Google Home is a great way to get into smart speakers and has already been able to surpass Amazon Echo in terms its capabilities. While it isn't perfect, it is still a great entry-level smart speaker. It has many features and bugs.
Google Home original (about $130) - This model has proven to be one the most value speakers in its class. This smart speaker is a great alternative to the expensive Amazon Echo. It also has an unusual feature: you can stream audio from your smartphone via WiFi.
It's also got a large song library, which means it can play most any song you can think of from services like Google Play Music and YouTube Music. You can stream audio from any connected device directly to your Google Home.
Sound Quality
It has a 2-inch driver, and dual 2-inch passive radiators. This provides good stereo imaging and crisp, punchy bass. It is surprisingly loud for such a small speaker.
But that's not all the speaker offers; it also has a range of other features to make your life easier, and you can use the app to manage these. You can mute the microphone when you don't want it to hear your voice, and you can create groups of devices so they can be controlled with one voice command.
The audio equalizer lets you adjust the bass, treble and other parameters. This isn’t the most complex equalizer we’ve seen but it does a decent job at adjusting for different situations and rooms.
This is particularly important for background music and ambient sounds, because it allows you to adjust the volume of individual tracks without having to manually change the setting. This feature is especially useful for podcasts and audiobooks because it can adjust volume to make spoken word content sound more natural.
Sound Quality: This is a big step up from the original Google Home, and it's better than what you'll find in many other smart speakers. The mid-range is well balanced, with good details in the low-end.
But the higher-pitched vocals and instruments can sometimes sound a little dull, and it's hard to get the full impact of the high notes unless you're listening at very loud volumes. The treble isn’t quite as smooth or as loud as other speakers but it’s not too harsh.
The speaker's microphone picks up your voice well and you can adjust the bass or treble with the app. Ambient IQ adjusts the volume to match the surrounding environment.
Voice Recognition
While it's not as accurate or as Google Assistant or Alexa, it understands what you say. It can answer your questions about weather, traffic, sports and can even show you your calendar.