Finding the perfect gift is hard. Especially when it comes to electronics, there’s a lot of choice out there. That’s why here on the Best Buy Blog, we’ve put together our 12 Days of Christmas picks. These are the gifts that we think you’ll enjoy the most (after having reviewed most everything all year!). As Editor for TV, Audio, & Home Theatre, I know what it means to have both great sound and amazing versatility. That’s why my pick is Google Nest Audio.
Nest Audio is the new & hot smart speaker
Replacing its predecessor, the Google Home speaker, and digital assistant, Google Nest Audio is one of the most versatile and well-rounded smart home speakers on the market. I had the chance to review Nest Audio here on the blog; check it out if you want more details on sound quality, operation, and setup.
What’s so great about Nest Audio?
Nest Audio is great for small to mid-sized rooms by itself, or if paired with another Nest Audio speaker, it can easily fill a large room with great stereo sound.
The new models have an updated look—available in soft pastels, black, and white. The new oblong has softer curves and a less flat top. The exterior has a fabric wrap that is partially made from recycled material.
The design updates are not limited to just the exterior. Google Nest Audio also features one more microphone than the Google Home, making it better at picking up vocal cues and responding to your voice. It also has updated sound quality, with deep bass and a richer tone when played at higher volumes. Nest Audio is louder than its predecessor, with more bass, plus it has marked improvements at mid-range tones, producing sharper and nicer vocal tones—perfect for people that love audiobooks or podcasts.
Ask Santa for a digital butler for Christmas
Naturally, this speaker has the Google Assistant built-in; it’s your own personal digital butler.
Use Nest Audio to control any devices connected to your Google Home account, like smart thermostats, smart lights, door locks, cameras, and doorbells. Of course, you can use Google Assistant (or the app) to play music from nearly all major streaming services: YouTube Music, Pandora, Spotify.
While you can use your voice to control your speaker, it also has touch plates at the top end of the speaker for controlling volume, playing, and pausing. These touch zones are unmarked, which is appealing aesthetically, but it takes some getting used to.
Add Nest Audio to your Smart Home ecosystem
Nest Audio works with your other Nest speakers, Nest video displays, and Chromecast-enabled devices to create a whole-home ecosystem that’s easy to manage.
Plus, it’s designed with your family in mind: Nest Audio and Google Assistant features can help your family disconnect from technology during dinner, bedtime, or special moments. And with family-friendly filters, you can block access to music with explicit lyrics, and control video services.
Best holiday gifts: Nest Audio
Nest Audio is perfect for anyone looking to expand their existing Google smart speaker home audio system, and it’s also perfect for someone’s first smart speaker. The sound quality of these speakers is outstanding at this price point. If you have a friend that loves to listen to podcasts while cooking, or a child that likes to listen to music while doing homework, or you want something to trill the Nutcracker Suite on a holiday eve, this is a perfect gift this holiday season.
Read about the other 12 days of Christmas gifts for this season.
would love this for music
Wow! It looks so sleek and modern. You can even use it as decor while taking advantage of everything it offers. Would love to put one all around the house and blast some music LOL.
This things look great in comparison to the original ones. Nest audio > Sonos at least when it comes down to price!
I would love it for music and tv speaker
Love the slick design for our house
We just love to interact with our present Google Mini! Great for weather, news, and of course music! We would be delighted to add this newer technology to our Google products.
Love the soft pastel colors
We don’t have sound throughout the house
I’d love to begin the transition with a Nest Audio
It sure would make it a jazzy Christmas
And a Safe & Happy Christmas to All
A newer one for the home
This would be great for our RV. We could travel with it and introduce the world to its great sound.
It would make this Christmas extra special
The lighting would be amazing
smart lighting for sure
Luv musica
Love the colour choices.
Great review! Would love to have this in my room.
looks great, would look nice anywhere in the house
Would love to get this for my smart lights to sync up and play music together.
Love the clean look!
This Google Nest always seems to amaze me with u inquest features abs sound quality. It’s sleek design and quality has everything you need and love the new feature you can pair it to another.
Thanks for the review
It’d be nice to spread them around the house to hear music wherever you go
Omg I would absolutely love this I know a lot of people who are buying smart home products and say they are amazing.
This would be the best Christmas present ever
This would be great for our kitchen
Comments are closed.