Nest Audio review: this sound quality for this price is not normal

Smart loudspeakers have been one of the most successful products in Spain, where Amazon and Google battle it out for penetration in local homes. More than two million users already enjoy this type of product, and there are more and more.

Google brought its first model to Spain, the Google Home, in 2016, and it has been now, in 2020, when it has presented its direct successor, the Nest Audio.

This model focuses on design but, above all, on sound. Google’s intention is to create the best possible speaker for listening to music for less than 100 euros. Hence its price, of 99.99 euros in Spain.

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This model stops the original Google Home from being sold and remains together with the Nest Mini, as the only alternative without a screen since the Home Max is not sold in our country.

The Nest Audio is sober and very discreet

Google wanted to make it clear that although the design of the original model was iconic, what they were looking for now was to go unnoticed. That is why they have created a very neutral, almost timeless design, with a fabric that covers the entire speaker, except for the bottom part, which is made of rubber, to prevent the speaker from slipping. According to the company, 70% recycled materials have been used.

The shape, grille and materials have been studied to enhance the sound as much as possible. Even the tactile zones to control the sound are camouflaged, located in the upper part.

There is only a physical button, which is used to mute the microphone, and a connector for the charging cable, which is the typical cylindrical, is not a USB port.

Scary how good it sounds

Unlike other smart speakers, the Nest Mini is designed for listening to music. Musicians, composers, experts in machine learning, engineers have helped its design …

The idea is to balance the low, medium and high frequencies so that regardless of what we listen to, it sounds the best possible.

For this we have a 75 mm woofer and a 19 mm twitter that give us 75% more volume and 50% better bass than the Google Home.

Regarding the software, we have three elements that improve the musical experience:

• Bass extension: increases the bass when we are using a not very high volume
• Ambient IQ: allows the assistant to hear us even in noisy environments
• Middle EQ: equalize the device based on what we listen to: music, podcasts or the assistant

Smart features

Like the rest of Google speakers, we can integrate the Nest Audio into a group of speakers, or we can pair two in stereo.

As expected, the integration of the Google assistant is very good and with dual-band Wi-Fi the response speed is higher than in other models of the brand.

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Thanks to the three long-range microphones the listening capacity is very high, and more than once I have found that the Nest Mini has responded before another speaker that was closer.

Conclusion: The Nest Audio is a great speaker

Google’s idea has been clear: create a speaker with great sound quality for under 100 euros.

If you are looking for a device of this type to listen to music and you value that it is integrated into the Google ecosystem, and that it helps you to control your home or organize your schedule, it is undoubtedly a very good option.

In Spain it will be available on October 15 with a price of 99.99 euros and we can buy it in the manufacturer’s online store.

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