Google's first smart speaker in six years costs $99. Using it fully costs $10 more per month.
Preorders open today for the new Google Home Speaker, the first audio device built for Gemini. It ships June 25, narrowly missing Google's promised spring launch window. The $99.99 price matches the Nest Audio from 2020, but the hardware is smaller and designed around the company's Gemini for Home assistant.
The catch: $99 buys the hardware, not the full experience. Unlocking Gemini Live, camera search on Nest cameras, and the Home Brief daily recap requires a Google Home Premium subscription at $9.99 per month. The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy reported that Google Home Premium is needed for what Anish Kattukaran, chief product officer for Google Home, calls "the most conversational experience you can have with Gemini."
Buyers who order before mid-September get six months of Home Premium included. Existing Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers get access at no extra cost.
The speaker itself is a modest hardware refresh. It keeps the rounded design Google teased last fall, with touch-capacitive controls on top and a light ring at the bottom.
Four color options are available: Hazel, Porcelain, Jade, and Berry, with the last two exclusive to the US. Under the hood sits a quad-core Cortex A55 processor with an onboard NPU, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of storage, supporting Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4.
Google isn't positioning this as a Nest Audio replacement. The company told The Verge the speaker is "a massive audio upgrade over the Nest Mini," not the taller Nest Audio it replaces.
It delivers 360-degree sound and can pair two units for stereo or connect to the Google TV Streamer for spatial surround sound. The speaker also functions as a Matter controller and Thread 1.3 border router. The real upgrade is software.
Gemini for Home understands natural language commands, handles corrections mid-sentence, and responds to multi-step requests. The example Google provides: "Dim the kitchen lights, play some relaxing music, and set a timer for 20 minutes." The speaker runs local models for noise cancellation and echo suppression so Gemini can hear commands through background noise.
Google says it used the nine-month gap between announcement and launch to improve Gemini for Home. The company fixed over 2,500 reported issues, reduced latency for smart home and media commands by up to 40 percent, and shipped more than 50 new features.
Gemini for Home has been available on older Nest speakers through an early access program for several months. But Kattukaran said the new hardware delivers the Gemini experience best, running local processing that older devices lack.
The $99 speaker arrives June 25. The subscription question lands with it.
