New Nest Audio speaker: Release date, rumours, specs and price

It was pretty obvious that with the Google Home being the oldest of Google's speakers, a replacement for this popular size of speaker must be in the works.

The leaks haven't been as prolific as the now annouced Pixel 4a or the upcoming Pixel 5, but recently things have turned up a notch on this speaker codenamed Prince.

Here's everything we know, and everything you need to know, about the new Nest Audio speaker.

Release date and price

• 30 September launch event
• Around €100 

Google has announced that it will be hosting a launch event on 30 September and we're expecting to see a wide range of devices announced. Included in that mix should be the new speaker - which will be called Nest Audio, confirmed by packaging spied on the shelves of Walmart.

According to leaker Roland Quandt, the new Google Nest Home speaker device will cost around €100 . Given that the Google Home is available for £89 in the UK (it's no longer available in the US), we suspect this will be a likely price. The Amazon Echo costs £89/$99 and if you're going to compete in this space, that's the sort of price you really need to hit.

Design and build

• Officially confirmed by Google
• 215 x 150 x 60mm approx.
• Two colours

Rumours of the new Nest Audio speaker appeared in June, but it wasn't until July that the design of this speaker was revealed in dramatic style. The new device passed through a couple of regulatory bodies, including the FCC as well as the Japanese equivalent, which contained images. Those images were shared online, giving us a complete look at the speaker.

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leaks

Google responded providing official images and a video, killing the leak cycle but confirming its new speaker. Subsequently we've seen full image leaks as well as the device appearing early on store shelves.

It's a medium-sized speaker that very much matches the design of the Nest Mini and Nest Hub devices, covered in mesh and offering minimal controls. It looks like there will be two colours a grey and a pink version. 

There will be the customary four LEDs across the front as you get on other Nest speakers when you are talking to Google Assistant. 

According the to regulatory filing, the measurements are around 215 x 150mm. We can't be sure on the depth, but we'd guess around 60mm. It's a rounded cuboid with a mute switch on the rear, a rubber base at the bottom and a socket for the power on the back. 

Features

• Stereo pairing
• Google Assistant

As this joins an established family of devices, we pretty much know what it will do. It will be mainly powered by Google Assistant and be controlled through the Google Home app on your phone. It will have all the skills of other devices and that will likely mean you can easily add it to speaker groups around your home with a couple of taps.

It also supports Bluetooth, so we'd expect it to work as a standalone Bluetooth speaker if you want it to. There are no physical playback controls, so you'll have to use voice for control, although we'd expect some form of motion detection for tap interaction. There is a physical mute button on the rear, however.

In the teaser video that Google has shared, we also see it sitting in a pair, suggesting that it's going to be designed for stereo pairing, rather than just grouping. The original leak for this speaker likened it to the Sonos One, suggesting that's the sort of space that Google is going for. 

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All the Google smart speaker leaks and rumours 

Here's everything that's happened so far so you can keep up with the story.

24 September 2020: Google Nest Audio speaker accidentally sold early

It looks like Walmart put the Nest Audio on sale before it was even announced, confirming pretty much everything about it.

19 September 2020: Google's next smart speaker, the €100 Nest Audio, pictured in new leak

A comprehensive leak names the new Google speaker as Nest Audio, puts a price on it.

14 September 2020: Google 'Launch Night In' event announced: Pixel 5, Nest speaker, Chromecast, more expected

Google has confirmed that it will be hosting a launch event on 30 September.

7 August 2020: Hey Google, will the new Google Nest Home launch this month?

Leaker Roland Quant claims the new Google Nest Home speaker will be available before the end of the month and cost around €100. 

11 July 2020: Google teases Nest activity for 13 July

Google has teased from its Nest account on Twitter that something is going to happen on 13 July, likely to be the launch of the new Nest speaker.

10 July 2020: This is what Google's new Nest smart speaker officially looks like

Google responds to leaks surrounding its forthcoming Nest speaker by sharing an official image and short video teaser for the forthcoming device.

9 July 2020: Google could be lining up a new Nest smart speaker, FCC leak suggests

Details hitting the FFC as well as the Japanese equivalent have revealed details of Google's forthcoming smart speaker Prince. The leak confirms the design, as well as some of the technical specifications.

16 June 2020: Google is set to replace Google Home with a new Nest-branded smart speaker

Google is reportedly looking at launching a replacement for the Google Home speaker and its codename is Prince.

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