Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
Yesterday was a big day for Google Home. In fact, I may go as far as to say it was one of the most critical moments for the platform in years. Between the long-awaited Gemini rollout, redesigned Home app, new Nest cameras, and really impressive Ask Home capabilities, Google’s smart home ambitions have never looked brighter.
However, for everything Google seems to have gotten right with this next chapter of Google Home, there’s one area that still feels noticeably lacking: hardware. Specifically, smart speaker and smart display hardware.
This is an area where Google has long struggled, and while it is taking steps to improve, I think it’s time for Google to acknowledge that it’s still not doing enough.
What do you think about the Google Home hardware situation? 18 votes I'm fine with it. The Google Home Speaker looks good. 11 % The new speaker seems fine, but the release date kills it for me. 17 % I was hoping for more speakers and/or new smart displays. 72 % Other (let us know in the comments). 0 %
The new Google Home Speaker is already off to a weird start
Among all of the Google Home news yesterday, Google announced a new smart speaker. It’s called the Google Home Speaker, and overall, it looks like a solid offering. It has a nice mesh design that comes in good colors, 360 audio, stereo pairing, and custom processing to handle Gemini commands as quickly as possible. And you get all of that for the very reasonable price of $99.
I recently wrote about my excitement for the new Google Home Speaker, so why am I suddenly so down on it? The speaker itself still sounds promising, but it’s Google’s release strategy that I just can’t wrap my head around.
Leading up to yesterday’s announcement, we expected this new speaker to be released sometime this year, presumably in October or November. However, Google has decided not to do that. Instead, the Google Home Speaker won’t go on sale until Spring 2026.
At the earliest, that means the Google Home Speaker will hit store shelves in approximately five months. However, if Google doesn’t release the speaker until late spring, we could be waiting up to eight months.
Google says this is intentional, as it will allow the company to focus its efforts on rolling out Gemini to existing smart speakers/displays before adding another speaker to the mix. And while Google may think that’s a valid excuse, I disagree.
This is Google we’re talking about — a trillion-dollar company and one of the largest tech brands on the planet. If Google is truly unable to add Gemini to a handful of exisitng speaker and display models while simultaneously launching this new Google Home Speaker, that doesn’t instill much confidence in the Gemini rollout.
Furthermore, if Google really does need uninterrupted time to focus on its exisitng speaker/display hardware, why bother announcing a new speaker now? Why not wait until it’s actually ready to launch? This strategy of announcing the Google Home Speaker months before it’s ready for release makes it seem like Google is unprepared for the next big phase of Google Home, and that’s not the image the company can afford to convey right now.
Google still needs a complete portfolio refresh
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
There’s another element worth talking about, and it’s what Google didn’t announce yesterday.
On its own, the new Google Home Speaker looks good — great, even. But Google needs more than one single entry into its smart speaker and display portfolio; the company needs a complete overhaul.
The Google Home Speaker is, for all intents and purposes, a replacement for the Nest Audio. It’s Google’s baseline smart speaker and the “default” choice for getting a Gemini device in your home. That’s arguably the most important base for Google to cover, but there are more gaps the company needs to fill.
Where’s Google’s new budget smart speaker, something to replace the aging Nest Mini? What about a new premium speaker option for people who really care about audio quality? And did Google forget it also has two models of smart displays that desperately need successors?
Google hasn’t said anything about additional smart home hardware beyond the Google Home Speaker, and considering how difficult it apparently is for Google to get that to market, it makes me nervous about Google’s execution for future speakers and displays — assuming it even has plans for them in the first place.
Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
Google’s lack of preparedness here is all the more evident against the backdrop of Amazon’s latest Echo revamp. On Tuesday, Amazon announced two new smart speakers (the Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio) and two new smart displays (the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11). They’re all designed for different target audiences and price ranges, are available for pre-order now, and will be generally available in mid-November — all while complementing an even larger portfolio of other speaker and display options.
You could argue that Amazon’s smart speaker/display lineup is convoluted (and I have my own issues with Alexa as a virtual assistant), but I can’t help but admire Amazon’s commitment to consistently releasing new hardware. We’ve seen some real innovation in Echo speakers and displays over the past few years. By comparison, Google is struggling to release a single, relatively basic smart home speaker of its own.
A long road yet for Google Home
Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
Having said all of that, I do want to give Google credit where it’s due. What we’ve seen of the redesigned Google Home app looks really impressive, as do many of the new Gemini capabilities. And once it launches in a few months, I do have high hopes for the Google Home Speaker.
Google was never going to solve all of its smart home woes in one day, and I certainly didn’t expect the company to do so with its Google Home announcements yesterday. However, I still think it’s fair to be underwhelmed and worried about the future of Google’s smart home hardware.
I desperately want the next chapter of Google Home to succeed.
A five- to eight-month delay for the Google Home Speaker isn’t a good sign. Google’s announcement of a single smart speaker, without any clear plans for a larger portfolio refresh, is far from encouraging. I desperately want the next chapter of Google Home to succeed, but a robust hardware lineup is key to that happening. And, at least right now, Google has yet to demonstrate that it can deliver on that front.
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