardown:

1. System On a Chip (SOC): The Nest 2 is powered by the Texas Instruments AM3703CUS SOC. It belongs to the Sitara family of MPUs. You can read about it here. 

2. One major change I discovered was that the Nest 2 has moved away from the Texas Instruments Zigbee chip the 2530 and is using the Ember (Silicon Labs now) EM357 for its yet to be shown of Zigbee functionality. You can find about the EM357 here.

3. There is a chip from Skyworks – the Sky65384 that I could not locate on their website.

4. The WiFi implementation is a module from Murata – the logo is definitely Murata – and when you do a Google Search for “murata sl s235” – the first hit is the SL modules on the Murata page, and it mentions that the SL modules are based on the TI WL1270 Chip. It would be interesting to know if it uses the newer version of the 1270 – the 1271 – which would have a Bluetooth radio integrated as well.

5. Memory appears to be Mobile DRAM from Samsung, here and here are the links with the information on the memory.

Teardown Pictures on Flickr

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Nest Thermostat: Ease of Install

I finally got around to installing my Nest Thermostat over the weekend. It is about 24 hours since I have started using it so I cannot speak to how well it learns and automates the air-conditioning at my home.

The setup process of the Nest – was a breeze.  From unboxing to having it on my call up & running was less than half an hour. It is obvious that a ton of thought, effort and development has been put into the ease of install. There are three things that stood out as a part of the install process:

1. Inclusion of screwdriver as a part of the package – very nice to hold, and custom.
2. A built-in bubble level to ensure a horizontal or straight install
3. And a base plate that fit perfectly to cover up the mess left after the removal of the old thermostat.

The thermostat feels like a large hockey puck. And the outside of the Nest is actually like a dial – you can rotate it for navigating through menus in setup or for entering information during WiFi setup or to dial up/down the target temperature.

I had tried installing a Trane and a Radio CT30 thermostat but unfortunately did not have a C wire. The Nest has an interesting design that can be installed without the need for a C wire.

Nest Thermostat on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashuj/sets/72157632906441153/