Google is jumping back into the standalone smart speaker game after a roughly six-year hiatus, and this time it’s bringing its most advanced AI along for the ride. The new Google Home Speaker, priced at $99.99, is built from the ground up around the company’s Gemini AI models, designed to make talking to your house feel less like barking commands at a vending machine.
The device features 360-degree audio and deep integration with the Gemini for Home platform, Google’s initiative to bring genuinely conversational AI into the smart home environment.
What Google actually built
At $99.99, it slots in well below Apple’s current HomePod, which retails for $299.
The Gemini for Home platform started rolling out enhancements to existing Nest speakers and displays in late 2025, essentially serving as a proving ground for the conversational AI tech now baked into this new hardware.
