Until recently, smart speakers, beyond music, timers, and controlling your lights, had struggled to justify their presence on the kitchen counter. Artificial intelligence promised to change that landscape. Amazon introduced its new hardware with the revamped Alexa last fall, and now it’s finally Google’s turn. The Google Home Speaker is the company’s first new smart speaker in six years, and the first to be “built for Gemini.” After years of neglect, Google seems to be taking the smart home seriously again. The new speaker is the clearest sign yet. However, Gemini for Home still feels unfinished.
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As a piece of hardware, the $99.99 is a delightful device. It’s the “Goldilocks” of smart speakers: big enough to sound good, small enough to blend into a room, attractive without being distracting, and affordable enough to consider buying more than one. The Home Speaker fits in seamlessly everywhere I’ve tried it: on a nightstand, on a kitchen counter, or in a pair under a TV. The soft jade green color blends in without being boring.
The only disappointment is the lack of a color-matched cable, something that both Apple's HomePod Mini and Amazon's Echo Dot Max offer. (And while the cable finally uses USB-C for the wall brick, it's not detachable from the speaker itself, which is a problem if you want a longer cable run or if it starts to fray.)
There are no visible controls to spoil the speaker's fabric body, and the activity light ring surrounding the base is discreet enough not to be distracting. If it is — for example, when using two speakers under a TV in a dark room — you can turn off the light in the settings, which no other speaker offers. The invisible controls are much more sensitive.
A tap on the top stops or starts the sound or quickly silences the assistant, and a tap on either side increases or decreases the volume, with faint white light dots indicating you've hit the right spot.
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Google has invested heavily in developing Gemini software, which promises to usher in a new era of smart speaker interaction. Gemini for Home is designed to incorporate advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, allowing the Google Home Speaker to offer a more natural and human-like interaction. However, this software appears to still be in its early stages of development, with limited capabilities compared to the expectations that have been created.
The implications for users and organizations are significant. On the one hand, users can benefit from the improved voice recognition capabilities and increased accuracy in responses offered by the Google Home Speaker. On the other hand, organizations that rely on smart devices to automate and manage their processes may have to wait a little longer for Gemini to be fully integrated into their operations.
The smart speaker market has seen rapid growth in recent years, with sales increasing continuously. According to recent studies, the number of households with at least one smart speaker has increased significantly, with Google holding a significant share of the market. The Google Home Speaker, with its renewed design and improved features, is expected to further strengthen Google's position in this market.
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Overall, the Google Home Speaker represents a significant evolution in the smart speaker category, offering improved sound quality and aesthetics, while also paving the way for future software upgrades that could radically change the way we interact with our smart devices. Despite the current weaknesses of the Gemini software, Google seems determined to continue investing in the development of this technology, offering users a more complete and efficient experience.
