Leaked image shows what the next Nest thermostat could look like

It seems as though the iconic circular Nest thermostat could be in line for a redesign, after serial tipster Evan Blass tweeted out a picture of a new-look model (see below), one which would appear to be taking a cheaper and more plastic approach than the original.

Blass didn't supply any other pertinent details like a launch date, a price or a name, but we have heard whispers about a cheaper Nest before - one that would cost less than $200 rather than the $249 (or £249) that the current model retails for.

Sources speaking to Bloomberg said the new Nest would appear at some point next year, so it would make sense for the first official shots to be floating around. Alternatively the company might push out their new model in time for the 2017 holiday season.

The price would be driven down by using cheaper materials and a lot of plastic, rather than the metal of the current model. The thermostat's display could also see a downgrade as well, as Nest looks to make its product offerings more palatable to smart home enthusiasts on a budget.

On top of the new thermostat shown here, Nest is also apparently working on remote thermostat sensors that would monitor individual rooms in your home and allow you to change the temperature in them separately. Whatever's in the pipeline, it should be made official in the next few months.

Nest's most recently launched product is the Nest Cam IQ, which we were rather impressed with - as with a lot of Nest gear though, it's not cheap once you add in the subscription fees for recording what's going on around your home.