Google’s got a new smart speaker that’s targeting the high-end speaker market: It’s called Google Max, and it costs $400.
It looks a lot like a Sonos Play 5 speaker:
And there’s a good reason for that!
Google Home Max is a high-end speaker aimed at people who care more about sound quality than cost. If you’re balking at the $400 price, that’s probably because this speaker isn’t meant for you. Google showed off the speaker by trotting out Diplo, a DJ who’s especially famous among audiophiles.
More than just a speaker, though, Google Home Max is also a "smart" speaker - meaning it's a voice-controlled device that has Google Assistant built in. You can ask it how far away Pluto is from Earth, or you can ask it directions, or what the weather is like today, or whatever else - but where it really shines is when you ask it to play music.
Like the other Google Home devices, Max works with services like Spotify and Apple Music so you can say, "Hey Google, play 'Drops of Jupiter' by Train" and it'll play that song. It won't even make fun of you for listening to "Drops of Jupiter" by Train or anything.
Despite Google's best efforts to disguise it, there's no hiding it: Google Home Max is a large speaker, and it's housing some serious hardware behind that friendly facade.
There are two 4.5-inch woofers, and a gaggle of tweeters behind that - Google says it's "twenty times more powerful" than the original Google Home. Since it's focused on serious music heads, Google Home Max has a line-in port so you can plug in whatever you want. And as you might imagine, Google Home Max works with other Google Home devices.
The new Google Home Max arrives in December, and it costs $400. When it does arrive, it'll come in two colors: "chalk" and "charcoal." If you're interested, here's hoping you're in the US - the Google Home Max is a US exclusive until "early next year" when it starts shipping elsewhere.