I Tried Google’s New Smart Speaker. It’s One of the Best at $100

Google’s last smart home speaker was the 2020 Nest Audio. Much has changed in the years since, both in hardware quality and the rise of Google Gemini AI. Now Google has dropped the Nest brand name for its new 2026 Google Home Speaker ($100). It still looks like a grown-up version of the Nest Mini, but there’s a new focus on Gemini for Home.

I pitted the Google Home Speaker against similar-sized speakers from Amazon and Apple to see what it’s got, and ran the new voice assistant through many tests to see what it could do. The audio quality impresses, even compared to models like the HomePod mini, but while Gemini for Home is an improvement, it still needs some work. Here’s what I thought.

Google dropped the Nest name, but similarities remain

You can clearly see the Nest Mini and Nest Audio DNA in the Google Home Speaker, so I don’t know what prompted the name change. (Google continues to use the Nest name for its latest security cameras, which makes the change even more confusing.) Perhaps the product team wants more of a focus on the Google Home app and related Gemini features for this new line.

While not as spherical as similar speakers, the Google Home Speaker is still rounded and edgeless, a few inches high and several inches across. An LED ring at the bottom tells you when the speaker is activated, listening, thinking and other processes, based on its color and movement.

There aren’t visible controls on the top, but two LED dot capacitive controls do appear on either side of the speaker when tapped, letting you control volume and playback this way. It’s not especially intuitive, especially since it’s hard to guess where the dots are, but they do make a pleasing bloot sound when pressed. On the base is a manual button to mute the microphones on demand.

Inside, the speaker houses an omnidirectional, 58-millimeter full-range driver, which called for more in-depth experiments.

Audio to beat for a speaker at this size and price

I tested the Google Home Speaker’s audio chops alongside two similar smart home speakers in size: the Amazon Echo Dot 5 and the Apple HomePod mini. Gemini for Home proved quick to recognize my Spotify connection. It responded to, “Play Lady Gaga” by bringing up Die With a Smile. I experimented with a number of other tracks from Gaga, metal bands and other genres, streaming at around 256kbps.  

The HomePod mini is one of the best comparisons I can make here, but while Apple’s speaker packs a lot of clear sound into a small package, Google’s model was just a bit better. The Google Home Speaker had similar clarity but stronger bass, making it a worthy option to fill a small to medium-sized room with music.

The Echo Dot meanwhile, has acceptable sound considering its $50 price, but it can’t compete with the other two despite being around the same size. When I get my hands on an Echo Dot Max ($100) to compare, it may be closer to the other two in terms of sound.

The Google Home Speaker can also connect to other streamers, both music apps and video streaming like Netflix or Disney Plus if you want it to add sound to your TV. Basically, it’s a great time to look for a $100 music speaker, but Google pulls a bit ahead of the competition on purely audio grounds.

App controls and more with Google Home

The Google Home app, where the Google Home Speaker is set up and managed, has also seen improvements in the past year. I like the app’s approach, which is now quite streamlined, though individual settings can be a bit hard to find. There’s now a universal Ask Gemini for Home bar at the top to help out, too.

Since I’ve been using Google Home for a long time, setting up the speaker only required a QR code; no need to create an account or add my Wi-Fi. I also didn’t need to sign back in to the various streaming services I tried, a plus compared to Alexa, which seems to drop them with every update.

The Google Home Speaker options aren’t extensive in the app, but you can make some scant audio tweaks, turn settings like continued conversations on or off, link new services and change which voice Gemini for Home uses. That brings me to everything I tried with this amped-up voice assistant.

Gemini for Home improves but still missteps

Gemini for Home is a version of Google’s LLM AI, trained specifically for smart home controls but also able to answer any kind of questions based on data pulled from the internet. Pay a bit more with Google Home Premium (starting at $10), and Gemini for Home becomes conversational, letting you interrupt it or ask it to revisit complex topics. Pay even more, and it can offer you daily summaries and answers about what Nest security cameras have seen.

Google is placing huge emphasis on the Gemini parts of the Google Home Speaker. I’m not sure it’s warranted. While Gemini for Home is a step up from the old Google Assistant, it does flounder at times.

Take smart home controls: When I asked the speaker to adjust my connected lights to various colors and brightness, it had no problem. But when I asked it about my Nest thermostat temperatures, Gemini for Home said, “I don’t have access to your thermostat settings.” That’s not true, which I immediately proved by going to my Nest Hub Max and asking it to show and adjust my thermostat controls.

Conversations were also hit or miss. “Hey Google, explain Starlink like I’m five,” proved entertaining, with Gemini for Home handling interruptions and requests for clarification well, although it sometimes took the voice assistant a few seconds to process a change. That could make the Google Home Speaker handy for verbal brainstorming if you like talking things out.

But other requests didn’t fare as well. When I tried, “Hey Google, what’s a nearby Thai place that doesn’t need a reservation?” Gemini recommended a random Thai food truck in an RV camping lot instead of the many Thai options that were both better and closer to my location. I suspect the low number of reviews gave the truck an artificially high Google review score, which seemed to be the most important factor in Gemini’s decision. This is another example of how LLMs can be misled or gamed by what information they are fed, which is why it always pays to be careful.

The AI video descriptions also functioned well in my tests, if you find value in asking your voice assistant if you got any packages, if it noticed any strangers knocking at the door or if it could give a summary of activity that happened over the weekend. I’m not sure those abilities are worth the $20 Advanced subscription it requires, though.

Overall, I prefer Alexa Plus for its capabilities, especially its latest third-party integrations with apps such as Uber and Ticketmaster. Gemini for Home is pushed hard on Google’s speaker for a voice assistant that doesn’t really match up to alternatives. While basic commands work fine, I’d like to see improvement in other responses. Take Gemini with a grain of salt if you plan on using it a lot.

Final thoughts on the Google Home Speaker

Google’s new speaker is here to challenge other $100 smart home audio devices, and it puts on quite a show. Nest is all grown up now, and the hardware impresses with sound that even surpasses the HomePod mini. Like Google’s app, the speaker has a streamlined design that’s simple to set up and use, especially if you’re already comfortable with Google Home.

Speaking of being comfortable, I’m still not sure how to feel about Gemini for Home. It’s an improvement on Google Assistant, but still struggles with some tasks that should be easy for it. Paying $10 to $20 for more advanced AI features is also a tough sell, especially when the speaker’s best features are all free.

But if you don’t have a problem with Google’s ecosystem and don’t already have a smart speaker, this new Google Home model is highly competitive in terms of performance. It’s also an easy way to have an animated conversation with an AI chatbot in the privacy of your own home, as long as you don’t take what it says too seriously.