According to a new report, Google is working on a new Nest-branded smart speaker, which is reportedly codenamed “Prince” and will be a competitor to the Sonos One.
This means that this smart speaker is going to be somewhat large – likely larger than the original Google Home. And it’ll also have larger drivers. But it will definitely look like a smart speaker. Perhaps, Google is getting away from the air freshener look from the Google Home.
It’ll use the fabric-based design language from the Nest Mini
Like the Nest Mini and Hub, it’s going to use the fabric-based design language. So it’s going to fit well into Google’s new lineup of smart speakers and displays.
The device is reportedly codenamed “Prince” after Prince himself. It’s going to be a smart speaker without a display. While there’s no word on the speaker drivers in this smart speaker, they are thought to be similar to the Sonos One drivers though. Which would be a big upgrade from the “high excursion speaker with 2-inch driver” that was in the original Google Home.
It should be more powerful than the Google Home, but not quite as powerful as the Google Home Max.
Obviously, it’ll run Google Assistant
As expected, this device is also going to run on Google Assistant. Which does run all of its other smart speakers too. 9to5Google, who is reporting on this device, says that they are not aware of any unique software capabilities. But that does not mean there aren’t any. It’s also wise to expect Google to build on its existing functionality.
There’s no clue right now what the final name of this device is going to be. And there’s no idea on when it’ll launch. But Google is still expected to do its fall hardware event around October. Which is typically where Google announces things like this. So it’s likely we could hear about it in October. Now whether or not it goes on sale shortly thereafter or not is another story.
It could be another Pixel Buds, where it doesn’t launch until the following Spring. But was announced in the Fall because Google didn’t have any other hardware events between then and when the Pixel Buds would go on sale – since Google I/O was going to be later on. Before it got cancelled altogether.
It’s exciting to hear about a totally brand new smart speaker from Google. Since the Nest Mini wasn’t much of an upgrade, mostly a rebranding.