Google Announces New Nest Smart Speaker to Fight Sonos One

Google Announces New Nest Smart Speaker to Fight Sonos One

Google sent an image of its new Google Home Nest speaker hours after the FCC filing leaked online, confirming rumors that the company has redesigned its flagship Google Assistant-enabled speaker under the Nest brand.

An FCC listing published Wednesday night revealed a Google device labeled GXCA6. Shortly thereafter, 9to5Google discovered a series of images on Twitter (via @androidtv_rumor) that showed off a cloth-covered speaker matching that model number. Upon learning of this fact, Google distributed a lifestyle shot to media outlets previewing the new speaker with a cloud blue finish.

In early June, 9to5Google reported the existence of a premium hands-free Google speaker, codenamed "Prince" and built to compete with the Sonos One, one of the best smart speakers overall.

We didn't hear much else, but noticed that the original Google Home speaker was "no longer available" from the Google Store.

The device pictured in the photo, described on Twitter as the Google Nest Speaker, appears to be in position to replace one of the company's first smart home products. [Last year, the company rebranded its compact second-generation Home Mini as the Google Nest Mini and followed up its smart display Google Home Hub with the Google Nest Hub Max.

Like the other products in Google's Nest audio collection, the Prince is covered in chalk-colored fabric. The grille seems to wrap around the device vertically, suggesting that the oval speaker will be about 7 inches tall, but in the image it is laid flat. There also appears to be a physical mute toggle and a power port.

It's a completely new design for Google Home, but it fits nicely within Google's current speaker lineup; whether it has the performance to compete with the $200 Sonos One or the $99 Amazon Echo (3rd generation) is Hands-on testing is needed, but from the looks of it, Google isn't playing around.

The company has announced several other rumored devices, including the Google Chromecast 4 Sabrina Android TV dongle and the Google Pixel 4a. The latter is scheduled to launch on July 15 based on the latest leaks, so a mini hardware event may be held at that time.

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