Google's new smart speaker, the Home Speaker, is a promising device with a sleek design and decent audio quality. However, it's built around Gemini for Home, Google's new voice assistant, which is still in development and has some significant flaws. The Home Speaker is a solid piece of hardware, offering good sound for its size and an appealing design. It's also the first Google smart speaker that can pair with a Google TV Streamer and act as a Thread border router, making it a versatile device for the modern smart home. But the software is where things get tricky. Gemini for Home, the voice assistant powering the Home Speaker, is slow and unreliable, often taking 10 seconds to respond to commands. It also struggles with complex tasks, like setting the thermostat or turning on lights in different rooms, and can misinterpret commands, leading to frustrating user experiences. Despite its conversational capabilities, Gemini's memory is limited, causing it to lose track of the conversation mid-recipe. The AI assistant is also prone to hallucinations, playing incorrect songs or suggesting non-existent voice options. In comparison to Alexa Plus and its Echo Dot Max, Gemini for Home falls short in terms of reliability and smart home controls. While the Home Speaker is a great piece of hardware, it's waiting for its AI to catch up, making it a smart speaker that's not quite ready for prime time.
