Google Home Speaker vs Nest Mini: Is the $99 Gemini AI upgrade worth it for your smart home?

Google Home Speaker vs. the mainstay Nest Mini: Is this a true upgrade?

The Google Home Speaker is now the easiest and most affordable way to get Gemini into your smart home, but how does it perform against the device it's meant to replace - the Nest Mini? To clear things up, the Nest Mini is perfectly capable of offering a serviceable Gemini experience, but the image of having a fluid conversation via Gemini Live is not one you'll get with the Nest Mini. As Google continues to expand the function of its AI model and outperform what Google Assistant was capable of, we get a new small-ish speaker, positioned as a fair replacement. In design, both devices bear some appealing similarities. Google chose to keep the fabric accents and go for a small profile, though the new Google Home Speaker is several inches taller than the Nest Mini. Top-down, the profiles are about the same, and Google chose to keep the volume adjustment just as simple, with a tap on the right or left side to adjust. Whether it's down to new internals or a conscious decision to make a bigger model, the larger Google Home Speaker, on the other hand, is designed to be a more prominent part of your home decor. That said, it is not a major departure from the Mini's hidden-hardware approach. To put it into perspective Because of its height, weight, and acoustic requirements, you cannot simply pin it to a wall. You need to dedicate shelf space or a prime spot on your kitchen counter to accommodate its very modest size increase. The most noticeable change comes in reactionary lighting. When you chat with the Home Speaker, a ring of LEDs at the base lights up with Google's iconic color scheme, then it fades to blue as it listens and responds. It mimics the LEDs on the Nest Mini in every way, even glowing orange when muted. Google did pull some sort of switcharoo, opting to integrate the USB-C cable into the speaker at the base rather than at the brick, like the Nest Mini. This means you can't switch the cable out for a longer one. Perhaps even worse - at least, to me - is the exclusion of cable clips that have been present on every Nest Speaker up to this point. Shame! Colors also play a role depending on where you plan to put a smart speaker. While the Nest Mini comes in a variety of muted shades to blend into different rooms, the Google Home Speaker mostly sticks to simple neutral tones, but with one bold, bright Berry option. The annoyance is that the Hazel and Berry colors are limited to the US market. Improved smart home experience As for the internals, things get a little more complex. The Google Home Speaker is, by all accounts, meant to be a speaker, first and foremost. Yes, it's a vessel for Gemini and future features, but it's also an entertainment hub. You can use Google Cast to play music in the same way as the Nest Mini, and grouping the device with others in the home is just as easy. But processing time on the Nest Mini is far outdone by the Google Home Speaker. So long as you have signed up for Early Access to Gemini, the "core" assistant experience on both devices is identical on paper. Even if you use the "old" Google Assistant experience, the Nest Mini relies heavily on cloud processing for many of its smart home commands, which can sometimes result in a slight delay between asking for the lights to turn off and it actually happening. The new speaker listens, processes, and plays music much faster. It offers a smoother experience, and the same quirks that cause Gemini to make mistakes here and there have nothing to do with the hardware. The full-sized Google Home Speaker includes upgraded onboard machine learning chips that process your most common commands locally. Performance is noticeably snappier because of it. You will rarely see the frustrating lag that sometimes plagues the aging Nest Mini when asking complex queries. Gemini processing is faster and handles complex input. Additionally, the larger footprint leaves room for robust connectivity protocols. The Google Home Speaker acts as a fully-fledged Matter and Thread border router, helping your smart bulbs, locks, and sensors talk to each other without needing a separate hub. The Mini can participate in these networks, but it does not offer the same robust networking backbone as the larger model. Bigger, but better sound? As for sound, I'm having a hard time getting around how Google designed it. I thought I'd be able to easily say, "yeah, the Google Home Speaker sounds far superior to the Nest Mini. After all, it's been over 6 years." I can't say that, though, because the Google Home Speaker has audio quirks that have detracted from my experience. First off, using the EQ settings is key. I have my units set to 40 for bass, and 80 for treble. That's just to kick the highs up a little bit and clear the headroom in most music. The issue is that there seems to be a lot of muddy artifacts left over from the low-end amplification Google is trying to do with the new drivers. They do add a little bass, and you can feel it in your fingertips as opposed to the Nest Mini, but it doesn't add much of that room-filling "oomph" you'd expect. What it does do is give it a cardboard tube effect, as if it were playing through a paper towel roll. And that, somehow, gives the high ends a little bit of a "warble," where cymbals and hi-hats have an unintended crunch. The Nest Mini performs surprisingly well in the highs, but the lows are absent. It can sound tinny, but the Google Home Speaker sounds both dark and tinny. As for the benefit of 360-degree audio, I'm troubled to find the benefit over a simple up-firing design like the Nest Mini when these two are side-by-side. It's likely a no-brainer on the design front, as long as it doesn't negatively impact the sound. That being said, I don't think it really adds much when you put them against each other. The Google Home Speaker is not an audiophilic streaming device. It's, again, a vessel for Google Gemini that plays your favorite tunes while you cook or hang out. That being said, if you're upgrading for better sound quality, I think there are better options, even if the Home Speaker sounds better - subjectively. If it's for sound and Gemini, it's an easy justification, even though it's $50 more than the last small display-free speaker. The Google Home Speaker is available for pre-order with shipping in July. Damien Wilde contributed to this article.

Gemini for Home gave my aging Nest speakers a second life

Brady is a technology journalist for MakeUseOf with years of experience covering all things mobile, computing, and general tech. He has a focus on Android phones and audio gear, and holds a B.S. in Journalism from St. John's University. Brady has written for publications like Android Central, Android Authority, XDA, Android Police, iMore, and others. He has experience reporting on major events held by Google, Apple, and Samsung, as well as trade shows like Lenovo Innovation World and IFA. When he's not writing about and testing the latest gadgets, you'll find Brady watching Big East basketball and running. All eyes are on the Google Home Speaker, which is available now and is the first smart speaker designed for Gemini first and foremost. The new speaker is hitting shelves with an upgraded processor and a neural processing unit (NPU) specifically made to handle AI tasks. If you don't want to shell out another $99 for the Google Home Speaker, don't worry. Almost every smart speaker and display with Google Assistant has already gotten the boost to Gemini, and you can try it right now. Google catches a lot of flak for discontinuing products and services early and often, but the Gemini for Home transition is a completely different story. Every smart speaker and display Google released in the last decade is supported, down to the original Google Home. If you have a Google Home, Home Mini, Nest Mini, Nest Audio, or Home Max smart speaker, you have a Gemini-ready device. It made my Nest speakers and displays so much smarter, and didn't cost a dime. I finally tried Google Home's new Gemini upgrade and it feels like talking to a completely different assistant Living with Google Home's new Gemini upgrade feels like talking to a completely different assistant. Posts 5 By Bryan M. Wolfe An instant upgrade for old gear Even third-party Assistant speakers and displays have Gemini Google Home and Nest speakers and displays have one major flaw, and in this case, that flaw became a feature. The hardware relies completely on cloud processing, to the point that these smart speakers and displays can't even tell the time without an active internet connection. This overreliance on the cloud is what enabled Google to flip a switch and upgrade millions of Google Assistant devices to Gemini instantly. When Gemini for Home is available for your home, you'll receive a push notification prompting you to swap out Assistant. This will replace Assistant with Gemini on every Google smart speaker or display released since 2016. If you have one of the rarer third-party Assistant smart speakers or displays, like the Insignia Voice Speaker and the Lenovo Smart Display 10, you'll also be able to enjoy Gemini. I joined the Gemini for Home early access program, and my Nest hardware got smarter in a snap. It can handle multistep commands and natural-language requests that caused Google Assistant to trip up. It's neat that the Nest Mini and Home Hub I've been rocking since high school are suddenly reimagined with Gemini at the helm. Gemini's new voice and conversational tone shines It's not just a surface-level upgrade -- it'll change how you use your devices Google Assistant's robotic nature is replaced with Gemini's friendliness, even if the latter feels uncanny at times. During the onboarding process for Gemini for Home, you'll be able to select a new voice for your smart speakers and displays. There are more options than ever before, with 10 voices that each have their own accent, speaking style, and tone. Pick the one you like most, and every smart speaker and display in your home will start using it. It sounds like a minor improvement, but Gemini's new voices make my smart home more lively. That may be because Gemini for Home has the casual comprehension required to back up its welcoming, conversational intonation. I can ask my Nest Mini, Home Speaker, and Nest Hub a question just like I would a friend, and Gemini can understand and respond in a similar way. It's great that Gemini handles my smart home requests the same way using my 2017 speaker as it does my 2026 speaker -- even if the former is slower to respond. Better yet, it's easier to keep the conversation going. Google Home Premium subscribers can use Gemini Live on their smart speakers and displays, and it's superb for longer chats. You can say "Hey Google, let's chat" to start a Gemini Live session. It's a back-and-forth conversation that doesn't require you to say "Hey Google" every time you have a follow-up question. This comes in handy when you want to use a Nest speaker or display to learn a new topic, study for a big exam, or simply want some (artificial) company. For free Google Home users, Continued Conversation is back. It's a feature that lets you ask follow-up questions without saying "Hey Google" that stops short of the continuous Gemini Live experience. This is a solid middle ground between basic Gemini and Gemini Live, and it matches the old Google Assistant functionality. So, you're getting a more capable Gemini assistant without losing much compared to Google Assistant. Gemini taps into all your Home and Nest products Cameras and thermostats can't run Gemini on their own, but they still benefit There are edge cases and unique setups that cause Gemini to fail where Assistant previously succeeded. That hasn't been my experience, though. Between Gemini's on-speaker smarts and the new Google Home app's AI-powered automation builder, the experience is as seamless as ever. One thing that shocked me was how Gemini not only improved my speakers and displays, but everything connected to them. Neither my Google Nest cameras nor my JBL receiver have Gemini built-in, but they benefit from Gemini running on the devices that control them. I can use natural-language commands to cast media to the JBL receiver without specifying the exact device name, or ask my camera when a person arrives home. These requests would've caused Assistant to stumble, but Gemini stuck the landing. Really, it's hard to complain about the Gemini upgrade -- a free enhancement for devices I purchased years ago. Google Assistant wasn't cutting it in 2026, and Gemini is here to save millions of Home and Nest speakers and displays. Google Home Speaker Brand Google Dimensions 3.4 height x 4.2 diameter (inches) Audio 58 mm full-range driver Connectivity Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4 GHz/5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.4, Thread 1.3 border router (2.4 GHz) Colors Hazel, Porcelain, Jade, Berry SMART ASSISTANTS Gemini The Google Home Speaker is a tiny, 360-degree smart speaker powered by Gemini for Home. It includes a quad-core processor paired with an NPU and a gigabyte of RAM. It can manage your entire smart home with Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and Thread Border Router support. If you don't already have a Home or Nest speaker, this is the one to get. $100 at Google Store $100 at Best Buy Expand Collapse