Google Nest Audio – REVIEW

The Google Nest Audio was revealed back in October and we have been testing it recently. It is larger than the original Google Home and feels more sturdy.

When revealed, the Nest team stated that the speaker is 75 percent louder and 50 percent more bass and I can confirm that it is definitely louder and the bass is certainly stronger. It is quite a subtle speaker, blending into the background on a side table. The speaker is fitted with a 19mm tweeter, 75mm woofer and Quad Core A53 1.8 GHz processor allowing for a smarter assistant that makes the whole hands-free experience an experience like no other.

There are no physical buttons on the front of the device, there is the microphone mute switch at the back. The speaker has three capacitive buttons on the top for volume and play/pause. In testing, these buttons were only used once or twice as speaking to the device had the same effect and could be done from across the room. As with other Google audio products, the Nest Audio works perfectly as part of a pair or if you have multiple products (Home mini etc) you can have a smart home with music in multiple rooms.

When listening to Rosa Parks by Outkast and Exogenesis Symphony Part III by Muse, the tracks are clear but nothing that truly shouts above the rest of equally sized speakers. You won’t be disappointed by the sound if you use it as a background speaker, filling the room with sound when doing other things like cooking or relaxing, but if you want bassy, party levels, you might want to look elsewhere.

If you are a smart speaker fan, wanting to have a speaker that has crisp sound but also has the benefit of having Google Assistant embedded this is a must have, especially for the price. However, if pure sound is what you are after, there are some better options out there. Think JBL, Sonos or Bose.

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Nest Audio, Google’s new home speaker

At Google’s Launch Night In, the team revealed a number of new products including the new Pixel 5 smartphone and Google TV. However, one of the more intriguing products of the night was and is the Nest Audio speaker.

Building on Google Home, and Nest Mini (aka Google Home mini), the new Nest Audio 75 percent louder and has 50 percent stronger bass than the original Google Home. It is larger than the original, but has a slim profile so it won’t be obtrusive wherever it is placed.

Fitted with a 19mm tweeter for consistent high frequency coverage and clear vocals and a 75mm mid-woofer that really brings the bass, this smart speaker is a music lover’s dream, as evidenced by Mark Ronson in the launch event enjoying Amy Winehouse’s Valerie.

One thing that was an issue with previous Google speakers is that the assistant would come in at the same volume that you were last listening to music, which can be quite upsetting when asking what the weather is going to be like early in the morning. Google has come up with a solution to that – Media EQ, enabling Nest Audio to automatically tune itself to whatever you’re listening to: music, podcasts, audiobooks or even a response from Google Assistant. And Ambient IQ adjusts the volume of Assistant, news, podcasts and audiobooks based on the background noise in your home, so you can hear the weather forecast over a noisy dishwasher. 

If you own multiple Google speakers around the house, the music can be moved into each room that is being occupied or if you like sound emanating through the entire house, you can group the products to create a house filling sound system.

Nest Audio comes in five colors: Chalk, Charcoal, Sand, Sky and the all-new Sage coming in at £89.99, however, only chalk and Charcoal can be pre-ordered now.

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