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What started out as small smart speakers has grown into something more. Google’s latest speaker is smart and can deliver sound worthy of your music. How worthy we have tasted.
We’ve compared two of the new Nest Audio, as the speakers are called, with two Sonos One Gen 2. Two of each means that both can be set up in stereo pairs. It gives a completely different width in the musical image than in mono.
The price
It’s worth noting that the new Nest Audio is cheap. In fact, impressively cheap compared to the soundscape they can produce. They cost 1090 crowns each, but when we reviewed Prisguiden.no we actually found that you can get a triple pack for 2198 crowns.
It is capable of stereo in one room and mono in another. Because Google is now gaining ground in the multi-room market where Sonos is the big dinosaur. Many have tried and few have managed to challenge Sonos. The question is whether Google will be successful at this. Before that happens, they probably need a lot of development on the Google Home app. This is where you have access to the speakers and can configure them however you like. Still, it’s a lot more crooked to play speakers in many rooms than it is on Sonos.
As a competitor to Nest Audio, Sonos, meanwhile, can keep up with its affordable One Gen 2. Affordable though? It costs 2,290 a piece, so a stereo pair is more than twice as expensive.
Intelligent
Both Sonos One Gen 2 are smart speakers. Of course, Nest Audio can only use the Google Assistant to answer questions and take actions. With One Gen 2, you can choose between Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
The Google Home app is the foundation for all kinds of smart home technology. You should be yawning a lot. Sonos has its sophisticated app that controls the speakers in the house and connects them to various content sources. It’s one thing that Sonos makes good sound, but it’s probably the app and functionality here that has made it so difficult to compete with them. All content providers know that they need to integrate with Sonos because many have such facilities.
We have seen many examples of large speaker manufacturers investing in this field without success because the application has been a shame.
If anyone is going to be successful, then it could be Google. Google Home is already well established and the company is strong enough.
Stereo
Setting up two One Gen 2s in a stereo pair is extremely easy. The app is very useful for finding speakers and telling you what to do.
With Nest Audio we fight a little more. The Home app finds the speakers with no problem, but getting them to pair required a bit more trial and error.
Unlike Sonos, it doesn’t use the Google Home app to select the audio source. You choose it from the application you are streaming from. That is smart. Then you can use anything as long as both the phone and the speakers are connected to the same WiFi network. This makes it much easier for Google, who only needs to work with your app to set up the speakers.
Intelligent
Both speakers are smart speakers that listen for commands and questions. Nest Audio is smart on the audio side, too. Try adjusting the sound according to volume and content. If you play bass, check the bass, which may otherwise be lost a bit. A bit like an automatic loudness function. He also tries to emphasize speech when he detects it.
Good sound
We can easily say that Nest Audio sounds good. Much better than we thought based on physical goals. And they are not particularly large. The speaker measures 17.5 cm high, 12.4 cm wide and 7.8 cm deep and weighs 1.1 kilograms.
The speaker is covered in fabric, with lights showing when the speaker is active and three contact surfaces working through the fabric. There is a single physical switch on the back and it is there to disconnect the microphones.
While Google has had speakers with a controller before, there are two in this one. A 75mm bass and a 19mm treble. It shows in the sound, but it is also necessary if you are going to compete in this class. It has remarkably good bass and clear highs without compromising the rich midrange tones.
But, of course, everything has limits. Compared to more than twice the expensive One Gen 2, it has to bite the grass. Sonos can signal most of everything in the frequency band and volume with its speakers. Especially since we found a bigger 90mm bass in addition to the tweeter. The question is whether it is worth the price. It depends on how you build the sound system. Nest Audio is more than enough for many, but if you want to expand a house with several facilities in different rooms. Maybe someone outperforms these candidates and then Sonos has something to offer.
But maybe Sonos and many others have something to worry about. With Nest Audio, Google has shown that they can develop even better sound and there will likely be more on that front.
Character 8.5
Plus
- Cheap
- Sounds good for the price
- Can be configured in stereo pairs
- Intelligent
- Nice look
- Button to turn off the microphones
Less
- Limited multi-room features
Prisguiden.no is a business partner of Digi.no. They provide updated prices, price warnings, and product information. You can read more about the Price Guide here »
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