Google has just revealed its new flagship smart speaker, the aptly-named Google Home Speaker. It’s designed to be the “ultimate audio experience for Gemini in the home,” and it can be used in a stereo pair with the Google TV Streamer.
The Nest Audio has served as Google’s flagship smart speaker since its release in 2020, replacing the original Google Home from 2016. The new model is a return to the original name, but now extended to “Google Home Speaker.” Google’s smart displays are still called the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max, so that’s not confusing at all.
The new Google Home Speaker has 360-degree audio, more like the Nest Mini and original Google Home, instead of the directional sound of the previous Nest Audio. It’s also more compact than the Nest Audio, which could mean a reduction in sound quality, but we don’t know for sure yet—Google hasn’t shared exact specifications.
The built-in virtual assistant is Gemini, instead of Google Assistant, which will also be rolling out to other Google speakers. This model includes “custom processing” for handling Gemini interactions—that might be local processing for simple commands, improved microphones for voice detection, or something else. Some Amazon Echo speakers could process voice commands without a cloud server, but Amazon killed that functionality earlier this year. Given the $99 retail price of the Google Home Speaker, I wouldn’t expect a locally-running Gemini model or anything like that.
There’s also a new light ring along the bottom of the speaker, so you know when Gemini is listening, still processing an answer, or responding in Gemini Live mode. I still prefer the dot matrix of the original Google Home speaker, but that’s just me. If you have a Google TV Streamer, you can buy two of them to use as paired stereo speakers.
The speaker will be available in four colors: Porcelain (white), Hazel (black), Jade (light green), and Berry (red). It’s also “sustainably made with recycled materials and wrapped in an innovative yarn constructed using a unique 3D knitting process that significantly reduces fabric waste.”
The Google Home Speaker will be released in “Spring 2026” for a retail price of $99. It will be available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Source: Google
