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This is great when your kids are in their bedrooms, and you want to let them know dinner’s ready without yelling at the top of your lungs. If you’re not fond of automatic EQs, you can always adjust the speaker’s sound signature from the Google Home app. Google provides users with a basic equalizer, and I do mean basic. You can adjust the bass and treble to be “less” and “more.” Yes, that’s all you get. Audio recordings are kept separate from advertising, and will not be used for ad personalization . While Google doesn’t use the recorded audio, it retains the right to use a transcript of how you interact with the Google Assistant.
Google speakers support Google Chromecast, which lets you wirelessly stream audio from other Chromecast-enabled devices to the speaker when connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Conveniently, their speakers also offer Bluetooth compatibility for those who prefer to stream their audio without an Internet connection. Nest Audio is an approachable, entry-level smart speaker for the minimalist music lover. This compact speaker produces excellent audio quality for its size and is a great jack-of-all-trades. Google officially unveiled the Nest Audio smart speaker at its hardware event in September 2020. As with previous smart speakers from the company, this product exists as a way to bring Google Assistant access into your home whenever you need it.
Is Google Home always listening?
The best options of the bunch are the Google Home Mini if you want a smart speaker, and the Nest Hub if you want a touchscreen to go along with the always-listening help. Both have all of the smarts of the more expensive options and are small enough to blend in to just about any room. It offers great voice assistant support and does an excellent job of understanding your voice from far away. There's a mute microphone switch you can use when you no longer want it to listen to you. However, it has high Bluetooth and Chromecast latency, so it isn't suitable for watching videos and movies over these connections. Some apps compensate for latency differently, though, and your experience may differ.
" will keep the mic hot for follow up commands so you don't have to say the wake words every time. You can also issue two commands to Google at once, and it'll respond to both. The Google Home is a great smart speaker with a ton of capabilities, but you have so many smart speaker options at this point that I'm less inclined to recommend this well balanced middle child. Set alarms and timers, pull up your calendar appointments, or add items to your shopping list using just your voice. With Android Fast Pair for Matter, your phone can automatically detect Matter devices.
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Check out our guide to what works with Google Home for more information. Since Google Home leverages Google Assistant, take advantage of all these useful features on your phone when you leave the house. Ask Google Assistant on your phone to make the change, just as you would with your Google Home. Control your smart home devices, like lights, thermostats, and more. Listen to music and podcasts on a variety of streaming services.
Since these Google Nest and Android devices have been automatically updated, "you don’t need to do anything." The Google speakers we've tested are for home use, and their wired-only design means that you can't use them to listen to audio when you're on the go. Ultimately, though, Google’s biggest competition is its own offerings.
Can Google Home Eavesdrop on Your Conversations?
Sub-bass notes are still nearly inaudible due to physical limitations, so you won’t feel a skull-shaking bump. If you’re looking for a party speaker, you’ll have to invest in the Google Home Max instead. If you have multiple Nest speakers or Nest displays in your home, you can broadcast to certain ones or to the entire house.
The Nest Hub Max has a built-in Nest Cam, so it can detect motion when you're away and send you an alert. If you sign up for Nest's premium Nest Aware service, you can get alerts based on who the camera sees. You can also use the cam for video calls, and it can pan, tilt and zoom to keep you in frame.
Google Nest and Android Devices Now Work With Matter
Playing music on multiple speakers at once worked well and the songs synced up perfectly in our tests. The feature works well, and it'll show the recipient that it's you calling if you enable that function in the app. It also makes use of voice recognition for these calls, so you or your spouse can say "call Mom" and it'll look specifically in your contacts and call the right mom.

It's durable with a shock-resistant case, so you can enjoy its powerful sounds worry-free. You can program the HomePod mini to recognize up to six people’s voices which is useful for those who live with multiple roommates or family members. Most of the controls come from your voice, commanding Siri, but you can also tap the touchpad for basic playback and volume controls.
Jeremy Laukkonen is automotive and tech writer for numerous major trade publications. When not researching and testing computers, game consoles or smartphones, he stays up-to-date on the myriad complex systems that power battery electric vehicles . Google patched the issue quickly, but it still raised the issues of privacy and trust around Google's always-listening assistant. The JBL Link 300 offers a lot of sound quality for the price. I've always found navigating the Roku interface to be simple and intuitive. Roku also tends to have the most streaming app options, and the best search functions, without favoring one content provider over another.

The cam can recognize gestures, so you can play or pause music by looking at the Hub Max and holding up your hand. Face Match for the Hub Max is an optional feature that allows the cam to recognize you and show you personalized notifications when you walk into the room. They feature the same Google Assistant and have all of the same functionality as the Nest Hub. They didn't launch with a smart home control panel, but that rolled out to both devices through an update. Both devices tend to be on sale throughout the year -- especially around the holidays -- and are often priced at $30 or less. Power, volume and inputs, which means that you'll need to use your TV's original remote along with the Roku remote in order to use the device.
Like the Google Home, Google Nest Audio offers a wireless audio experience, whether through Bluetooth, Google Cast, or Wi-Fi. It has Google Assistant on board and responds to the “Hey Google” hotword. It integrates with your smart home, features the four-dot Google Assistant light design scheme, and has a hardware switch on the back that shuts off the microphone. If the device has been used before, factory reset your speaker or display before you continue. If you want to set up a different device, you can find the instructions in Set up smart devices in the Google Home app. The Google Home app will walk you through the steps to set up your Google Nest or Home speaker or display.
Sure, this isn’t the most scientific test ever devised but it does highlight how at higher volumes the microphones on the speaker have a hard time picking up voices. I did have some issues with the speaker hearing me when I spoke to it while music was playing, but I’ll get into that later. If you have a Google Chromecast, getting anything to play on your TV is seamless. Even pausing and playing the content is pretty quick and reliable just by telling the speaker to pause or resume playback. That said, browsing is basically impossible because you’re interfacing with your TV through voice.
Google included a hardware mute button, which is meant to make Nest Audio users feel more comfortable and confident about when Google is, and isn’t, listening. Every time you flip the mute switch, Google Assistant reassures you with a voice prompt. Yes, your Google Home can make phone calls — here's everything you need to know. You can tell your Google Home to call a Google contact, or to dial a number that you speak out loud. If you want a Google-powered smart speaker or smart display, you have a lot of options to pick from, but they're all solid enough that we'd recommend them as purchases.