Last time Google provided a a fluent speakerthe world was in agony of a a big disaster. Yes, it’s been six years since the company released a special speaker.
However, this newest Google Home Speaker brings a big change with it: The device has been redesigned to reflect the new. The twins are helpers instead of Google Assistant which powered all previous speakers and smart screens.
Google announced the speaker last year as well as the new Nest smart home cameras and video doorbells, promising a spring 2026 launch. We’re in summer now, but the time has come.
The company today announced that pre-orders for the Google Home Speaker will begin on June 17, and official sales will begin on June 25. It costs $100 and comes in Berry, Jade, Hazel and Porcelain, though the first two colors are US-only.
The experience of using it should be familiar if you own other smart speakers. You awaken Gemini through “Hello, Google” hot word and ask him questions. But Gemini is better than the old Google Assistant at understanding natural conversations, so your arguments don’t need to be complicated, and you won’t need to ask things in many ways to get what you want. Even if you make a mistake in your initial question, you can stop and rephrase your question in the middle – just like you would if you had a Gemini.
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You can put multiple commands in one sentence, and Gemini should be able to handle them. You can be very specific—turn off all the lights except my bedside lamp—and it will scan it. You can query a follow-up conversation without having to bring up the original context again; as with Google Assistant speakers, the microphone is always on for a short window after Gemini answers a question so you can ask a follow-up without saying the wake-up words. This feature, called Continuous Conversation, was only available in English on Assistant-enabled speakers, but the feature has expanded to all supported languages.
If you have security camerasyou can use Gemini to ask specifically about anything the cameras may have seen, such as “Did FedEx deliver a package today?” or “Did the dog eat the cake on the counter?” You don’t need a Google Home Speaker for this particular feature—if you’ve opted in Gemini for your existing Google Homeis already available—although its inclusion here is a nice benefit.
As for what Gemini sounds like, there are 10 sounds to choose from. You can also stir Gemini Live— while Gemini expanded to older smart speakers last year, this “Live” capability is available to newer devices like Nest Audio and the Google Home Speaker. Enter this mode by saying, “Hey Google, let’s talk,” and you can have a back-and-forth conversation with Gemini; there is no need to be silent and say a wake-up call.
