Google’s new Home Speaker is actually nice hardware. Good sound for its size. Clean design. Solid smart home controller with Matter and Thread support. $99.99. It’s their first new smart speaker in six years and their first built for Gemini.
The problem? Gemini itself feels unfinished. Slow. Unreliable. Some features are paywalled. It does not sound as good as the Nest Audio it replaces — that had a woofer and tweeter, this has a single driver. The bass is thinner.
But it does offer 360-degree sound, which the Nest Audio did not. Stereo pairing is a real upgrade. The invisible touch controls are finally responsive. The light ring at the base can be turned off in settings — something no other smart speaker offers.
Amazon debuted revamped Alexa hardware last fall. Now it’s Google’s turn. They have been neglecting the smart home for years. This speaker shows they are getting serious again. But the AI brain powering it is not there yet.
Great speaker. Half-baked assistant. Pick your priority.
