I used the new Google Home Speaker. Here’s why you should save your money

It’s probably fair to say that smart home enthusiasm in 2025 isn’t what it once was. Stuff like lighting control and smart locks are so old at this point that many of us take them for granted, and while there’s still lots of potential for where the future could take us — I’m looking at you, AI — those solutions still aren’t quite mature to the point where they feel like obvious, must-have upgrades.

Maybe as a consequence of us reaching that smart home plateau, new hardware from Google has been few and far between. Probably the biggest motion we’ve had in years was the introduction of the Pixel Tablet back in 2023, so I was understandably excited during the Pixel 10 launch when Google appeared to tease the release of a then-unknown new Nest speaker.

Over the next few weeks, details on this hardware began to leak, and we learned it was likely to debut not with Nest branding, but as the Google Home Speaker. Today it’s finally official — even if you won’t be able to buy one until next spring.

I visited Google’s offices in New York to take a look at the new additions to its smart home hardware, including the Google Home Speaker, and it’s exactly as nice a speaker as you’d expect. It looks right at home among other Google and Nest devices with its intricate woven fabric exterior, and I especially like some of the bolder color options it’s set to be made available in.

It’s fully equipped to tap into the power of Gemini, including back-and-forth conversations through Gemini Live, and the illuminated light ring around the speaker’s base is a fun way to highlight Gemini’s responses. But almost as soon as Google’s demo concluded, I found myself struggling to make any case for who this speaker is really for. Well, almost any.

Part of the problem is how Google is approaching Gemini upgrades on smart speakers. Existing hardware can start getting access this month, even going all the way back to the original Google Home. Time was, Google used to hand out Nest Minis like Halloween candy, and at this point I feel like most people who might want a Google smart speaker have likely already picked one up. As a result, many of us are already going to have Gemini on a speaker well before the Google Home Speaker goes up for sale in the spring of 2026.

OK, but not all those speakers are built alike, and the older models aren’t on track to ever get Gemini Live, which the Google Home Speaker has been built from the ground up to support. That’s something, right? Sure, but it’s not also like there aren’t existing devices that will address need, with models like the Nest Audio also set to support Gemini Live.

I do want to take a moment and concede: Gemini on speakers is impressive. The demonstrations I’ve seen have largely delivered on the hype, and it’s nice how you no longer have to be so incredibly explicit about everything — Gemini’s advanced enough to pick up on context. And while I absolutely do not want to criticize Google for upgrading its existing speakers first, that also just means there’s one less way this new model stands out.

You could argue that the Nest Audio is more directional, while the Google Home Speaker is optimized for 360-degree sound, and you’d be right. But I’m also far from convinced that omnidirectional sound is what listeners actually want — personally, I always place speakers near walls, and having them out in the middle of a room just feels impractical (I guess unless you have outlets in the floor).

Google did offer one very clear use case for the new Home Speaker: pairing with a Google TV Streamer and your choice of TV for a quick-and-easy home entertainment system. That sounds pretty appealing, and I wish we saw more of this kind of clever integration between Google hardware devices. But it’s also just such a narrow target, and considering how long the Streamer’s been on the market, I’ve got to believe that many of those owners already have audio solutions they’re happy with.

Maybe I’m setting the bar too high for my expectations. The Nest Audio’s coming up on five years old now, so maybe Google doesn’t really need a better reason than that to refresh its speaker offerings. I think I was just hoping for a little more — I’d be lying if I said this form factor didn’t remind me of the old Nest Wifi where the mesh points also worked like Nest Minis (with a similar ring of light) and had my fingers crossed we might just get similar network functionality here.

But considering how much of Gemini will be coming to Nest Audio speakers, and how regularly we see those heavily discounted (to say nothing of the whole holiday shopping season and all its sales on the horizon), I really feel like a lot of users are better off picking one of those up — or just keeping the ones they have — rather than waiting for spring to spend $100 on a Google Home Speaker.