Google's Home Speaker hardware impresses, but Gemini assistant falls short

The Google Home Speaker is the company's first new smart speaker in six years and its first designed for Gemini. As hardware, it excels: a $99.99, softball-sized sphere with a mesh fabric cover, subtle light ring, and responsive touch controls. It sounds good for its size, though bass is thinner than the older Nest Audio, which had a woofer and tweeter. The design is clean and available in four colors (jade, berry, porcelain, hazel). It supports Matter and Thread, pairs with the Google TV Streamer, and can be used in stereo pairs. The light ring can be turned off in settings—a unique feature. While the cable uses USB-C, it is not removable from the speaker, which may be a durability concern.

Gemini for Home, however, is not ready for primetime. The assistant is slow and unreliable, with several features locked behind a paywall. While its conversational understanding is impressive, latency and inconsistency undermine the experience. The Verge's review notes that AI promised to revitalize smart speakers, but Google's implementation feels unfinished. Despite the solid hardware, the assistant's shortcomings prevent the Home Speaker from being a must-buy. It's a promising step forward for Google's smart home efforts, but the software doesn't yet match the hardware's polish.