Smart speakers have spent the past few years searching for a compelling second act. Beyond music, timers, and controlling your lights, they’ve struggled to justify taking up space on the kitchen counter. AI promised to change that. The Google Home Speaker is the company’s first new smart speaker in six years and its first “built for Gemini.”
The new speaker is the clearest sign yet that Google appears to be finally getting serious about the smart home — again. Gemini for Home, however, still feels unfinished.
Hardware highs
As a piece of hardware, the Google Home Speaker is a delightful device. It is the right size: big enough to sound good, small enough to blend into a room, attractive without drawing attention.
The Home Speaker fits in seamlessly everywhere it was tested: bedside table, kitchen counter, or two paired under the TV. The soft green jade color blends in without being dull. My only disappointment is the lack of a color-matched cable, something both Apple’s HomePod Mini and Amazon’s Echo Dot Max offer.
There are no visible controls to mar the mesh fabric-covered body, and the activity indicator light ring encircling the base is subtle enough not to be distracting. If it is — for example, when using two speakers under a TV in a dark room — you can turn the light off in settings, something no other speaker offers.
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Sound quality
The sound is good for its size. I enjoyed listening to music and podcasts on it. The Home Speaker does offer 360-degree sound, which is a huge upgrade to the smaller, prior-gen Nest Mini. I had two review units, so I was able to test the Home Speaker’s stereo pairing feature, and it was a significant upgrade.
Compared to the competition, the Home Speaker has its strengths and weaknesses in terms of audio quality.
Software lows
If you’re considering a Home Speaker, the hardware is the main reason to buy one. On the software side, Gemini for Home — Google’s new smart home voice assistant powered by Gemini models and designed to be more conversational, more useful, and smarter — works on all Google Home speakers. This makes smart home technology more accessible.
Gemini handled complex requests well — I asked it to turn off one room, set the thermostat, and turn on the lights in another room in one sentence — but it took 10 seconds to do so.
Speed aside, Gemini was very good with natural conversational control. I could say “Hey Google, I’m cooking and I don’t want to get too hot,” and it knew to turn down the AC.
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Gemini for Home isn’t there yet as an assistant. It’s easier to talk to than Google Assistant ever was, and a lot smarter. But today it’s slow and less reliable.
After spending five days testing Gemini for Home in the Home Speaker, I give the edge to Alexa Plus and its Echo Dot Max for their reliability.
With the Home Speaker, Google built the smart speaker its ecosystem needed: good sound, a cleaner, more modern design, and the radios and processing power to anchor a modern smart home. But Gemini for Home isn’t ready for it.
It works.
Buy the Google Home Speaker from Google Store, Best Buy, or Home Depot.
