What you need to know
- Google has hinted that its long-awaited Home speaker could finally be announced as early as next week.
- An email to Gemini for Home testers teased news about a "certain speaker" arriving very soon.
- The new Google Home speaker is expected to feature Gemini for Home, Gemini Live, and 360-degree audio.
If you've been waiting for Google's new smart home speaker, it looks like the wait may finally be coming to an end, as Google has all but confirmed a launch for next week.
Alongside the Pixel 10 series launch last year, Google teased a brand-new smart home speaker, marking the first major update to its speaker lineup in nearly three years. The company hadn't refreshed the Nest speaker family since 2022, but later confirmed in October that a new Google Home speaker would arrive sometime in 2026.
Google specifically said the speaker would launch in the spring, and with only a few days left in the season, it looks like the company is finally about to deliver on that promise.
As spotted by 9to5Google, Google sent an email to users participating in the Gemini for Home early access program. In the email, Google's Chief Product Officer for Home and Nest, Anish Kattukaran, revealed that more than 3.5 million users had signed up for the program.
Kattukaran also noted that user feedback had resulted in more than 2,500 bug fixes and helped expand Gemini for Home to over 20 countries across 10 languages. Google has been steadily improving its Gemini-powered smart home over the past few months with a number of updates and fixes.
However, the most interesting part of the email was a small teaser. Kattukaran specifically wrote that "for those of you who have been waiting patiently for a certain speaker, keep a very close eye on your inbox next week,' strongly suggesting that Google's new smart speaker is finally about to be announced.
Previous leaks had already pointed to a possible June 25 launch date with a starting price of around $100 in the U.S. This latest email only adds more weight to those rumors. If the timeline holds, Google could announce the speaker or open pre-orders next week, before retail availability begins on June 25.
Google has already confirmed that the upcoming speaker will feature 360-degree audio alongside Gemini and Gemini Live integration. Users will reportedly be able to pair two speakers together for stereo sound, and the device is expected to launch in several color options as well.
Of course, nothing is official until Google makes an announcement, but all signs point toward the launch being right around the corner.
Android Central's Take
It's great to see Google finally returning to the smart speaker market after such a long gap. But honestly, the product I'm still waiting for is a new smart display. Google hasn't meaningfully updated the Nest Hub lineup in years, and while the Pixel Tablet briefly looked like its replacement, that strategy seems to have fizzled out.
I'm really hoping Google has something to say about the future of smart displays alongside the new speaker launch.
