Google's new Home Speaker quietly replaces two Nest favorites

Google has officially opened up availability for its new Home Speaker, a new $99.99 smart speaker with its Gemini assistant built in. Notably, this one speaker steps in for two of Google’s existing models: the $49 Nest Mini and the $99 Nest Audio, both of which have seen their stock quietly dwindle from store shelves in the run-up to launch.

Gemini is the focus of this new smart speaker. Google says the assistant now handles conversational requests more naturally without rigid command phrasing, can carry out several actions from a single instruction, and can even follow mid-sentence corrections — something like telling it to turn a device off, then changing your mind and switching it back on. Continued Conversation, which lets you ask follow-up questions without repeating the wake word each time, is now available in all supported languages, not just English. Google also says it has made thousands of improvements to the home experience based on the millions of households already testing Gemini through its early-access program.

On the audio side, Google is pitching “360-degree sound” from a single 58mm full-range driver, alongside a claimed 2x larger driver and 2.5x stronger bass. Read the fine print, though, and that comparison is to the Nest Mini — the tiny, voice-first puck — not the larger, music-focused Nest Audio that the new speaker is also replacing. That speaker used a dedicated woofer and a separate forward-firing tweeter; the Home Speaker swaps that for a single driver that fires in every direction. Google didn’t say much when I asked how the sound compares to the Nest Audio, so I’ll put the two head-to-head shortly.

Beyond solo listening, you can pair two Home Speakers for stereo, group them with existing Nest speakers and displays for multi-room audio, or pair a couple with the Google TV Streamer for what Google describes as spatial surround sound. A light ring at the base glows to show when the speaker is listening or responding, and a physical switch mutes the microphones.

The new lineup also shifts where the cheap seats are. For years, the $49 Nest Mini was the easiest, most impulse-friendly way into Google’s speaker ecosystem — the kind of thing you’d grab on sale for $30 or get bundled free with another device. With both the Mini and the Nest Audio bowing out, the Home Speaker becomes the entry point, and that entry point now costs just shy of $100. Google has not announced a smaller, cheaper model to take the Mini’s place, so for now, the price of getting started with a Google smart speaker has effectively doubled.

Every Home Speaker includes a six-month trial of Google Home Premium, which unlocks Gemini Live and other extras. After that, you can drop to a free, more basic tier or subscribe for $10 a month. Pre-orders open today, with the Google Home Speaker landing on shelves worldwide June 25 in Hazel and Porcelain, with Jade and Berry colorways as US-only Google Store exclusives.