Initial Reviews of the Googel Home Speaker

The review embargo's have been lifted across the web and it does seem like an overall positive review and rebirth of this new Gemini in the Home era. I haven't ordered one myself just yet, more on that later, but I am enticed to get one. One review in particular that I enjoyed was Damien's over at 9to5Google. Notably his highlight of the Google Home Speaker's design aesthetic which shares the same glowing aesthetic I love with my Nest Audio and Home Max. They both fit well into my homes aesthetic. Here's what Damien said: 

One of the biggest compliments I can pay the Google Home Speaker is that it has passed the “partner check,” and I am free to put it on my living room TV cabinet, as I quote, “looks like a fancy candle from the sofa.” That’s high praise in my house.

I agree, Damien. The "partner check" is important. Seeing at Fatima is moreso the head designer of the home and I'm just the engineer, this needs to stick. However, how does it sound? From what the Google Store specs comparison reads and what the highly passionate r/googlehome subreddit is saying, the Home speaker might sound better than the Nest Mini, but not as elevated as the Nest Audio. Here's that subreddit: 

Although the same launch price, the new Google Home Speaker is a single 58mm driver, compared to the 6 year old Nest Audio with 75mm mid-woofer AND a 19mm tweeter. So the audio quality will not be anywhere close to the Nest Audio.

I'm sure this puts a lot of audiophiles (a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction) at a pause, but for those who are unaware of the full spectrum of differences in audio quality, like myself; I don't think this is a problem. It does however let me know that my current Nest Audio's are holdig up nicely. Especially since they too will be getting the same Gemini in the Home features. Which I think is what Google is focusing on here the most and is the breakout experience of Google's smart home efforts. 

I've been in the Public Preview for a little over 6 months now and my use of Gemini within my home has been a lot more conversational and less robotic. Since I've been elevating my fitness and health journey, I've been able to chat with Gemini with specific requests on my sugar intake, how-tos on me and my wife's at-home pizza-making date nights, and an even better job at badly humming or singling the wrong words to a song to try and get Gemini to play it. It's been pretty spot on. The value of what you get for $99 seems pretty solid, especially with the current state of RAM prices within this AI-economy. I'm willing to bet that by the holidays, or when the Pixel 11 is announced, the Google Home Speaker will be at an attractive discount around $69.