Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Last fall Google teased that it was working on an all-new Google Home speaker due out sometime in mid 2026. And while it took a tiny bit longer than expected, today the company began taking pre-orders for its latest speaker ahead of its official on-sale date of June 25.

While the new Google Home serves a similar role to the existing Nest Audio, including the ability to function as linked stereo speakers when paired with a second unit, there are a number of other design changes and upgrades. Instead of relying on directional sound, the Google Home was created to deliver clear 360-degree audio in an even more compact chassis. And when paired with Google's TV Streamer, it can even serve up stereo audio when you're watching shows and movies. 

The outside of the speaker is covered in a 3D knit fabric made from recycled materials and will be available in four colors: hazel, porcelain, jade and berry. Another change is that in lieu of putting indicator lights behind the speaker's mesh covering, Google opted for a ring of LEDs around the speaker's base to provide more dynamic feedback when its mic is on and listening to commands or responding to questions. 

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

However, the other big upgrade on Google's latest speaker is that Gemini is finally taking center stage as the primary digital assistant. This change is part of the company's ongoing agenda to bring smarter and more useful AI-based features to a wider range of people. By ditching the classic Google Assistant, the speaker can use Gemini to do things like perform more complicated or multi-step commands like dimming all the lights in a room, playing music and setting a timer with a single query or asking Gemini to find a recipe for a specific dish before adding those ingredients to your shopping list.

Google says Gemini on the Home also features better contextual understanding and a longer short term memory, so you can have more in depth interactions without needing to constantly remind it of pertinent information. Google says this should also help prevent hotword fatigue, as users will be able to get more done without constantly need to trigger the speaker by saying "Hey Google" or "OK, Google."

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

That said, if you want to utilize the speaker's full potential, you will need to have a subscription to Google Home Premium. By upgrading to the $10 a month standard plan, users will get access to Gemini Live which offers deeper, more free-flowing chatbot-like conversations along with enhanced automation capabilities. Meanwhile, the $20 premium tier tacks on additional features including the AI-powered Home Brief, which summarizes all the events being tracked by compatible security cams, video doorbells and more, plus AI-based alert notifications and home video history. Thankfully, for those already subscribed to one of Google's AI and cloud storage plans, you may already have access to some of these features. For example, the $20 per month Google AI Pro sub includes Google Home Premium Standard as part of the package.

The new Google Home speaker is available for pre-order now for $100, with official sales slated for June 25.