last time Google released the smart speaker, the world was in the grip of a pandemic. Yes, it’s been six years since the company rolled out a dedicated speaker.
However, this latest Google Home speaker brings with it one big change: the device has been redesigned to feature the new Gemini Assistant instead of the Google Assistant that powers all previous speakers and smart displays.
Google announced the speaker with new Nest smart home cameras and video doorbells last fall, promising a spring 2026 launch. We’re still in summer, but time has finally flown by.
The company announced today that pre-orders for the Google Home speaker will begin on June 17, with official sales beginning on June 25. It costs $100 and comes in berry, jade, hazel and porcelain, though the first two colors are US-only.
If you have other smart speakers, the experience of using this one should be familiar. You wake up Gemini with the hot word “Hey, Google” and ask it questions. But Gemini is better at understanding natural conversation than the old Google Assistant, so your questions don’t have to be as demanding, and you won’t have to ask things multiple ways to get what you want. Even if you make a mistake in your original question, you can pause and rephrase your question—just like if you were talking to a human—and Gemini will understand your intent.
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You can string multiple commands in a sentence, and Gemini should be able to take care of them. You can be very specific — turn off all the lights except my bedside lamp — and it will parse it. You can ask a follow-up conversation without bringing up the original context again. As with Google Assistant speakers, the microphone stays on for a short window after Gemini answers a question so you can ask a follow-up without saying the wake phrase again. The feature, called Continued Conversation, was only available on Assistant-enabled speakers in English, but the feature has expanded to all supported languages.
If you have security cameras, you can use Gemini to specifically ask about anything the cameras saw, such as “Did FedEx drop off a package today?” or “Did the dog eat a cookie off the counter?” You don’t need a Google Home speaker for this particular feature — if you’ve chosen a Gemini for your current Google Home, it’s already available — although its inclusion here is a nice convenience.
As for Gemini sounds, there are 10 sounds to choose from. You can also trigger Gemini Live—while Gemini expanded to older smart speakers last fall, this “Live” capability is limited to newer devices like Nest Audio and Google Home speakers. Enter this mode by saying, “Hey Google, let’s talk,” and you can chat back and forth with Gemini. No need to pause and say a word.