Having a smart assistant in your house makes your life easier. I love to use it and control my lights, set reminders, and play some music. I’ve had the Google Home for 1 or 2 years now, and it was time to replace it with the new Google Nest Audio! Is it worth replacing the old Google Home with the Google Nest Audio? Let’s find out!
Introduction & Specifications
The Google Nest Audio is bigger if we compare it to the first generation Google Home speaker. They changed the design as well, and I like it! I did like the previous one as well, but the Google Nest Audio is also an eye-catcher. Looking at the specifications, we see that there is a 73mm woofer and a 19mm tweeter in the Google Nest Audio. Let’s hope that those specifications result in a much better audio quality. Other than that, the specifications are limited, since it is just a speaker, so let’s dive into the testing and hardware side.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Brand: | |
| Model: | Nest Audio |
| Connectivity: | 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) Wi-Fi |
| Bluetooth: | V5.0 |
| Speakers: | 75mm woofer, 19mm tweeter |
| Processor: | Quad-Core A53 1.8 GHz |
| Dimensions: | 6.9 x 4.9 x 3.1 inches (175 x 124 x 78 mm) |
| Weight: | 2.6 pounds / 1.2 kilo |
Unboxing
The Google Nest Audio comes in a pretty big box. Where Apple is making the box smaller because “it is better for the environment”, but Google keeps the box pretty large. On the front of the box, we have a picture of the Google Nest Audio and the Google logo on top. On the one side, we have a few of the supported services, like IKEA Home Smart, TuneIn, and Spotify. The back does not have the specifications for once, but a picture of the Google Nest Audio placed in a living room. There is some information on the bottom of the box, but that is really small. Better use the manual that is inside.
When you open the box, you see the Google Nest Audio right away. What a lovely device! I really like the design and the bigger size of this speaker. Besides the Google Nest Audio, there is a charger inside and a manual. That’s it.
Hardware & Design
Personally, I like the design and the all speaker look of it. In the previous model, you had the top which was just white plastic, but it had no real use. I liked that design as well, but I like the Google Nest Audio design way better. On the front, you can see the LED lights, which are 4 LED’s in the middle of the speaker. Op top you have the pause “button” and the volume higher and lower “buttons”. You can activate the pause button to touch/tap the top middle of the speaker. If you want to increase the volume, you need to touch the top right corner of the speaker, and lowering the volume you need to touch the top left corner of the speaker.
The back of the speaker is more interesting. You have the “mute” slider on the back, the Google logo, and the power port. That means that the back is almost the same as the front, with just a few touches. I like that! No unnecessary branding on there or stuff that you will not use. I really like the design done by Google.
How To Set Up?
Setting up the Google Nest Audio is pretty easy. First of all, you need to provide it with power. The Google Nest Audio will power on and tell you the steps that you need to take next. You need to download, or open, the Google Home application. On top, you have the option to set up new devices, and the Google Home application will start searching for devices. Once it found some, you have to select the Google Nest Audio device. Once the connection is made, the speaker will make a sound. If you heard the sound, you need to press “Yes” in the Google Home application. After that, you just follow the on-screen steps to set it up just how you like it. Easy process!
Features
Well, since this is not the Google Nest Hub, you don’t have a screen or anything else that could pack new features. The Google Nest Audio is a smart speaker, and that is what it does. The features are mostly improved audio quality, and that they delivered. Let’s have a look at the audio quality, the volume, and the materials used. Yes, I think that this is a feature of the Google Nest Audio.
Audio Quality
Let’s be honest, the audio quality of the Google Home was not good. It was acceptable, but it was not great. Especially when you turn up the volume, the quality gets worse. Google promised to improve audio quality. The Google Nest Audio should be able to go 75% louder and offer 50% more bass. I do hear that the audio quality is better, but it is still not on the level of other speakers. Now, this is a smart speaker for just $99, and the improvement of the audio quality is enough for me to change the speaker. If you really want the best audio, this is not the speaker for you. For normal users, like me, the audio quality is good enough.
Volume
With 75% more volume you should be able to fill your complete living room while having a party! That is one of the features I missed in Google Home. The volume was not good enough and when I was having a party, the volume would not be enough. When I set the volume too high, the quality became really bad. Now with the Google Nest Audio, that is solved! I can easily fill my living room with sound and the quality is still decent. Really happy with that improvement. When I’m using it when I’m alone, I often set the volume to just 20% to 30%, otherwise, it might be too loud.
Voice Commands
While I use the Google Nest Audio, I feel it catches my “Hey Google” more easily than the Google Home. With the previous model, I had to repeat my “Hey Google” sometimes, but with the Google Nest Audio, I never had that so far. Also, the response that Google is giving me sound better. That is, of course, due to the better speaker. Just lovely to use the Google Nest Audio.
Recycled Materials
Yes, I find this a feature. The Google Nest Audio is produced with 70% recycled plastic. The front, back, bottom, and some internal parts are produced by this plastic. Really good to see that Google is using recycled plastic. Let’s hope more companies will use more recycled plastic so we can stop the plastic soup in the world.
Stereo Mode
A great feature is the ability to use two Google Nest Audio speakers in stereo mode. After you set both of them up in the Google Home application, you can add them to “Speaker Pair” and they will link to each other. Now, you can play music and it will come out of both speakers. They will be listed as one speaker in the Google Home application. Really handy if you have a big living room.
Broadcast Option
We’ve seen an option like this in the Amazon Echo Dot speaker. You can now use the Google Nest Audio to broadcast a message. You can say: “Hey Google, call the bedroom”, or: “Hey Google, broadcast … (your message)” to broadcast it to all the other Nest Audio devices. Handy if you have a big home and everybody has their own Google Nest Audio devices.
Conclusion
There are some good upgrades on the Google Nest Audio. The volume is good, the audio quality is improved, and Google listens better, even when the music is turned on. I really like the design as well, with just a speaker on the front and the mute switch, power input, and Google logo on the back. It looks great in my living room, to be honest.
The audio quality update is nice, but there are better (more expensive) speakers out there. For this price, the audio quality is good and way better than the Google Home.
Is it worth the upgrade? Yes. Personally, I think the upgrades are done very well and I would recommend people to upgrade to the Google Nest Audio. The price is good, the audio quality is good, the volume is good, just a good smart speaker that is a great addition to my house.
Google Nest Audio
$99
Pros
- Lovely design
- Audio quality is improved and good now
- Materials - 70% recycled plastic is used
- Price is good/low
- Software (Google Home) works well
Cons
- Not the best audio speaker available (better speakers are more expensive)
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