Google has its latest smart speaker, the Nest Audio and it’s the successor to the last year’s Google Home. The Nest Audio is a full-sized smart speaker with a new design, better performance, and audio quality priced at Rs 7,999. Here’s what you need to know about the new Google Nest Audio in our review.
Google Nest Audio Specifications
- Design: The enclosure is made from 70% recycled plastic
- Driver: 75 mm (Woofer), 19 mm (Tweeter)
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac (Dual Band 2.4GHz/5GHz)
- Microphones: 3 far-field mics
- Power Adapter: 30W (24V), 1.5 m power cable
- Compatibility: Android and iOS
- Dimensions: 175 mm x 124 mm x 78 mm
- Weight: 1.2 kg (without external power adaptor)
- Color: Chalk, Charcoal
- Price: ₹7,999 (Flipkart, Tata Cliq, Reliance Digital)
Design & Features
At first, you will notice its entire exterior which is completely covered with the same recycled fabric that Google has used since the Google Home Mini. Compared to its predecessor Google Home, this time the speaker has a full body cover fabric that looks just fine. The Nest Audio comes in two colors – Chalk, and Charcoal.
The Nest Audio is now bigger and bulkier weighing 1.2 kgs and 175 mm x 124 mm x 78 mm in dimensions, compared to the predecessor, the design has significantly changed.
The front side has no visible buttons or fancy lights, but you do get LED indicator lights on the fabric front. On the backside, you will find a microphone mute slider and power input alongside Google’s branding.
The top side has touch controls to let you control music playback and volume. The center area plays and pauses music, while the left and right corners are used to control volume.
Specs, Performance & Audio
Moving to the specifications of the speaker, it uses a 75 mm woofer and 19 mm tweeter with 3 far-field microphones. The Nest Audio produces 75% more volume compared to the Google Home as well as 50% more bass. It also comes with a built-in version of the Google Assistant.
Digging more into the specs, it is equipped with a 1.8 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU with a high-performance ML hardware engine. It is powered by a 30W (24V) DC power adapter for input.
You will also find a built-in Google Chromecast for seamless connection to the Chromecast supported devices. It pairs with the Google Home app available for both Android and iOS devices. The connectivity includes Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac with dual-band support, 2.4 GHz, and 5 GHz.
About the speaker performance, the audio quality is really great, for standard room size, the speaker can deliver rich and punchy bass and good mids and highs which seems to be better and louder than its predecessor, the Google Home. I tested it in a room-sized around 150 square feet and the audio performance was wonderful.
The microphones worked out well, the Google Assistant commands can be picked from another room pretty quick, which could be better than the Google Home. It uses an on-device Assistant, hence Nest Audio doesn’t need to ping Google’s servers nearly as often and that results in a better overall Google Assistant experience.
Google has teased its new feature, the ability to instantly pair up with another Nest Audio for stereo experience and even louder volumes. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to try it out, but this can be a handy feature but what if you already own a better sound system?
There’s no 3.5 mm line in/out port at the back as you see on the Amazon Echo, so won’t be able to use it as an auxiliary speaker if you want to, you also won’t be able to connect to larger speakers or higher channel sound system. Amazon Echo, on the other hand, offers a line-in port for connectivity which can be handy at times.
Pricing & Verdict
The Nest Audio is available for Rs 7,999 which seems suitable in the smart speaker’s category, you can get them on Flipkart, Tata Cliq, and Reliance Digital stores. Speaking of smart speakers under Rs 10,000, the Google Nest Audio could be one of the best smart speakers you can get.
The Nest Audio is loud, looks cool, and is a perfect fit for homes. You will enjoy the sound quality, it’s better than Google Home. Aside from being a smart home control device, it’s also a great speaker for listening to music, books, or podcasts, the built-in Chromecast is an added advantage. For the price of Rs 7,999, it delivers a great value, the Nest Audio is recommended.
