The Google Assistant is not long for this world, and will be replaced by Gemini on every single device in the coming months. But while the transition has been largely straightforward and seamless on Android devices, the search giant is still actively working on the transition plan for its smart home device family. Late last year, the company announced that it would finally begin testing Gemini for Home across its existing hardware line before releasing a new smart speaker later in 2026.
After gaining access to the Gemini for Home preview program a few weeks ago, I’ve been using it as my primary voice assistant across several Google Home speakers to see how well it stacks up against its predecessor. How did it pan out? Let’s start with the good news.
Are you looking forward to Gemini on your Google Home devices? 9353 votes Yes, very much. 63 % No, I'm happy with Assistant. 7 % I just want things to work, be it with Assistant or Gemini 31 %
Gemini for Home: Stellar first impression, but not perfect
Gemini looks up online sources A nearly gibberish prompts Autocorrect works better than the Assistant
I won’t mince words: Gemini for Home feels like a massive upgrade over the Google Assistant. If you’ve used the latter for any amount of time, you’re probably all too familiar with its “Sorry, I don’t understand” response to even basic questions. This is especially true for longer commands — measurement conversions work all the time, but ask for ingredient substitutions and you only have a 50-50 chance of getting the right answer from the Assistant. Gemini, on the other hand, can easily handle any question you throw at it.
Gemini makes quick work of unconventional commands and long questions.
Case in point: one evening, I casually asked my smart speaker from across the room how long I should blanch broccoli before tossing it in the air fryer. Unsurprisingly, my aging Google Home Mini misheard my query and interpreted the “air fryer” in my question as “Air France”.
Under the old Google Assistant, I wouldn’t have expected a response to this question. The Assistant’s ability, or willingness, to answer open-ended questions was always something of a gamble. But Gemini is a different story. It correctly inferred my intent from the rest of the prompt and offered useful advice, as you can see in the screenshot below.
This showcases the biggest upside to Gemini: it can understand nuance and context. A malformed query, like the one above, will still yield a response. And this is not a one-off either. Time after time, I noticed that Gemini effortlessly responded to incorrect commands and long-form questions that I wouldn’t have even dared to ask the Google Assistant – the examples above speak for themselves.
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