One day after Amazon has deployed two new smart speakers – the Echo and Echo Dot Max – Google studio also launched a new loudspeaker for the home, alongside a complete rethink, the overhaul and the redesign of the Google Home application and the ecosystem.
In addition, it is the same that we saw teased during the Made by Google event in August, where the Pixel 10 family was launched. The Google Home speaker, wrongly named, is Google’s new flagship product, designed with Gemini on board and built to provide a robust audio from a compact version of the size of a pint.
It is at a price of $ 99 in the United States – we are still waiting for the prices of the United Kingdom and Australia – but it does not start today alongside the deployment of the new Google house. He will not even arrive in the coming days or weeks; Instead, it is planned for a version of spring 2026 (therefore between March and May).
This is not all bad news, however. On paper and in a brief first glance, the equipment impresses. Google is also intentional with the launch calendar of Google Home Speaker, which the company stressed in its ad article and reiterated to Techradar.
Given the massive overhaul of the application and the Backend Google Home, the approach of the technology giant is to focus on the guarantee that the transition is going well, solves potential problems and works well on existing equipment.
Above all, Google Home infused with Gemini will support the original Google House of 2016 and the Nest Hub from 2018. Although it does not offer the complete experience of Gemini, it will include a large part of the features. Google has specifically noted: “The chronology of this new speaker is intentional. Our top priority is to deploy gemini for the house in early access to tens of millions of speakers and smart screens already at home.”
Despite this, with this speaker teased for the first time in August and Google does not publish a smart speaker dedicated from the nest audio of the 2020s, expectations for the Google Home speaker are high. With the release of the months, Google does not yet come out of complete specifications, but here is what is known and what I gleaned from a few minutes with an early unit.
It is much more compact than the original Google Home and the Audio Nest, landing at the height of an echo point or an Apple mini homepod – perhaps the size of two stacked mini google home. Like the new echoes or a HomePod Mini, Google opts for a softer outdoor shell, in this case, a mesh of woven wire available in four shades: porcelain, hazelnut, jade and berries.
The last two particularly marked me, in particular the warm and dynamic red called Berry – a perfect option that would have been great for the holiday season.
The light of the ring is now at the bottom, integrated into the telescope between the rubber base and the woven mesh. It shines in blue when the Gemini speak or red when the microphone is silent. The game / pause and volume controls are integrated at the top.
The design looks clean and under the hood is a speaker configuration which offers omnidirectional audio with complete 360 degree coverage.
I heard brief extracts from music in a large conference room with a lot of empty space – and in the moment, the Google Home speaker seemed solid, producing a surprising volume without sacrificing clarity. However, it is likely that the material is not yet final.
As with a HomePod Mini or almost any echo, you can group together several Google Home speakers or associate them with stereo, even by using them with the Google TV streamer to easily upgrade your TV audio.
Naturally, you can also ask Gemini for everything, news questions at the controls of intelligent house. In the promises of Demos and Google, it is a much more nuanced human experience that supports an occasional conversation.
For example, you might say, “You make cookies, but you are out of vanilla”, and he will understand the context, or you might ask that the lights come on and off several times while you have come out.
This is the promise that Google wishes to test carefully on existing Google Home devices before marketing the new speaker. It is possible that the company can modify the equipment – in particular interns – before launch, in particular to compete with other new smart speakers. Next spring, there will probably be new competitors.
For the moment, however, the Google Home speaker is expected to arrive in spring 2026 for $ 99.99 in porcelain, Hazel, Jade or Berry.
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