Josh Hendrickson
Today at Google’s Launch Night In event (yes, the “Night In” happened during the day), the company unveiled its newest smart speaker. Serving as more or less a replacement for the Google Home, the $99 Nest Audio sports a pillow-like shape, upgraded audio, and touch controls. That’s about $30 less than the original Google Home.
The Nest Audio comes in several colors, Sage, Sand, Sky, Charcoal, and Chalk. Google says it improved on the audio quality by including a 19 mm tweeter, a 75 mm mid-woofer, which provides 50% more bass and 75% more volume than the original Google Home.
Get to know #NestAudio from Google:
🔊 50% more bass & 75% more volume than the original Google Home
✨ 19mm tweeter
🎛️ 75mm mid-woofer
🎵 High frequency coverage
🎙️ Clear vocals#LaunchNightIn https://t.co/E75uqzpThV pic.twitter.com/Odhql062BU— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) September 30, 2020
The bottom has a white base so you can stand it straight up, and the unit has touch controls so you can mute it without using a voice command. While the pillow shape suggests you can lay the Nest Audio on its site, the barrel plug connects to the back, so that seems to be out of the question. You can pair two together, however, to make the improved audio sound even better.
This is music to our 👂.
Check out how the Wilson World uses #NestAudio to get deep in song and make their entire home a musical experience—watch now: https://t.co/E75uqzpThV#LaunchNightIn pic.twitter.com/gPafXtfB16
— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) September 30, 2020
Google says it made the enclosure from 70% recycled plastic, and as always, you’ll get access to smart home and audio controls. That ranges from controlling your smart home to asking Google to play music on one speaker, or a group of speakers if you have them.
The Nest Audio costs $99, and you can preorder it right now from Google’s site and it will release in October. Google will knock $20 off when you order two.
