Google Home Max Discontinued, But Nest Audio Is Cheaper & Better Anyway

One of Google‘s predecessors to the Nest Audio, the Google Home Max, has reportedly now been discontinued. The three-year-old smart speaker was Google’s super-sized, if overpriced, option for whole-home audio setups. However, as a new generation of Google smart speakers is ushered in, the old are starting to see their way out.

The Google Home Max retailed for $399 when it was unveiled in 2017, promising powerful sound thanks to a pair of 114mm dual voice-coil woofers and corresponding 18mm tweeters. The Home Max has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, and supports multi-room audio for sound throughout the house. In addition, the Home Max has Google Assistant built right in, with a six-mic array meant to help with voice recognition.

According to a report by Engadget, the Home Max is sold out on the Google Store and will no longer be manufactured. Google did confirm that existing Home Max users won’t see any changes in their service, and that the company will still provide software updates and security fixes to the speakers. While the high-priced product has hit the end of the production line after three years on the market, the recently released Google Nest Audio is a smart speaker option that’s not only cheaper, but potentially better.

How Google Outmatched Its Own Speaker With Nest Audio

The Google Home Max is a good, but costly speaker, once seen as a viable competitor to other large Wi-Fi options like the Sonos Play: 5 or the Apple HomePod. With the release of the Nest Audio, though, Google inadvertently showcased why the Home Max was too expensive for what it was. The Nest Audio, after all, has every feature that the Home Max has and costs a fraction of the price at $99.99.

Being the larger speaker of the two, the Home Max would be more capable of providing full, detailed sound. However, Google markets the Nest Audio as being 75-percent loud than the original Google Home, with 50-percent stronger bass response. Beyond that, buying two Nest Audio speakers is still cheaper than purchasing a Home Max, and Google allows for a pair of Nest Audio speakers to be tethered together to produce a stereo sound. It’s technically a subjective matter as to whether one Home Max or two Nest speakers would sound better, but a pair of appropriately placed Nest Audios would surely provide better stereo separation for music listening.

The Home Max does support multi-room audio, but the Nest Audio has the same capability while significantly slashing the cost of adding a speaker to every room throughout the home. The Home Max wasn’t a bad product, and still isn’t, but the Nest Audio represents a cheaper, more versatile option that’s likely to appeal to a greater number of consumers. Therefore, it makes sense that Google has now decided to retire the Home Max as there’s already a Wi-Fi speaker that does most things just as well, if not better, for far less. In the end, Google seems to have determined it wasn’t worth competing against itself any longer.

Source: Engadget