If you own a Google TV Streamer or plan to get one, you have an exclusive audio option in the Google Home Speaker. Connecting two of them gets you spatial audio, and it’s certainly a step up from some more expensive options.
Let’s talk about TV audio. You have a few options, and a lot of them cost quite a bit. Without a dedicated audio solution, the TV’s built-in speakers will be your only option. They’re traditionally pretty bad, and an easy solution is to add a soundbar for some more refined and balanced sound.
Even soundbars can get expensive, with a barrier to entry varying somewhere around $200 for decent audio. There are outliers, but a dedicated setup can get expensive quickly.
Google wants you to replace your soundbar or TV speakers with the new Google Home Speakers. The Google TV Streamer recently added support for the company’s small Gemini speakers. Spatial audio becomes an option when two are connected.
At $99 a piece, the Google Home Speaker offers a good audio experience. It isn’t ground-breaking, and it’s more expensive than the Nest Mini was at launch – something it will inevitably be compared to.
But the idea is that you can take these $99 speakers and connect them to a streaming device you might already have, negating the need for additional speakers and getting a spatial audio experience.
So how is it?
Simple setup, simple experience
As soon as you power on the Google TV Streamer with your Google Home Speakers on and connected, a pairing request appears. You’ll want to finish the setup process in one go. Don’t be like me and turn the streamer off halfway through, only to get upset when you can’t seem to pair the speakers again. In any case, a simple restart fixes the problem.
When you pair the speakers, Google TV will let you pick the left and right units and adjust syncing, since they don’t use a traditional connection method. You can turn on spatial audio during this process. If you do, you’ll need to tell the Google TV Streamer how far apart the speakers sit from each other and from you.
The setup couldn’t be simpler. I do find it a little frustrating that if you dismiss the pairing request and decide to connect the speakers manually, the settings will not allow you to connect two at a time – just one. Again, a restart fixes that, but it does leave me wondering if Google TV will keep asking me to connect the speakers even if I decline.
As far as sound goes, it really doesn’t get much simpler.
The speakers on their own sound good. Not great, but good. It’s no surprise that pairing two together would result in good sound, just as well.
I think there’s a huge benefit in the ease of use for the Google Home Speakers as Google TV Streamer speakers. There are no wires beyond the power cords, so there’s nothing to run behind the TV. At the same time, there’s an element of failure if the speakers can’t make a proper connection for some reason. You also get several seconds on boot before the speakers actually connect to the TV.
It does offer a nice spatial audio experience thanks to the 360-degree drivers, but it suffers from a lack of full-range detail, especially at higher volumes.
Still, I think it’d be hard to find a soundbar or other audio solution for $200 that lets you just plug it in and stick it anywhere, with spatial audio available at will. That only plays into the Google TV Streamer’s relaxed experience, so they’re almost a perfect fit.
The Google Home Speaker is available now. The Google TV Streamer is recommended with or without the new speakers, and it’s currently on sale for $80 from some retailers.
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