The Gemini-Powered Google Home Speaker Is Finally Here

The last time Google has released a a wise speakerthe world was in trouble plague. Yes, it’s been six years since the company released a dedicated speaker.

However, the latest Google Home speaker brings a big change: The device has been redesigned to display new features. These twins are helpers instead of Google Assistant which supports all previous speakers and smart displays.

Google announced the speaker in the last year along with Nest smart home cameras and video doorbells, promises a spring 2026 launch. We’re in summer now, but time is running out.

The company today announced that pre-orders for the Google Home Speaker will begin on June 17, and official sales begin on June 25. It costs $100 and comes in Berry, Jade, Hazel, and Porcelain, although the first two colors are US-only.

What you are using should be known if you have other smart speakers. You awaken Gemini through the “Hey, Google” hot words and ask you questions. But Gemini is leaps and bounds ahead of the old Google Assistant in understanding natural conversations, so your questions don’t need to be strict, and you won’t have to ask things in several ways to find what you want.

The Berry version of the Google Home speaker makes me want to cut and eat it.

Courtesy of Google

You can put several rules in one sentence, and Gemini should take care of them. You can be very careful – turn off all the lights except my bedside lamp – and it will dry them. You can also ask for follow-up conversations without repeating what has already been started; as with Google Assistant speakers, the microphone remains in the short window after Gemini answers a question so that you can ask for follow-ups without having to say the wake-up call. This feature, called Continuous Conversation, was only available in English for Assistant speakers, but the feature has expanded to all languages ​​used.

If you have it security camerasyou can use Gemini to directly ask anything the cameras would have seen, such as “Did FedEx drop off a package today?” or “Did the dog eat a cookie on the counter?” You don’t need a Google Home speaker for this – if you’re signed in Gemini for your existing Google Homeit already exists—although its inclusion here is useful.

As for what Gemini sounds like, there are 10 words to choose from. You can also start Gemini Live-While Gemini was expanded to older smart speakers last fall, the “Live” capability was only available on newer devices like Nest Audio and Google Home Speaker. Enter this by saying, “Hey Google, let’s talk,” and you can have a back-and-forth conversation with Gemini; there is no need to take a breath and say a wake-up call.