Google just shipped the Google Home Speaker, its first smart speaker in six years, and it costs $99. According to The Verge AI, the early hands-on verdict is split: the hardware sounds good and looks great, but the design choices make it surprisingly finicky to actually use. The Verge AI’s David Pierce ran it through a couple of days of testing before the full review, and the picture is already clear enough to be useful.
What stands out here is that audio is almost a side quest. Google built this thing to put Gemini in your house, turning a small speaker into an ambient way to manage your day, pull up information, and run your smart home.
What Google Launched
- A $99 smart speaker, the first from Google in six years, with Gemini baked in as the assistant.
- Three microphones that, per The Verge AI’s testing, never missed a wake word over two days, even at full volume or with a shower running.
- Four color options, including a standout red, with a minimalist, ball-of-yarn look and no visible buttons.
- Touch controls: tap the sides for volume, tap the top to pause and play.
- Bluetooth and Google Cast support, multi-speaker grouping for synced audio, and pairing with a Google TV Streamer for better TV sound.
How It Stacks Up
This is where the comparison gets interesting. The Verge AI lined the Home Speaker up against a few familiar rivals, and the results cut both ways.
- Versus the UE Wonderboom: a genuine toss-up. The Wonderboom gets a touch louder and leans into vocals and highs. The Home Speaker brings out more bass. Pierce’s read is that it comes down to personal taste.
- Versus the Amazon Echo Dot Max: no contest. The Home Speaker is cleaner, louder, and sharper, making the Dot Max “sound like a really big phone speaker.”
- Versus Google’s own Nest Audio: a step back on raw sound. Pierce notes the older, larger Nest Audio was likely both louder and better, though he didn’t have one on hand to confirm.
The honest caveat: a cluster of these won’t replace a Sonos setup or a real soundbar. But The Verge AI figures they beat whatever your TV speakers are pushing out right now.
Where It Gets Finicky
The minimalist design is the catch. With no visible controls, it’s not obvious how to operate it. The volume touch targets are small, and since the speaker is round, it’s hard to tell which side is which. The light ring that signals when Gemini is listening sits hidden underneath, so you won’t see that feedback unless the speaker is above your eyeline. Pierce’s take is blunt: Google should have made that more prominent, and he’d rather have the Echo Dot’s plain physical buttons.
One correction worth flagging: The Verge AI initially reported the Home Speaker couldn’t work as a standard Bluetooth speaker, then corrected on June 24th to confirm it can.
Why It Matters
This is significant because the speaker is really a delivery vehicle. Google sat out the smart speaker race for six years, and it’s coming back not to win on audio specs but to get Gemini into more living rooms and kitchens. The hardware story is solid for $99. The assistant story is the one that decides whether this was worth the wait.
That’s also the open question. Pierce and colleague Jen Tuohy have only had the speakers for a day or so, and the full review of both the device and the Gemini assistant inside it is still coming. Audio you can judge in an afternoon. An AI assistant that promises to plan and manage your day takes longer to trust.
For now, the takeaway is a cautious thumbs-up on the hardware and a wait-and-see on the brain. If you want a cheap, good-looking speaker with sharp sound, this clears the bar. Whether it earns a permanent spot in your home rides entirely on Gemini. The full verdict is coming at the original source.