Nest Audio Review: Rich Sound From A Little Guy
Purchase Price: $99.99
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Google has been trying to push forward with their smart home technology these last few years and while Amazon and Apple have their own share of the market, nothing seems to really compete with Google in terms of its AI development. From past experiences with all three smart assistants, I can honestly claim without any particular bias that Google Assistant feels the most natural to speak with, followed relatively closely by Siri and then a distant Alexa in the rear view mirror. It’s ironic for me to rank them in that order as my home is decked out with Amazon Echos essentially everywhere thanks to their partnership with the home builder, Lennar.
So what do we get when Google pushes their industry leading smart assistant technology while subjugating the design towards music consumption as well as slapping the reliable Nest branding onto it? What we end up with is this first generation Nest Audio speaker. At a tempting MSRP of $99, the Nest Audio is a spiritual successor to the Google Home and Google Home Max. The exterior design of this even looks like a hybrid of those two products.
Google claims the Nest Audio is 75% louder and provides 50% stronger bass than the original Google Home. I’m not sure how they exactly narrowed it down to those specific percentages, but the sound emitting from the Nest Audio definitely is a solid upgrade over the Google Home to my ears. I was a fan of the first generation lineup of smart home speakers from Google and they still occupy spots in various rooms of my parents’ house. When you plug the Nest Audio in and fire out music for the first time, you’re instantly hit with a filling force of sound when in direct peripheral of the speaker. This was surprising to me as I was not expecting such powerful audio waves to come out from such a small speaker.
“The woofer and tweeter inside the Nest Audio really push out more umph than the size of the unit would suggest it should.“
The best way to illustrate the sound in words is by describing what it feels like from a couple of checkpoint distances away from the Nest Audio. At around 3 ft from the base, the Nest Audio is significantly richer and more dynamic than at 5-10 ft away. The speaker is still ostentatious enough to fill a big open concept living space, but it does lack certain depth in its delivery.
Audio levels are controlled either by verbal cue (of course) or by tapping the corners of the unit. The center is the toggle for play and pause. It’s a simple interface with no markings that anyone can get acquainted and accustomed to quickly. Since this is a device that has always listening microphones, Google has included a microphone off toggle switch that when turned off will illuminate the dot colorway to red as an indicator.
Aesthetically, the Nest Audio is a cute device that is neutral enough in design to fit in with most modern home settings. The fabric mesh outer body is all the rage with smart speakers nowadays and I’m not one to complain as I do like the minimalistic approach. No physical buttons and a rather small body makes this easy to blend in on a counter or shelf. It is surprisingly hefty though.
Is this the best sub-$100 audio speaker you can buy? Probably not. Yet the Nest Audio does offer a ton of value and quality entertainment to your ears to make it worth a consideration in an increasingly crowded field. This sure provides rich sound from a little guy. Google should have no problem moving units and out of their current lineup of smart home speakers without a touch screen, this is the one to get.
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Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!