After months of rumors, hints, and sporadic leaks, Google finally took the wraps off its new Google Home smart speaker this week. For ordinary consumers, smart speakers may no longer be a surprising product type, but for those who have been paying attention to the Google ecosystem for a long time, this update can be said to be a rainy day after a long drought. After all, it has been a full four years since the release of the last Nest Audio.
With the launch of Google Home smart speakers, Nest Audio and Nest Mini are officially discontinued
From the launch of the first-generation Google Home in 2016, to Nest Audio in 2020, to today’s new Google Home, Google’s smart speaker product line has finally received a long-awaited update. From specifications, connectivity capabilities to voice assistant experience, this upgrade can be said to be comprehensive.
The new Google Home brings significant upgrades in both hardware and software. In terms of specifications, the new speaker is equipped with a 2.0GHz quad-core A55 processor and dedicated NPU, equipped with 1GB of memory and 4GB of eMMC storage space, and its overall performance is far higher than that of the previous generation. The connectivity capabilities have also been fully updated, supporting Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4, providing a more stable and faster connection experience. The audio section also feels improved. The new Google Home uses a 58mm full-range driver unit, which is twice the size of the Nest Mini, and the bass performance is improved to 2.5 times. Three sets of far-field microphones and a two-stage hardware mute switch ensure more reliable voice recognition and privacy control.
However, the most noteworthy aspect of this update is not the hardware, but the changes at the software level. The new Google Home comes with Gemini for Home built-in, which Google positions as a “smarter, more powerful voice assistant.” It can understand multiple instructions at the same time, making complex situational control more natural. For example, in the past, you might need to issue separate commands such as “dim the lights”, “lower the temperature”, “play music”, etc. Now you can complete the entire set of operations with just one sentence.
In addition, the new speaker also supports Gemini Live’s conversational interaction mode, but it requires a Google Home Premium subscription to enable it. In terms of appearance and color selection, the new Google Home is available in four colors: porcelain white, hazelnut, emerald green and berry, priced at US$99.99. It is similar to the past Nest Audio positioning, but the overall function and experience are more modern.
Like Google’s consistent product strategy, the launch of new products also means the retirement of old products.Tech Advisor Google has officially confirmed that both Nest Mini and Nest Audio have officially discontinued production. These two products have been launched for many years. The discontinuation of production is not surprising, but it still represents Google entering a new stage in the smart speaker product line. It is worth noting that discontinuation of production does not mean cessation of operation. Existing users can still use it normally, but future software support will be quite limited. If you still want to get your hands on these two older models, you may have to keep track of last-minute inventory from third-party retailers.
Source: KOCPC Chinese