The Google Home Speaker finally has a release date, and with that, Google has also done away with its long-running and mega-hit Nest Mini speaker. This leaves the lineup in an odd spot, as Google has a product that has replaced nothing before, and may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
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The Nest Mini and the Google Home Mini before it are among the most popular smart speakers ever. That’s thanks in part to Google and everyone who distributes them like candy, and also to their low price. For just $35, you’ve got not only a capable smart home voice assistant, but a pretty decent little speaker for just listening to music in any room, especially the Nest Mini.
Now he is dead.
Google has discontinued several years of product in the midst of launching the Google Home Speaker this week. It’s a decision that makes sense at first glance, until you consider that there’s no real trade-off here. The Google Home Speaker looks great, but the $99 product not only costs twice as much as the Nest Mini, but it just doesn’t fit the same use cases. The new speaker doesn’t have an easy mounting method like the Mini’s built-in screw mount, nor does the new form factor even make sense in many places you’d throw a Nest Mini.
The Nest Mini will likely still be available at third-party retailers and on the used market years future, but Google is effectively entering uncharted territory here. It’s been nearly a decade since Google offered a cheap smart speaker, and now it doesn’t.
The Google Home Speaker doesn’t really fit Nest Audio’s mold. While I’m optimistic about its sound quality, our readers and simple physics disagree – the Home Speaker is unlikely to sound as good as Like Nest Audio.
This really leaves Google’s smart home lineup in an odd place. While the 2021 Nest Cam relaunch is effectively a replacement, or at least replacement, for existing products, the smart speaker and display space is effectively trying to find a whole new audience – not the worst game considering how many of these products there are, but also pretty annoying for anyone looking to upgrade or fit a previously established mold.
However, I can’t help but feel that this is only the first step.
The Google Home Speaker is the only new product for the smart home “Gemini” era so far, but it feels more like a launchpad than anything else. Like the original Google Home from 2016, this feels like the kind of product that could result in Google bringing back a new audio-focused speaker in the future with a new ‘Mini’ or beyond – I’d love to love a proper Google Home Max sequel. We also know that smart displays are on Google’s radar The final look of Google Home Display at work really makes me feel optimistic about what’s next.
After a few years of Google dragging its feet in this part of the smart home, I’m glad to see things moving again, and even more glad that Google isn’t in a rush to do a complete reboot. Like the company’s approach to Gemini for Home and this first new piece of hardware, “delays” aren’t a bad thing, either. they are what customers want – to do it the right way.
What do you think?
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