Google’s latest home smart speaker is available to preorder NOW
Google has unveiled the latest addition to its range of smart home speakers – the Google Nest Audio.
Like most of the products announced at the company’s “Launch Night In” event on 30 September, the Nest Audio was already public knowledge due to a series of leaks, but we now have confirmation of a number of key details.
As was the case with its predecessors – the Google Home, Home Mini, Home Max and Nest Mini – the Nest Audio seeks to combine deep Google Assistant integration with high-quality home audio.
We’ll be reviewing the Nest Audio in due course, but in the meantime, here’s everything you need to know about the newest member of Google’s smart speaker family.
Google Nest Audio: Release date and price
The Nest Audio will be released in the UK, on 15 October with an RRP of £90. If you want to get ahead of the game, it’s already available to preorder from the Google Store. It will also be available to buy from John Lewis, Argos, Tesco and Currys, though at the time of writing none of those retailers had listings live.
Google Nest Audio: Design and features
The resemblance between the Nest Audio and its Home and Nest family members is immediately obvious thanks to the fabric covering the speaker housing. It’s made from 70% recycled plastic and will be available in five colours – sage, sand, sky (pale blue), chalk (white) and charcoal – although only the latter two have been made available in the UK so far.
In terms of shape and size, the Nest Audio is closer to the Google Home than the Google Home Max. It measures 175mm high, 124mm across and 78mm with those dimensions contributing to a total weight of 1.2kg when you’ve not got the 1.5m long power cable attached.
Of course, the speaker’s main selling point is its integration with the Google Home ecosystem and the ability to control it with your voice via Google Assistant. If you’re not using Google Assistant to control the Nest Audio there are three touch zones located on the top of the speaker to execute basic commands. The zones on the left and right are used to adjust volume, while the central touch zone is used to play and pause audio.
We don’t have any information yet about the microphone setup used by the Nest Audio but you can easily turn the microphone on or off using a physical switch built into the back of the device.
Google Nest Audio: Speaker quality
During the live event, Google was keen to stress a significant improvement in audio quality over the Google Home, which has never offered the greatest quality, claiming 50% more bass and 75% more volume produced by a combination of a 19mm tweeter and a 75mm mid-woofer. It’s a front-facing setup, though, so those hoping for 360-degree audio will be disappointed.