After five long years, you can finally put money down on a brand-new Google smart speaker. The Google Home Speaker, as it’s been dubbed, is now available for preorder and is slated to hit stores on June 25 for $99.
As we covered way back in October when the Google Home Speaker was announced, there are a few hardware tweaks over the last Google smart speaker in 2020, including the addition of 360-degree sound. While the Google Nest Mini technically has 360-degree sound, its size makes it less than ideal for audio playback, so I imagine that ability will come across much better on this hardware. On top of that, the Google Home Speaker now plays nice with the Google TV Streamer, allowing you to pair two speakers together for stereo audio.
There’s also a new 3D-knit textile mesh cover and a few new colors, including porcelain, hazel, jade, and a very bright berry color.
Outside of those additions, though, most of the value of the Google Home Speaker will come from Gemini for Home, Google’s next-gen voice assistant. Google said back in October that the Google Home speaker comes with “custom processing” that’s meant to handle more advanced tasks with its new voice assistant. Those advanced features include stuff like Gemini Live, which lets you have a real-time conversation with Gemini for Home without using the wake word over and over, as well as the ability to search your camera feed using natural language prompts.
It also means (more importantly for people who have soured on Google’s smart home experience) more fluid interactions with your smart speaker—at least in theory. Google says Gemini for Home can now handle multistep commands, understand queries that are corrected mid-sentence, and generally handle context better. And yes, it can finally handle “turn off all of my lights except…”
Unfortunately for your wallet, this new generation of Google smart speakers is paywalling some of the most useful features. You’ll need a subscription to Google Home Premium to search camera events, use Gemini Live, and get Home Brief, which gives you a summary of what happened around your house while you were away. The standard plan costs $10 per month, while the advanced version costs $20 per month and offers 24/7 recording through Nest cameras, access to Home Briefs, and 60 days of event history as opposed to 30 days.
Whether the Google Home Speaker feels like an upgrade will likely depend on what you’re using it for—if you’re a big fan of Gemini Live, for example, it might be worth an upgrade. It certainly can’t be any slower than my ancient Nest Mini after the switch to Gemini for Home… I hope.
