The Best Google Home Speaker (2026)

4 weeks ago 14

The Nest Hub Max has 2 10-watt tweeters and a 30-watt woofer for coagulated sound. I deliberation the dependable lacks immoderate bass, particularly compared to newer astute speakers, but it’s good for casual listening. The 10-inch surface is simply a large size for pursuing a recipe, and you tin watercourse video contented and marque video calls with the 6.5-megapixel camera that has a wide 127-degree tract of view. The Nest Hub Max is besides compatible with some Google Gemini for Home and with Gemini Live if you person a subscription.

What’s Google Gemini for Home?

Google’s astute speakers person each been powered by Google Assistant until this year. Google Gemini for Home is simply a mentation of Google’s AI adjunct (you’ve seen the Gemini-powered AI summaries astatine the apical of your Google hunt results) that’s designed for its astute location devices. It’s been rolled retired to astir each of its existing devices for escaped (with exceptions below).

Compared to Google Assistant, Gemini sounds overmuch much quality successful its diction and speaking benignant (there are besides aggregate voices to take from) and gives much elaborate answers. Sometimes I recovered the answers a small lengthy; asking whether Vegemite goes atrocious led to a reply with a paragraph astir however the salty merchandise is shelf-stable, truthful it doesn’t genuinely expire the mode different foods tin but that I should inactive look retired for mold if moisture oregon different nutrient materials person gotten into jar. But overall, Gemini works good and controls devices astir my location easily.

The lone downside is that portion it’s free, dissimilar Amazon’s newer Alexa+ assistant, immoderate features are down a paywall. The caller Google Home Premium program bundles the subscriptions for astute location assistants with retention plans for astute location video products, specified arsenic the Nest camera and doorbell. That means a subscription tin get you a much almighty adjunct and video retention for 1 terms if you besides ain immoderate of those devices.

There’s the modular program ($10/month oregon $100/year) that includes 30 days of event-based video history, intelligent alerts for acquainted faces and packages, Gemini Live, and an AI-based instrumentality to assistance you make astute routines for your household. Then there’s the precocious program ($20/month oregon $200/year) that includes 60 days of event-based video history, 10 days of 24/7 video history, descriptive notifications, searchable video history, video lawsuit descriptions, and regular summaries of recorded events. It besides includes Gemini Live and the AI routine-building instrumentality that you get with the cheaper plan.

As for Gemini Live, it works good enough, and it handled assorted speech topics ranging from my 3-year-old’s improvement to what happened connected the erstwhile day’s Love Island episode, but it’s not a diagnostic I’ve had a tendency to usage extracurricular testing. Maybe it’s 1 you’d like, but that’s up to you to decide.

Which Older Google Speakers Have Google Gemini?

Most of Google’s speakers are compatible with Gemini for Home, but not each of them person Gemini Live capability, adjacent if you person a subscription. Here’s a breakdown of which ones person access: