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Review: Google Home speaker – sound is not its greatest strength

Google has scrapped its Nest Audio and Home Mini speakers and replaced them with the new Google Home speaker with Gemini. It only partly lives up to its name.

Erik Mörner Erik Mörner

Published 24 September 2026 - 14:27

We have waited a long time for the smart home to really take off, and since the introduction of Google Assistant and the first smart speakers a few years ago, not much has happened. Neither at Google nor among its competitors. But according to Google, that is about to change, above all with the help of Gemini.

Much in common with previous smart speakers

At its core, the Google Home speaker is a smart speaker of exactly the same type as those Google has released before, with the option to send audio from your mobile via Chromecast, which is the most convenient method, although it also works via Bluetooth if you prefer. Naturally, the speaker also has a microphone and a direct connection to Google's AI assistant, Gemini. Previous Google smart speaker models have all of this too, so there is nothing new so far. In noisier environments, such as when I am working in the kitchen or others are talking in the background, the speaker sometimes cannot distinguish what I am saying to it. As before, there is also a physical control on the bottom that lets you temporarily turn off the speaker's microphones, so it does not listen for “Hey Google”.

The speaker is spherical and roughly the size of a grapefruit. It is therefore quite compact and intended to fit in most places around the home. In addition, sound is emitted in a 360-degree pattern, so neither the speaker itself nor the sound should depend on how you position it. One of the new features, and something I really appreciate about the Google Home speaker, is the light ring that now adorns the bottom of the sphere. It lights up on several occasions and serves a practical function by showing what the speaker hears and does. When I say Hey Google, the ring lights up and confirms that it hears me. This means that, as long as I can see the speaker, I do not have to wonder whether it heard me. The light ring also pulses while Gemini is speaking, when it is thinking and waiting for a response from Gemini, and changing the volume is also shown with light.

Compact design and limited sound

The compact size of the Google Home Speaker means its audio capabilities are not particularly impressive. This is more about music playback resembling a basic kitchen radio than a proper music system. The sound is somewhat harsh and treble-heavy, particularly at lower volumes, and when I turn up the volume, more bass becomes noticeable, but it is still limited and unbalanced. This does not change when I pair the two Google Home Speakers I am testing as a stereo pair. The Google Home speaker is indeed more compact and has smaller speaker drivers than its predecessor, the Nest Audio, and physical size is often crucial to speaker sound.

Just as with its predecessors, the slightly larger Google Nest Audio, I can connect my speaker pair to the television so that they work as an audio system for the Google TV Streamer. It is straightforward in practical terms, but the result is not convincing. The speakers offer a form of surround sound, but for it to become truly prominent, a number of conditions first need to be met. I connect the speakers to the television, plug both cables into a power socket behind the television, and then receive instructions on the television screen. I can specify how far apart the speakers are placed, on either side of the television, but I am also instructed that they should be positioned a certain distance from the television itself, and that is more difficult, because the speaker's power cable is only one and a half metres long and, combined with my television unit, simply restricts placement considerably. I can certainly hear when the surround sound is active, but it never becomes particularly noticeable. There is not much difference between the sound from the speaker pair and what I already have built into the television itself.

In addition to voice instructions, you can also control the speaker by pressing it directly. Pressing in the middle pauses or starts the music, while pressing either side lowers or raises the volume respectively. As there is no indication of this directly on the speaker, it can be difficult to press the right spot, but when you touch the speaker, small lights come on to guide you. The volume controls are located on either side of where the power cable enters.

While testing the speaker, I have a couple of Google Nest cameras connected to assess how smart Gemini actually is. You can find Mobil's comprehensive guide to Gemini for Home here. (PLUS) It is meant to be able to give me reports on what is happening in the home and interpret and summarise what the cameras have seen. Here, I notice both advantages and outright inaccuracies. It is convenient to have everything gathered in the Google Home app, and although I get quite a few correct interpretations, such as "Erik Mörner makes the bed" and "Erik Mörner comes in with two bags", I also receive reports that "a person is moving around the house while Erik sleeps in the bedroom", which, when I double-check the video footage, is not true at all.