The Google Home Speaker sounds good and looks great — but it’s finicky

Right out of the box, the new Google Home Speaker passed a couple of important tests. Even with the volume at 100 percent and music blaring out of the speaker, it quickly ducked the audio and listened every time I said “Hey, Google.” In fact, in two days of testing, the speaker’s three microphones haven’t missed a single wake word — except for the time I stage-whispered to it from the other room while trying to avoid waking up the baby, but I’m not sure that’s a fair test. I set up the speaker in the bathroom and chatted with it from the shower; Siri hardly ever hears me over the running water, but Google did pretty well. These are the sorts of things any smart speaker should do well, but the basic interactions aren’t always a given. They’re incredibly important for the Home Speaker, which Google designed not just as a way to control your music and your smart home but as an ambient way to do all things Gemini: plan and manage your day, access information, even get stuff done. My colleague Jen Tuohy and I both have Home Speakers in our houses right now, but we’ve only had a day or so to really test them; our full review, of both the speaker itself and the AI assistant inside it, is coming soon. Here’s what I can already tell you, though: The Home Speaker is a pretty good little speaker. It pumps big, rich sound out of its mesh body, and gets plenty loud for such a small device. …