After buying Nest back in 2014 , Google has been dislodge all of its smart home product under the brand , and that include its sassy speakers . One of the last holdouts to be upgraded as a Nest was one of the company ’s first smart speakers , the 4 - class - old Google Home . But the newGoogle Nest Audiosounds like it ’s actually packing in a decade ’s worth of improvement .
Google Nest Audio
WHAT IS IT ?
Image: Andrew Liszewski/Gizmodo
The first upgrade to the Google Home smart speaker in four age .
PRICE
$ 100
Photo: Andrew Liszewski/Gizmodo (In-House Art)
LIKE
For $ 100 , the sound tone is impressive and Google Assistant reply quicker than ever .
DISLIKE
Photo: Andrew Liszewski/Gizmodo (In-House Art)
Google Assistant still does n’t play nice with Apple Music , ask you to use Bluetooth to play euphony rain cats and dogs from an Apple gimmick to the Google Nest Audio .
When we firstreviewed the Google Home four geezerhood agowe were blown away by the phone when compared to competing products at the time , like the Amazon Echo . But in the world of technology , four year is a very prospicient meter , and the competition has step up its game . Google has since been joined by other companies like Apple , whose $ 300 HomePod stay on one of thebest vocalize wise speakerson the market for those looking to fling ( and deal with the challenge of Siri ) . At this point , the original Google Home look out of lieu amongst Google ’s other Nest - branded smart place Speaker and hubs , but for its size its legal performance is still quite well — at least that ’s what I recollect until I plugged in the Modern Google Nest Audio .
During the reveal of the Google Nest Audio , the thought that kept start into my head was how much larger the new speaker was compared to the original Google Home , but when sitting side by side the Nest Audio does n’t really face much bigger . It ’s definitely taller and wider , but it ’s also slightly thinner than the Google Home , and its overall footmark mean you ’re not blend to have to make supererogatory way for the Nest Audio if you ’re putting it where your Google Home used to know .
Photo: Andrew Liszewski/Gizmodo (In-House Art)
To squeeze as much sound out of Google Home ’s relatively bantam speaker , Google ’s engineer paired a 50 - millimeter full - range number one wood with a pair of passive radiator place on each side . power by nothing but the line pressure sensation generated by the main speaker , these radiators did an admirable job at boosting the abject frequencies total out of the Google Home . It was a loud smart speaker that delivered a good amount of slug , but the approach leave alone a lot to be desire in the reasoned quality of those humbled frequencies .
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The Google Nest Audio splits the Google Home ’s individual 50 millimeter equipment driver into a 19 millimetre tweeter for high frequencies , and a 75 mm woofer for the lower . The results are , not surprisingly , a stark contrast . recognize what ’s go on under the hood , I ’m still surprised at how unspoiled the old Google Home sound , but the Google Nest Audio does a much practiced occupation at pump out sporty , crisper , elbow room - filling sound that ’s more raw , particularly on the scummy close . The clever tricks used to make the Google Home auditory sensation as with child as it did came with via media ; the bass felt a little artificial and to a fault hike up . But with the new Google Nest Audio it ’s laborious to kvetch about the machine ’s larger step when the dual utterer vocalise so much in effect .
Photo: Andrew Liszewski/Gizmodo (In-House Art)
That being said , this is still a speaker that stand just 6.89 inch tall and cost $ 100 , so do n’t have a bun in the oven it to contend with a decent lot of bookshelf speakers have consecrate drivers for mid - range frequencies , too , or even larger chic verbaliser option like the$300 Google Home Max . The Nest Audio is a tiny speaker that punch a fair amount above its weight class , and I ca n’t imagine anyone being disappointed in what it can do for a Benjamin . ( Had Google compromise a little more on its size and included a rechargeable battery , I ’d even be tempted to recommend the Nest Audio over most Bluetooth speaker at this price decimal point too . )
Aesthetically , the Google Nest Audio is n’t fit to depart anyone suck up over its groundbreaking ceremony design . As with the company ’s other Nest products it ’s designed to blend in with your home ’s decor and all but go away . It ’s entirely wrapped in an acoustically invisible material ( available in five different but very muted pastel colors ) and its only real distinguishing feature are a clit on the back for dull its mike , and a lot of four color - changing LED ( they turn orange when the mic is dampen ) on the front hidden beneath the fabric , a design component that Google first preface with the Home Mini verbalizer years ago .
Functionally the Google Nest Audio is exactly the same as the recently updatedNest Mini loudspeaker . you’re able to tap the top of the Nest Audio in specific places to control euphony playback or adjust the speaker ’s book , but I will admit I pretermit the Google Home ’s touch dial that allowed for faster book adjustments . Like the Nest Mini , the Nest Audio now also profit from an onboard dedicated machine learning chip that Google promises makes Google Assistant respond twice as fast to voice commands . I ’ve never been frustrated with Google Assistant ’s reply time ( it ’s Siri that has me pulling my hair out ) but when accidentally setting off multiple smart Speaker in my home with a command , the Google Home does sound like the aging grandparent in the elbow room who ’s deadening to respond .
Photo: Andrew Liszewski/Gizmodo (In-House Art)
If you ’ve been trust on the Google Home for your abode ’s sound organization for the preceding four class , the Google Nest Audio is without a doubtfulness a worthwhile upgrade . The difference in healthy quality and execution is instantly detectable , which is n’t always the case with iterations of a mathematical product , but Google has clearly spend the past four years hone a worthy successor to the Google Home . Other upgrades are n’t as immediately obvious , but if you ’ve come to rely on Google Assistant in and around your home , the Nest Audio will also bring the other under - the - hood betterment the company has made to its smart speaker unit blood over the retiring twelvemonth . That signify you ’ll be all set for the next four years , too .
README
It ’s the best vocalize fresh speaker on the market for $ 100 .
There are now two speaker drivers inside the Nest Audio , a tweeter and a woofer , but the speaker unit itself should still well contract into the Google Home ’s old spot .
The Nest Audio ’s design is extremely muted , bordering on tedious , but that ’s what Google is going for : a gimmick that will easily vanish in your house .
Photo: Andrew Liszewski/Gizmodo (In-House Art)
If you choose for Apple Music over Spotify as your music stream service , you ’ll have to settle down for Bluetooth as the easy elbow room to stream your tunes through the Google Nest Audio .
Thanks to an onboard machine learning chip , Google Assistant response times are faster , and as with the Nest Mini , spoken responses take into account background noise to ensure they ’re always easily get wind over other noises .
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Proprietary power adapters are never a win, but the Google Nest Audio is power-hungry.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo
