Google Finally Ships Its First Smart Speaker Since 2018

The $99 unit retains the compact, rounded design unveiled nine months ago, complete with top-mounted capacitive touch controls and a status-indicating light ring. Customers can choose from four colorways: porcelain, hazel, jade, and berry, though the latter two remain exclusive to the United States market. Beyond standard audio duties, the speaker functions as a Matter controller and Thread Border Router, supporting 360-degree sound output or stereo pairing.

While Gemini for Home is already compatible with existing Nest hardware, Google positions this specific device as the superior host for its AI. Anish Kattukaran, chief product officer for Google Home, explained that the hardware utilizes local processing for noise cancellation and sound separation. These onboard capabilities allow the speaker to isolate voice commands from ambient noise more effectively than previous iterations. Users should note that certain premium features require an active Google Home Premium subscription to function.