“Made for music, the new Nest Audio is here,” is how Google introduced its new smart speaker last night, emphasising the audio quality of the new device, which goes on sale in the coming days.
It’s 75% louder with 50% stronger bass than the original Google Home speaker, following a similar evolutionary path to Amazon’s Echo, whose sound quality has also improved markedly since its first model.
There’s also a new command for the built-in Google Assistant: if you say ‘Hey Google, recommend some music’ it’ll serve up “a variety of choices from artists and genres that you like as well as others that are similar” – but only for YouTube Music or Spotify Premium subscribers.
Also notable: the $99.99 price, which matches the brand new Echo.
The Nest Audio was unveiled at an online press event for Google hardware and services: there was a new Chromecast dongle, a revamped Google TV service, and new Pixel smartphones too.
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