Right out of the box, the new Google Home Speaker passed a couple of important tests. Even with the volume at 100 percent and music blaring, it quickly ducked the audio and listened every time I said “Hey, Google.” In two days of testing, the speaker’s three microphones haven’t missed a single wake word — except for the time I stage-whispered to it from the other room while trying to avoid waking up the baby, but that’s hardly a fair test. I set up the speaker in the bathroom and chatted with it from the shower; Siri hardly ever hears me over running water, but Google did pretty well.

These are the sorts of things any smart speaker should do well, but the basics aren’t always a given. They’re incredibly important for the Home Speaker, which Google designed not just as a way to control your music and your smart home but as an ambient way to do all things Gemini: plan and manage your day, access information, even get stuff done. Both my colleague Jen Tuohy and I have Home Speakers in our houses right now, though we’ve only had a day or so to really test them. A full review — of both the speaker itself and the AI assistant inside it — is coming soon.

Sound Quality

Here’s what’s clear already: the Home Speaker is a pretty good little speaker. It pumps big, rich sound out of its mesh body and gets plenty loud for such a small device. If you’re using it as a kitchen speaker or for background music, you’ll likely never need to hit full volume. Google’s previous speaker, the Nest Audio, was both louder and better — and also much larger.

My go-to small speaker has for years been a UE Wonderboom, and the Home Speaker holds its own against the similarly sized Bluetooth dynamo. The Wonderboom gets a bit louder and has a little more emphasis on vocals and higher frequencies, while the Home Speaker brings out more bass — “more,” not “a lot,” since small speakers produce only so much thump. A song like “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” by Fall Out Boy illustrates the difference well: the bass and drums drive the song on the Home Speaker, whereas it’s all vocals and lead guitar on the Wonderboom. Which you prefer comes down to personal taste.

Compared to the similarly sized Amazon Echo Dot Max, though, there’s no contest: the Home Speaker is cleaner, louder, and sharper across the board. It makes the Dot Max sound like a really big phone speaker.

Design

The Home Speaker looks more or less like a very colorful, softball-sized ball of yarn. It comes in four colors; the review unit arrived in red, and the color works beautifully. With no visible buttons or controls — nothing marring the look except the white USB-C cable running out the back — the pop of color avoids screaming “look, a speaker.”

The downside of all this minimalism is that the speaker is not remotely intuitive to use. You can raise and lower the volume by tapping the right or left side, but the touch targets are small and it isn’t obvious which side is which on a round device. Tapping the top pauses and plays music, which works fine. The light ring that glows when Gemini is listening or responding is somewhat hidden underneath the speaker, meaning you won’t see it at all unless the device sits above your eyeline. That visual feedback is really important for a smart speaker, and Google probably should have made it more prominent. Plain buttons, like those on the Echo Dot, would be preferable here.

Connectivity and Use Cases

You can’t use the Home Speaker as a standard Bluetooth speaker, but you can use Google Cast to stream from other devices. You can also group multiple units together for synced audio around your house, or pair a couple to a Google TV Streamer for improved TV sound. A collection of Home Speakers won’t replace a Sonos setup or a soundbar, but they’re likely better than whatever is currently coming out of your TV speakers.

Early Verdict

At $99, this is an impressive little speaker. But audio is only part of the Home Speaker’s story. Google built this device to bring Gemini into your home — a new way to control your living space and manage your day through an AI assistant. Google hasn’t shipped a new smart speaker in six years, and whether this one justifies the wait will depend almost entirely on how well Gemini delivers. There’s a lot of testing still to do before that question gets a real answer.