Google Nest Audio review: Who needs Sonos?
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- The Google Nest Audio fits right in the middle of the Nest Mini and the Home Max, but because of the $99 price point I think it's the multiroom audio option that will be most appealing for people.
Editor's note: In the review I mention that Ambient IQ only works with podcasts but it actually works with all spoken word content including audiobooks and even the Google Assistant responses.
0:00 Intro
0:32 Build quality and design
1:53 What can it do?
2:27 Media EQ & Ambient IQ
3:20 Cast and Bluetooth
3:46 Privacy
4:52 How to delete your audio recordings
5:50 Sound quality
7:14 Should you buy it?
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Man, these guys nail it every time. 👍🏼
Thanks! Been waiting patiently for a new video.
Mine came today and I love it so much ❤️
Just my two cents here:
Currently I have a pair of Nest audio’s and a pair of Sonos one/SL side by side (one one and one SL paired together). I eally wanted to believe that the Sonos is much better in sound quality than the Nest Audio. Over the last 2 days I’ve been going back and forth and played with all the settings. Here’s my personal view on the comparison between the 2.
The Sonos one/SL is a good speaker with better sub bass (less muddy) and it sounds clearer, crisper than the Nest Audio. Although not by much. I can see that for large rooms and for movies that need that sub bass oomph, one would favor the Sonos. Certainly if you want to pair it with a soundbar. For me the sound profile of the Nest needed less tuning than the Sonos, and the nest sounds just nice. I can see the appeal of the signature to many people. It has a nice warm sound profile, which can get a bit wooly. But you can turn down the bass and turn the treble up to correct that. It’s a REALLY nice speaker for background and small to medium rooms. It doesn’t have the same firepower that the Sonos packs. I will say that the Sonos gets better in sound signature if you push it past the 30% volume mark, the it shines more. I tried Trueplay and to me it squeezes the voices away, emphasizes the highs and the lows (which I dislike). At times I can hear the Sonos actively tuning the sound when playing. In terms of soundstage I was disappointed in the Sonos, the separation is a bit better, because it plays less mid tone voices. Which makes it sound clearer and a bit crisper. Sonos turns on loudness standard. I turn it off, because I like a more neutral, but still warmish sound for voices, strings, piano, etc.
All in all, and yet again, this is just my own opinion and my personal taste: the Sonos can be made to sound 10-15% better than the Nest Audio, with heavy tuning (Trueplay off, and bass and treble turned up). But for the price, and for a smaller room, bookshelf, study, you can’t beat the value for money of the Nest audio. Sonos costs more than twice the price and plays 10-15% better to my ears at best. It can play louder and give more oomph at higher volumes. It fills the room better than the Nest. Your neighbours will complain sooner with the Sonos. ;-)
If you are going to listen to them, make sure to turn off the loudness and play with the settings. If you can take the time, compare them side by side and see what works for your taste and your own ears. Me, I'm returning the Sonos speakers. I wanted to believe they were going to be a lot better than The Nest Audio. But the difference is not enough. I’m keeping the Google Nest speakers. And that’s just for the sound, I don’t really care for the smart speaker capabilities. I use a Nest home or Home Mini or the phone to send music to my speakers or give voice commands. I hope this helps people who are trying to decide between the two speakers.
I don't feel like reading all of that shit. Get to the point!
@@theforceq no one is forcing you to read that lol
I just got a pair and they have not right sounding this good at $100 for a pair. It have a Sonos SL and that sounds great, but I didn't pay out of pocket for it. I couldn't recommend 2 Sonos at close to $350 to $400 vs $100 for the nest.
Thanks!
Happy you guys are back, I thought you closed up shop last year
I bought one simply out of curiosity, and I am now owning three of them. I think you are right on point by saying that this is perfect for multiroom set-up. It's small, versatile, fully loaded with smart features and sounds reasonably good for its size and price. Also, I need to emphasize that this looks much better, imo, than some of its competitors like Sonos One, Yamaha MusicCast 20 and any of the Amazon speakers. It just fits right in my home where ever I put it.
Wow finally a sound guys video 🔥🎃
Good one guys👌 Very thorough.
got two minis in the hottub room - so maybe not water resistant but the speakers have worked , no issues in a humid environment for over two years
Great review!!
I usedddd to be a fan of Sonos till I heard the vocals on this thing man I'm in love
I owned this smart speaker, super happy with the sound of it. highly recommended. =)
how does it compare sound quality wise to the sonos one? and does it get as loud?
You can put it the bathroom, I’ve had one in my master bath for years and it’s still working just fine.
It just came out?
I’ve had my original Google home in my bathroom for years now and it still works perfectly. Thinking about trying an Echo 4th gen as a replacement tho.
Very useful information, thanks, but what the heck were you doing in the sink towards the end?
I think this review missed one essential detail. One Nest Audio sounds okay, but if you have two, they not only can be grouped to play the same on both speakers, they can be used as stereo speakers with left and right output. Just set my two speakers up playing in stereo in the living room this week and it kind of blew my mind how much better the sound experience is.
it's covered at 2:16
Haven't watched a sound guys vid in awhile
ok
I'd like to see a review on the Marshall Uxbridge
Is the sound noticeably better if you pair two of these together?
Thank you for helpful information!
If installed two nest audio speakers, after being paired could they automatically identify themselves as Left and Right channel?
Besides, is it possible to play music at the same time on nest audio and my old bluetooth speaker (harman kardon soundstick iv)?
"don't use near water" 5min later 6:20 lmao
Could this be used as a sound bar for my Sony TV? Not sure if it could be connected via wifi or bluetooth.
Can this be used as PC primary audio speaker? Mainly audio for streaming movies, songs via PC Bluetooth. Thanks!
So clarification: I manually adjusted the EQ to my liking for music. Does that mean the AI EQ adjustments for ambient or media or volume is no longer active?
This as a new Nest WiFi with WiFi 6 built in would have me buying, replacing any Sonos over time I imagine. Without an all in one solution for each room there's just going to be too many devices hanging around everywhere for me.
What would you recommend for connecting it to a MacBook? Bluetooth?
Hello ,wanted to know whether there would be a review of bose qc earbudus on soundguys channel because I 'm basing my purchase decision on your review .it would be helpful if you clarify 😇😇
No one channel can review everything. Just buy them and let us know.
Can this be used with the Google nest doorbell camera...battery operated?
Can you play sound on the new Nest Audio speakers when you play Netflix movie the on new Chromecast? Google has new Nest Speaker and new Chromecast with remote control with Netflix button but I can not find if you can play audio from Netflix running on new Chromecast on Nest Speakers? At this moment you can not play Audio from Netflix running on” old” Chromecast to Google Home Speaker.
How’s this for taking audio and video calls ?
I'm happy with my multiple Chromecast audios for multiroom sound.
Hey in my country the Google Home Max is now only €150 ($170), is that a must-buy?
We need an outdoor google speaker
I’m slightly puzzled. I’m building a new house and I was wondering if I could put two of these in each room (3 bedrooms). If I were to trigger google and ask to play a song while in my room, would it only play in my room or all rooms
It will just play in the speaker you triggered, unless you set up a multi speakers. I have 5 google speakers and am able to play on one speaker or all 5 at the same time. It can all be done in the google home app
For 99 you can also buy the IKEA Symfonisk speaker that has the Sonos logo so a comparison would be interesting.
I had one for two hours - i found that it sounded so cheap and terrible that I got it right back to ikea. The sound wasnt half as good as e.g. the old google home.
I have the og Google home. How does the sound on this compare to that. Is it worth the upgrade on sound alone?
I would say so. This one definitely gets louder and is clearer too...basically all the smart home stuff is the same though
@@SoundGuys awesome. That's all I need for convincing. Apparently the new nest devices have better mics in them too. Which might help pick up my voice better. Idk. Great review!!
They come in a very distant second to the Home Max. Nest Audio is like the 2020 equivalent to the bookshelf mini hifi systems that were so popular 20 years ago. The sound is okay but nothing to rave about.
You made a great point on its price point versus a single Sonos One. How would you rate the sound quality of a pair of Google Nest Audios VS a single Sonos One? Since a pair costs the same as a Sonos One.
If you have two of these and it's using stereo mode, they'd have to be near one another right? Can you turn that off in case you want to put a couple in different parts of the house?
You just add them to a speaker group rather than a stereo pair.
Even though you censored "Hey Google...", It still triggered my Google Assistant.
Do you think I can use this as a PC speaker ?
Kindly advice. My requirement is only to play music. I am confused between a pair of these or a dedicated 2.1 music system. Which would sound better?
The .1 means subwoofer.... 2 of these is just stereo, theres no ".1"...
@@starmc26 I got a pair of these and they sound excellent in terms of clarity and Sound stage. I do miss a little bit of extra bass where a dedicated 2.1 music system would have been better. But the clarity with loudness of 2 nest audio's just amazes me.
Could you review the IKEA x Sonos SYMFONISK? It's also at $99 and sounded pretty good in the ikea and at that price point would love a comparison with Google Nest Audio for sound quality
Seconding this request, would love to see how these compare!
The symfonisk is about 85% of a sonos one and will blow nest audio out of the water.
IKEA symfonisk is MUCH better. Many comparisons out there now, the one by Peter Pee shows frequency response and explains how that translates to sound differences. Symfonisk is the same as Sonos One except the ported design makes the bass sound more “forward” due to a bump in the mid bass whereas the One doesn’t have the bump and extends a few more Hz into the deep bass. Symfonisk wins, no contest, if you don’t need voice assistance and normally just cast music from your phone, Spotify, or iOS with AirPlay.
@@RSWDev I saw the review of Peter Pee but to me it seems like he is saying the opposite. He seems to love the Nest Audio. Also he says that the Nest Audio goes deeper in the bass while having a much smaller enclosure.
Peep the Frekvens speaker in the background
How does its sound compare to Sonos One? I have 4 Sonos One but if Nest sounds the same I will replace them with Nest Audio for Chromecast feature.
i kinda regret not getting Sonos One and get a nest audio instead..... because i thought oh the price differences..
but the audio quality differ a lot.......
And Sonos One u can reconfigure it into a tv surround in the future
Or break it up into multiple room and they are more environmentally resistant than google nest audio....
I'm about to move into my new apartment with my wife. I plan on having a nest audio in the bedroom, nest mini in the bathroom (but you wouldn't recommend that?) and the nest home max in the living room. Does that sound like a good setup? I want to get smart light bulbs as well in all the rooms.
I'd rather buy two nest audio in the living room for the stereo and I think sound wise it's not muchc apart
@@Megaatron1 I figured the nest mini would be good for the bathroom since it's a much smaller room than the rest of the places
2 nest audio for the living room and a nest audio for the bedroom is cool. But you may want two nest minis in the bedroom or (nest audio depending on budget). And a nest mini in the bathroom is perfect. There is two nest minis in every room of one floor in my house, including the kitchen and 1 nest mini in the bathroom and Eye love it. Thinking about upgrading the nest minis in the bedroom to 2 nest audio because now with the new "Chromecast with android tv", you can link them up with your tv for surround sound. Hope this helped more than confused you! Wishing you much success!
@@mackmccord3743 Woah! That's a lot lol. Yeah we're just moving into a 726 square foot apartment. Maybe I could put 5 nest audios in the bedroom and one in the living room along with the nest max
@@WholeOrganicMilk lol. Eye hope you meant two. But yes that would work. Also thinking about the Max if there is a good sale
@8:15 you say sonos is the way to go to build out a home theater, But there are Googleified alternatives. For example the Harman Kardon Citation Bar W/surround speakers and sub has google assistant built it
And sonos also has google assistant or alexa
Make review on the shure sm7b
How does it's sound quality compare to HomePod?
is there a way to connect these to my tv and watch movies or while playing games
It'll work through bluetooth for one speaker, but if you pair them there's a latency that makes them unusable. I bought them thinking I could use them as stereo computer speakers, but it doesn't work. The lag is terrible.
How does it compare to a LG WK7?
Do you think Homepod Mini will be better than Nest Audio in relation to audio quality?
Should be
I don't think so Nest is bigger and powerful but let's see the upcoming reviews
Yeah, I think you have it right on the mark: these are great for multi-room daily music and news listening.
But there's one more reason for this: the Bluetooth "feature" on the Nest Mini (and this one) is 100% useless. I was hoping to upgrade the sound on my several Nest Minis by pairing them to Bluetooth speakers (and amps attached to mini bookshelf speakers). But after tearing my hair out trying to get this to work, I found that between the huge Bluetooth delay that can't be compensated for, and a deal-breaker bug that prevents casting to a speaker group with any member doing Bluetooth, I gave it up and tried a Nest Audio the instant they were available.
I find that the sound of the Nest Audio, while not Hi-Fi, is actually great, and easily beats out some older mini bookshelf speakers I was trying out with Bluetooth amps. So now I own three Nest Audios (kitchen, eat-in, dining room) and I am super happy. I will continue using my (now obsolete and precious) Chromecast Audio devices for some bookshelf speaker locations until Google comes out with decently priced larger speakers.
A hardware button just to play an audio file. How do you “turn off” a mic anyway?
Hey! You're on the MKBHD team!
Wait what you found it in your apple music cast? That must be Android only than.
Could I connect them to a Chromecast oder Google TV to give a monitor stereo-speakers?
Yes and you can cast it over google chrome browser. The only issue is if you're watching a video there is major latency between visual and audio.
@@Sonchuo I have the Nest Mini that was newest a couple months ago and the New Chromecast with Google TV. In the Google home app I set the best mini as the default audio device for my new chromecast, but it won't play the TVs audio. If I cast from my computer browser then I get the lag you're talking about. If I got this Nest Audio can it receive the audio cast from my chromecast? If yes, should I expect it to lag? I heard the review say it has bluetooth 5 and I know that will connect to the Chrome TV but it will almost certainly have lag. The Google home app does allow for delay adjustment but only 200ms. So do you think this will work normally over WiFi to my new chromecast google tv without lag?
Also, so many people reviewing this speaker don't actually say you can use it with the new chromecast for movie audio. They say something vague like "you're better off with x if you're serious about your movie sound".
Would love having these connected to my pc
I would advise against dropping the money on two of them, the Home Max has a latency issue that makes it very impractical to use them with a television or PC in a pair if you are using the auxiliary connection. Hell, not even just impractical, more like impossible. There is a *very* long delay between the source and the audio output. I assume this would extend over to Bluetooth as well. For people using them in home theater, I believe they can cast just fine with them in a pair, but otherwise having two of them playing audio from a video source is kind of pointless.
I would just pick up a really good set of bookshelf speakers for the PC and grab a Nest Mini to go with it.
@@kozad86 Why do you assume the Bluetooth latency is unacceptable? Is there a well-established precedent betwixt wi-fi and Bluetooth latency?
It doesn't work. I bought two specifically for this purpose and there's a huge lag between the audio and video when the speakers are paired. It works fine with one speaker, though.
Does this do everything the Nest Mini can do?
Yea no different just better sound
Hmm I haven’t got the cast button on my Apple Music for my google speakers??
Thats deezer, or one of those other music services
Apple are evil
well.... sonos one have AirPlay 2 LOL
is nest audio portable? ie can i use it without having to plug it in?
No
Just bought two. They were on sale for €45. So €90!
Would 3 of these sound better than a Google home max? They're the same price
no - depth of bass provided by them does not match and there is much more depth to the sound of the max. I have them all and in audio quality line up | original google mini > nest home hub mini > original google home "flower pot" >"About the same > current nest mini > hub max > nest audio >>> max speaker by a good margin over all of them
Bro the max costs 300 and the nest audio costs 99 lol what you talkn bout
@@drsauce2574 the 3 pack costs 199
Has anyone connected a pair of these via bluetooth to a television? Curious about the sound and sync quality.
Does it work?
Can it be done ?
No, you need a aptx low latency transmitter and speaker with bluetooth.
It's garbage. The audio and video is always out of sync.
If only they would have put an aux port on it. I've just bought a home max yesterday since I need the aux port xd
It's on sale now half off. Unfortunately due to a Sonos lawsuit, features have been removed once again. When grouping pairs of speakers, you cant control the volume of the pair, without telling it what speaker you want to control. This becomes a no-buy. Without ability to tell it to turn down all speakers in a group at once, it's ridiculous.
still waiting for akg n700nc m2 review
power adaptor supports 240 v or just american 120 v?
Depends on the country you buy it in
@@praneetrohida8634 i want to knew whether the US version supports it!
You forgot the elephant in the room - the nest hub. Better speaker than home mini, but also has display convenience for a quick video / security camera view. And also all the features of this new nest audio - like multiroom audio etc. I was hoping you would compare its audio to this one. Anyway, good review otherwise. Thanks
True. I have a Nest Hub. Love it.
Can anyone help me pick a good smart speaker.
I want good sound quality and some good bass.
What should I get?
Google Home max = $150 in black friday
Google nest audio 2 pack = $170
Sonos move = $299
JBL extreme 2 = $150
How are you getting a Cast button within Apple Music?
Not Apple Music
@@danielmonheit at 3:33 he literally shows Apple Music, and says “I even found a Cast button in my Apple Music app”.
@@marcusdiddle it’s not Apple Music
Use iPhone or iPad. It has cast button which is the airplay
I believe you can only pair for audio. No pairing for video like Sonos.
one thing google hasn't said is that there are latency issues when pairing the audio nest to a tv via bluetooth (even as all the promotional material mentions bluetooth connectivity with TV as a feature). I've tried with mine and the lag of more than 1s makes it not viable at all. The tech support admits that these latency issues are NORMAL. Reviews might want to update their articles that suggest using nest audio speakers with the TV Bluetooth function.
if you are looking to use them as tv speakers, DONT DO IT
Yeah, I'm super disappointed by this. I bought two thinking I could use them as computer speakers but the latency is terrible.
This & the HomePod Mini will be holiday best sellers... hey what do I know... I just work retail.
Does somebody know a good wifi speaker without the whole assistant thing?
The Ikea Symfonis bookshelf speaker is the best at $100, a bit higher in price you can go for the Sonos One SL.
Sonos One SL
i have a jbl link 20, which is portable (has a battery), and based on what I've heard so far it makes no sense to replace it with this one.
thats a 200$ speaker, this one is 100$
@@ThunderWindz maybe when it was released, I bought it for around 100 euros.
nevertheless, I was so looking forward to this, but it's kinda lackluster.
Can we finally use it as a home theater set up
I bought 8 google nest minis thinking I can use them as home theater
Gilberto Resendez why would you even use nest minis for a home theatre even if it was possible
@@matgaming1163 i bought 8 of them i have them all around my room the music sounds good so I was thinking using them for movies like the theaters
@@gilbertoresendez37 nope maybe over 10 years
Google needs to figure out a way to link these with a chromecast or Google tv device to use as wireless stereo speakers 🙏 economize that low latency stadia tech!
You can already do that can you? I can set a speaker as the sound output in each room as I have a Max and nest hub in each. Looking forward to trying it with new chrome cast.
I believe you can. Are you saying its mono only?
Richard Crossley Can you play sound on the new Nest Audio speakers when you play Netflix movie the on new Chromecast? Google has new Nest Speaker and new Chromecast with remote control with Netflix button but I can not find if you can play audio from Netflix running on new Chromecast on Nest Speakers? At this moment you can not play Audio from Netflix running on” old” Chromecast to Google Home Speaker.
I did that on my Nvidia Shield with Android TV I paired it to 2 Google home minis as stereo speakers just for fun
Will people quit playing music in the background during a review.=
You are adorable!!!
The problem with these google smart speakers is connectivity, google could never ensure a smooth multi speaker setup, there is always glitches in their cast function, slowness, unresponsiveness, sometimes a speaker would simply just disappear from a group, that's why they will never replace Sonos which is way more better at maintaining a stable connection for quality music experience.
The answer on who needs Sonos? People who want Bass and people who want to use the speakers for movies too. (Yes Sonos also sounds a lot better)
Who needs Sonos? The ones who have tv speakers..
Got 'em 💀
Man, you literally just deleted my recent activates on my phone when you say 'okay Google, delete what I said......" We seriously need some warning sign before the components like this.
How long does the battery lasts?
It has no battery
Thank you for censoring... You know ...
For some reason - Mine got triggered anyways and deleted my google assistant history
Ssssshhhh don't say it!
Thank you for censoring the trigger words!
headphone users
Yes,,,nasty nasty words...lol
Oh my. I thought he cursed it out
Unfortunately, I've had nothing but trouble with the Google family of speakers. Their firmware updates are horrendous. My speakers don't play as a group because of their latest firmware updates. Lately, I can't add speakers to my Google home because of the latest firmware updates. I don't recommend Google Home or their Nest products until they resolve their firmware issues.
I think it has something to do with a lawsuit from sonos
I'm picking up 3 of these in a 3 for 2 offer. And I'm also crossing my fingers for Google home enabled receivers being able to be grouped with the nest audio for whole home audio. No sonos thank you. Sonos is a rip off
Google Home receivers?? Wait, is that a thing??
Good audio has always been expensive since the 1950's. It was common in the 60's to have $2000 or more wrapped up in your stereo for playing vinyl. Look that up in todays dollars. Do you own any Sonos? Please explain specifically as to why you close your comment with a brief dope slap to Sonos?. Thanks RazzoGatto.
@@geraldhenrickson7472 in just not a fan of closed systems. I don't like being tied to one brand. And I picked up a home max instead.
Gah! The seam!
Kind of unless if this smart speaker can’t even use as a speaker phone when paired with phone and notebook.
Wow
Maybe I would replace my Sonos with this if Google would allow audible audiobooks to be played on it.
Wait...I believe my google nest plays audible. It certainly offers up amazon music just fine. Did I miss something in this video?
@@geraldhenrickson7472 how??? My Google nest does not allow it
Some how even though you bleeped out the hey Google my speaker still heard you and deleted my history. 🙈🙈🙈
Yup, it was funny coz my speaker repeated the same phrase in perfect harmony as his google home
$79 right now on the Google Store 👀
The problem with Sonos is that they don't integrate properly into other smart home devices. At least with Google speakers, they will work with most smart house technology. Want to group it with your Tv system, Done. Want to have one integrated system go google. Sonos causes me so much heartache with the fact you can't simply group it with other google speakers, which is why it is being sold and the money used to buy google speakers. Which for most people are going to be more than they ever need.
Who needs Bose? is my reply! I have Sony XB-13...Bose SoundLink Micro and Revolve II...suck compared with the XB-13! This is louder than XB-13 and has a tweeter...however requires Wi-Fi so not portable.
I have a wall mounting bracket, you can contact if you need
Unfortunately this is a mono unit, not stereo ..
my assistant just deleted my most recent activity.... thank you I guess?