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I did have some issues with the speaker hearing me when I spoke to it while music was playing, but I’ll get into that later. If you have a Google Chromecast, getting anything to play on your TV is seamless. Even pausing and playing the content is pretty quick and reliable just by telling the speaker to pause or resume playback.
But the Google Home Max self-adjusts in order to make sure the sound stays consistent. This is good if you don’t feel like going through the trouble of EQing your music yourself, but not so good if you do because you won’t have that level of control. All you get is the basic bass and treble sliders in the Google home app.
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Dynamics are impressively well preserved at soft and quiet volumes. Despite the promised “clear stereo sound in the entire room,” the sound stage could be much wider. It is actually only when standing close to the speaker that a listener can perceive a stereo dimension.
Most of the major streaming services, be it YouTube Music, YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, etc., have built-in functionality that will cause the button to pop up automatically in the app. But what makes the Home Max a smart speaker is that you can speak to it. If you don’t feel like browsing through your phone to find that new Childish Gambino song, you can just ask the Home Max to play Feels Like Summer thanks to tiny built-in microphones. Unfortunately, you can’t say “Yo Google” just yet, but “Okay Google” or “Hey Google” work just fine. It’s hard to recommend a smart speaker over a dedicated home audio setup or any other Bluetooth speakers, but the Google Home Max has weaved its way into my life in a way other products haven’t.
Google Home Max Speaker Watts / PyleHome - PDWT6 - Home and Office - Home Speakers - Sound : In theory would this combine to …
Sure, this isn’t the most scientific test ever devised but it does highlight how at higher volumes the microphones on the speaker have a hard time picking up voices. Though it’s on the pricey side, Google Home Max has set an exemplary example for any and all smart speakers to come. Anyone invested in the Google ecosystem should add the Nest Audio to their collection.
Google provides a generous 6.5-foot power cable with a diminutive two-prong plug at the end (death to wall warts!), which makes the speaker easy to place. You can orient the cabinet either horizontally or vertically, moving a magnetic silicone furniture pad to either the broad side or the narrower right-hand side that will become the speaker’s bottom. Two of the Max’s far-field microphones are on the left side, so you wouldn’t want that to become the bottom. The speaker’s overall dynamics remain particularly precise and impactful at soft and even quiet volumes.
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There’s also a trusty 3.5mm jack to satisfy those who have analog devices to hook up. You'll be able to use Google Home and Nest devices as hubs for Matter-enabled products. As good as the Max sounds, it's really only truly useful if you and the Assistant are besties.
With a volume sub-score of 132, the Google Home Max comes very close to our top-ranking speaker in this category. It performed remarkably well in every use case we put it through, from bedtime to partying, to relaxing at home, friendly gatherings, in the kitchen, the bathroom, and even outdoors. But there’s still room for improvement, especially in the high-ends, where instruments such as hi-hat cymbals lack precision, and at soft volumes , where punch is slightly lacking.
Our volume tests measure both the maximum loudness a speaker is able to produce and how smoothly volume increases and decreases based on user input. Our spatial tests measure a speaker’s ability to reproduce stereo sound in all directions, taking into account localizability, balance, wideness, distance, and directivity. Please note that wideness is 0 for mono speakers and for speakers that cannot deliver a significant stereo effect. At nominal volume, the frequency ranges are well balanced, with particularly consistent midrange frequencies . That said, high-end is slightly lacking, contrary to the Big Four company’s promise.
Most of the controls come from your voice, commanding Siri, but you can also tap the touchpad for basic playback and volume controls. The Sonos One is a pricier speaker at $219 USD and with that you get a sleeker design, ethernet port, and more comprehensive app. With the Sonos app, you can equalize the sound to a minimal degree, create a multi-room system, use it as your go-to media player, and more. You take and receive calls to and from mobile phones, tablets, and more directly through Google Duo—so long as you’ve set up Duo calling. You can call non-Duo affiliated numbers, though emergency calls can’t be made from the Nest Audio speaker.
Around back you’ll get the power supply input, a 3.5mm input, and a physical mute switch. The mute switch doesn’t stop music playback, it just turns off the microphone so it isn’t always listening for the hotword. Speaking of which, I found that the microphones on the Google Home Max aren’t too good at picking up my voice when music was playing around 75% or above. I found myself borderline yelling “Okay Google” and sometimes, even then I would just have to walk over to it and physically lower the volume. Once you’ve got it connected to your router then all that you need to do to connect to it is press the cast icon that pops up in the app you’re using.
On the back are the input and a switch that lets you turn the mic off. The Google Home Max has an acoustically transparent fabric that won’t get in the way of your music. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.
