Google’s Highly Anticipated New Smart Speaker Set to Launch Next Week

Google’s latest smart speaker, the Google Home Speaker, is finally set to start shipping on June 25th after narrowly missing its promised spring launch window. Preorders for the $99 speaker open today, June 17th.

Despite the long wait, there have been no hardware changes since the speaker was first announced nine months ago. It still features the same slightly squished round design with touch-capacitive buttons on top and a light ring at the bottom to indicate status. The speaker is available in four colors: porcelain (white), hazel (black), jade (green), and berry (red), with the last two colors being exclusive to the US market.

The Google Home Speaker is designed specifically for Gemini for Home and offers 360-degree sound. Two speakers can be paired for stereo sound or used with a Google TV Streamer for spatial surround sound. It also functions as a Matter controller and Thread Border Router, helping to connect smart home devices to your Google Home. However, it is important to note that it is running Thread 1.3 at launch, rather than the newer Thread 1.4 specification.

One of the key features of the Google Home Speaker is its support for Gemini for Home, which offers a more natural conversational assistant compared to Google Assistant. The speaker runs local models for noise cancellation, echo suppression, and sound separation to ensure clear voice commands even in noisy environments.

Despite the delay in the launch, Google has used the time to improve Gemini for Home, reducing latency for smart home and media commands by up to 40 percent, addressing over 25,000 reported issues, and introducing more than 50 new features and improvements.

When purchasing the Google Home Speaker before mid-September, customers will receive six months of Google Home Premium included. Google Home Premium is required for using Gemini Live and unlocks additional features such as AI-powered search on Google Nest cameras and Google Home Brief.

Overall, the Google Home Speaker is positioned as a significant upgrade over the Nest Mini and aims to provide a more immersive audio experience. With its unique features and integration with Gemini for Home, Google is making a strong case for the speaker to be a central part of your smart home setup.