Google already teased the Nest Audio back in July.
Update, October 5 (9:00 am ET): The Nest Audio is now available to buy in the US, Canada and India.
What you need to know
- Today, Google announced the Nest Audio, a successor to the old Google Home smart speaker.
- The Nest Audio will cost $99 from the Google Store and go on sale from October 5 in 21 countries.
- Google’s offering this in five colors.
After leaks upon leaks, Google announced the Nest Audio, its 2020 successor for the well-received Google Home smart speaker and bigger brother to the Nest Mini.
Gooogle technically already teased the device way back in July, but this is our first really detailed look at it. it’s a stationary speaker designed to fit in your home space and draw as little attention to itself as possible. It’s got the same minimal, single-tone design that Google is using for its hardware in 2020, and it looks really sleek. It’s also completely covered in fabric like the Nest Mini, and will be able to sit vertically or horizontally.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1WD5-BGC3c?modestbranding=0&html5=1&rel=0&autoplay=0&wmode=opaque&loop=0&controls=1&autohide=0&showinfo=0&theme=dark&color=red&enablejsapi=1]
Hardware-wise, its speakers are better than the Nest Minis and Google Home due to larger drivers. It’ll also have far-field microphones like other Nest speakers, so it can pick up a whispered Hey Google from across the room. How much better? Google says that the Nest Audio is 75 percent louder than the OG Google Home. It also has a 50 percent stronger bass. All this is powered by a 19mm tweeter and a 75mm mid-woofer for an experience that exceeds the speaker it replaces.
As it’s meant to be in use at home, the Nest Audio ships with Google’s Ambient EQ that adapts the sound based on how loud the background noise is at your house. If you have an older Nest speaker, the feature should have come via OTA update earlier this year. Google’s Media EQ also makes its return here, optimizing the sound to match the content playing whether an audio book or just plain old music.
The Nest Audio will be made available from $99 from October 5 in the U.S, India, and Canada. Following that, it’ll roll out to 21 other countries from October 15. It’ll be launching in five colors, Sage, Sand, Sky, Chalk, Charcoal. You’ll be able to buy it from the Google Store as always, alongside select retailers.
Alongside the Nest Audio, Google also introduced the Chromecast with Google TV for its connected home portfolio, and the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G on the smartphone side of things.
Update, October 5 (9:00 am ET) — Go buy a Nest Audio
It’s October 5, which means that the Nest Audio speaker is available to purchase in the US, Canada, and India for $99.99 USD / $129.99 CAD / Rs. 7,400.
We published our Nest Audio review, in which we said that, “Google gives its original Home speaker a huge visual and audio upgrade for 2020, but the best part is the faster Google Assistant processing and support for stereo pairing.”
Nest Audio
$99 at Best Buy
A sleek successor to a much loved device, the new Nest Audio brings better sound and more color than the Nest Mini.
