Right down to the bright orange colour, the new Honor 600 phones look incredibly similar to Apple’s iPhone 17 range. But price is where Honor hopes to make some inroads as it tries to take a big swing at Australia’s busy phone market.
Consisting of the $999 Honor Magic 600 and $1,499 600 Pro, there’s a noticeable gulf between the Android challenger and the $1,399 iPhone 17 and $1,999 iPhone 17 Pro. So, what do you get for that money?
A whopping big battery, for starters. Inside both of the Magic 600 phones is a 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery. With a bit more space than the Magic V6 foldable phone, which still has an impressive 6,660mAh battery, these conventional slab phones last a fair while.
In many other ways, too, the Honor Magic 600 phones are similar. Both have 6.57-inch AMOLED 120Hz screens, 12GB of memory, eSIM support, and IP68 plus IP69 resistance ratings.
Each phone also has a 200MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and a 50MP selfie shooter. Exclusive to the Pro model is a 50MP telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom.
It’s features like the telephoto camera that the Magic 600 Pro starts to separate itself from its cheaper sibling. Aside from offering an orange alternative to black and white, the Magic 600 Pro has a larger 512GB internal storage allocation, compared to the base 600’s 256GB. It also uses the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, while the standard model uses a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4.
Honor also says the Magic 600 Pro supports 50W wireless charging, while the base model misses out on wireless charging entirely. Both models have up to 80W wired charging, at least.
Honor Magic 600 series release date
Both Magic 600 phones are available in Australia now via JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys. If you buy the standard Magic 600 by 12 August, it comes with a bonus Honor Watch 2 Pro. Similarly, if you buy the Pro model by the same date, an Honor Watch 4 and Earbuds Clip come included.
Motorola is bringing its book-like foldable phone to Australia, confirming the local launch of the Razr Fold after an overseas launch earlier in the year.
Joining the Razr Fold will be the Razr 70 Ultra, marking the first time Australia will get Motorola’s flagship flip phone since the Razr 50 Ultra in 2024. It sets the stage for a big showdown with the likes of Samsung, Oppo, and Honor, with IDC predicting that the foldable phone market will grow by nearly 30 per cent this year.
Priced at $2,799 in Australia, the Motorola Razr Fold has two AMOLED displays: one 6.6-inch outer screen, and a big 8.1-inch main display when unfolded. It uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, with 12GB of LPDDR5X memory and 256GB of internal storage. Also noteworthy is the Fold’s 6,000mAh battery, which rates as one of the largest among foldables.
This camera array includes a 50MP main lens, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 50MP telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom. Joining these cameras is a 32MP internal selfie camera and a 20MP selfie lens on the outer screen.
It’s been a couple of years since Australia got a new Razr Ultra. Image: Motorola.
Interestingly, Motorola reserved the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset for the Razr 70 Ultra. The flip phone is $1,999 in Australia, sporting a 4-inch cover display and a 7-inch main inner screen, both of which are AMOLED with a 165Hz refresh rate.
Rather than the telephoto lens of the Razr 50 Ultra, the Razr 70 Ultra has a 50MP ultra-wide camera to support the main 50MP camera. There’s also a 50MP selfie lens accessible when unfolding the phone.
Motorola Razr Fold and 70 Ultra release date
Aussies don’t have to wait too long for Motorola’s latest foldable phones. Both the Motorola Razr Fold and Razr 70 Ultra are available to pre-order now from local retailers, with a 15 July release date locked in.
For your choice of colours, the Razr Fold comes in either Pantone Blackened Blue or Pantone Lily White. Meanwhile, the Razr 70 Ultra comes in one colour: Pantone Orient Blue.
The Motorola Signature now comes in a new Swarovski crystal-adorned design. Image: Motorola.
Alongside the new foldables, Motorola also confirmed the Australian launch of a new colour for the Motorola Signature. As of 7 July, you can get the Signature bundled with a pair of Moto Buds 2 Plus for $1,799 in Pantone Violet Indigo, replete with Swarovski crystals for a bit of dazzle.
Samsung’s foldable phones appear set for a wide change-up, if a series of cryptic social media teasers are anything to go by.
Samsung published several short video clips overnight, all revolving around the theme of a new shape. Each clip depicts someone trimming the rectangular shape of several objects, like a chocolate bar, into something shorter and more square-shaped.
Based on previous rumours and leaks, the videos likely allude to Samsung’s wider foldable phone. Similar in shape to the rumoured foldable iPhone, Samsung’s new range of phones is tipped to include a shorter foldable than its existing Galaxy Z Fold range.
Although Samsung hasn’t confirmed exactly when the next Galaxy Unpacked showcase is taking place, it’s expected to reveal its latest foldables later this month.
Last year, Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which our reviewer Alice Clarke absolutely loved. It didn’t reinvent the form factor, as such, measuring 158.4mm tall and 143.2mm when unfolded. By comparison, the teased version of the wide foldable won’t be as tall, adopting more of a passport-like shape.
Previously published dummy models suggest that a wider foldable will be additive to Samsung’s range, not coming at the expense of another form factor. Factory mock-ups exist of what’s said to be the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8, alongside the phone dubbed the “Z Fold 8 Wide”.
First look at dummy units of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Wide, and Z Flip8. The Fold8 Wide lines up closely with the expected size of the iPhone Fold. pic.twitter.com/NVP3agwsrM
Although foldables aren’t the biggest-selling phones outright, they’re seen as a major growth area for phone companies. Analyst firm IDC estimated that foldable phone shipments will grow by nearly 30 per cent in 2026, largely buoyed by Apple’s debut foldable later in the year
With Apple tipped to adopt the short and wide foldable design, Samsung appears set to beat it to the punch with its revised form factor.
Australians with Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) NBN internet connections no longer need to order a high-speed plan to be eligible for an upgrade to a direct fibre connection.
Most recently, Australians who wanted to go full-fibre needed to either be on, or transition to, a 100Mbps NBN plan or faster to qualify. Now, FTTC households on lower-speed plans, including 50Mbps or 25Mbps, can request an FTTP upgrade.
“Full fibre not only offers multi-gig speeds, but is also far more reliable, more responsive, and more resilient through storms, floods and fires,” said Bec Heap, Executive General Manager Products and Pricing at NBN Co.
FTTC uses a combination of fibre and copper technologies to provide internet access. Aging copper infrastructure is more prone to faults, and isn’t as reliable as an end-to-end fibre connection. FTTP, on the other hand, is considered more reliable and supports faster speeds, including the 500Mbps tier launched as part of last year’s speed upgrades.
How much does an NBN fibre upgrade cost?
In many cases, upgrading to FTTP doesn’t cost residents anything. Checking with an internet service provider (ISP) is the best way to be sure, and they can also arrange with the NBN to book in the upgrade. There’s also an address checker on the NBN Co website to confirm fibre eligibility.
According to NBN Co, 38 per cent of NBN connections are FTTP, with upwards of 1.3 million upgrades from copper having already taken place. The internet infrastructure provider also confirmed that it completed 45,000 fibre upgrades in May, 19 per cent more than the same time last year.
Heap added that more fibre upgrades will help deliver “a better service today” while “ensuring our network can continue to grow” to keep up with Australians’ rising demand for reliable, high-speed internet.
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Changes to how telcos present mobile coverage maps are now live, aiming to provide Australians with transparent data about where phones can and can’t get a signal.
Under new rules from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), telcos are required to publish mobile coverage according to a uniform standard. Including ‘good’, ‘moderate’, ‘basic’, and ‘no coverage’, the quality of network coverage must be updated by telcos every three months.
Anything deemed ‘no coverage’ cannot be included on a telco’s map. However, despite the label, it doesn’t mean Australians can’t get coverage in those areas altogether. Instead, “some locations may still be able to make calls and send SMS”, according to the ACMA. Telco service in these areas is considered to be either “very limited, inconsistent or non-existent”.
Vodafone’s (top) and Optus’ (bottom) network maps following the change.
“These new rules will give consumers clearer and comparable information about mobile coverage and network performance, helping them make more informed choices about their telco provider,” said O’Loughlin.
New rules for network outages
Alongside the ACMA’s new rules for mobile coverage, it also added a requirement for telcos to provide more transparency about outages. Now, Australian telcos must also update an online register of resolved network outages.
It’s meant to provide more information about how companies deal with outages, while also giving consumers more information to help decide which telco they buy services from.
As of today, telcos must maintain an online network outage register with the following details:
When an outage started
Locations impacted
Types and estimated number of services impacted
Cause of the outage
When services were restored
“Network outages can be incredibly disruptive, particularly when they affect access to vital communications services,” said O’Loughlin.
“Publishing outage information in a consistent way will improve transparency for consumers and provide valuable public data about the reliability of the telco networks.”
Despite recent major upgrades to internet speeds, Amazon recently found that a whopping 66% of Australians still experience issues getting home internet running as it should. With how much of our lives rely on online connectivity, that’s a big concern. So, if you’re one of these many Aussies facing daily internet troubles, what can you do? One of the best things you can do for your home network (and your sanity) is install a mesh Wi-Fi system.
Mesh Wi-Fi sits at the centre of the eero experience. One router might be enough to spread internet throughout a small area. For modern homes with lots of connected devices, multiple storeys, and big backyards, multiple interconnected routers are a must.
Helping strengthen Wi-Fi coverage, a mesh network helps reach more corners of a home, well into your backyard, and beyond. It also makes the most out of your internet speeds and reduces annoying dropouts. By connecting multiple routers, you ensure that everyone gets their fair share of internet access for work and play.
But how does mesh Wi-Fi work, and why should you use it? Let’s go over the technology, how it improves home networks, and the various eero-specific features that make Wi-Fi even easier.
How does mesh Wi-Fi work?
Traditional Wi-Fi technology transmits its signal in 360 degrees, creating something of a sphere of internet coverage. Depending on various factors, including the strength of the router, any walls or floors in the way — and even the weather — this signal can only reach so far. It’s why you’ll likely get a great Wi-Fi signal in the office near a router but encounter slower speeds and dropouts at the other end of the home.
Instead of relying on a single router to do all the heavy lifting, a mesh Wi-Fi network uses two or more routers to create a stronger connection that acts as a blanket of coverage indoors and outdoors. One router has direct access to the internet — in Australia, this is commonly via an Ethernet cable to a Network Termination Device (NTD) installed by the NBN — while additional routers connect to the first router.
From here, the routers create one stronger network that’s greater than the sum of their parts. It’s like casting a big virtual net of Wi-Fi over your home, hence the ‘mesh’ label. Your smart devices then automatically connect to whichever router provides the best signal, all using the same Wi-Fi login details.
Modularity is also one of the most helpful aspects of mesh Wi-Fi. You can always start with one or two routers, and then add to them over time as your needs evolve. For example, one eero device might do the trick in a small apartment. If you move into a larger home, you can add another eero to establish a mesh network and continue enjoying reliable Wi-Fi across a broader distance.
The eero TrueMesh difference
Although mesh Wi-Fi is a common label applied to technology used by many different networking brands, not all tech is created equal. Going further than industry standards, eero uses several patented technologies that power its routers: TrueMesh, TrueRoam, and TrueChannel.
Each one works seamlessly in the background, leaving you with as little work to do as possible. All eero routers are built with TrueMesh, a smart technology that automatically connects to all nearby eero devices within your network. At every moment, TrueMesh identifies the best way to route internet traffic, ensuring the best possible connection.
With tri-band routers (with 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz network bands), like the eero Max 7 and eero Pro 7, TrueMesh goes even further. Combined with the smarts of Wi-Fi 7, it directs traffic through the best network band at any given moment for each device, instead of just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. eero also takes advantage of multiple frequencies simultaneously to increase throughput, equalling the best speeds possible.
Home Wi-Fi is also no longer confined to within the walls of your home. With the eero Outdoor 7, your network can cover even larger properties, reaching up to 1,390 square metres. It uses the same TrueMesh technology as the rest of the eero range, creating a seamless mesh network in and out of the home.
With TrueMesh, you get better network reliability, meaning reduced latency or lag, keeping pesky buffering times at bay. You also benefit from the best possible speeds, because choosing the optimal network band means letting more data through.
Meanwhile, TrueRoam uses software to connect your device to whichever eero router provides the best connection. Rather than getting your phone stuck using the upstairs router when moving downstairs (and vice versa), TrueRoam automatically swaps devices over in a flash without any downtime. Like much of eero’s technology, it works in the background to create a better, more user-friendly network.
What if you reside in high-density living? Apartment blocks and uni dorms are rife with competing routers and networks, with different signals often causing interference. TrueChannel is eero’s solution, automatically assigning the least-congested channels to sidestep any clashes with your next-door neighbours.
No need to be a networking expert to have good Wi-Fi
In the early days of Wi-Fi, you had to have some pretty specialised knowledge to get the most out of a wireless network. Connecting devices, adding guests, setting screen limits — it wasn’t a simple process.
eero is the complete opposite. Everything about setting up routers, connecting to Wi-Fi, and managing your family’s internet use is effortlessly simple. The eero app walks you through the setup process, letting you get a comprehensive mesh Wi-Fi network up and running in just a few minutes.
These days, it’s also much simpler to get reliable internet outdoors. Amazon’s research found that half of Australians frequently head back indoors to get connected, or swap to mobile data to avoid dealing with Wi-Fi frustrations. With stronger routers, including those made to withstand outdoor conditions, like the eero Outdoor 7, that problem simply vanishes.
With eero, everything works out of the box with no further tinkering required. For a technology so complex under the hood, that level of simplicity lets you enjoy the fruits of reliable internet. Many of eero’s network-boosting technologies work in the background, too. The less time spent in menus, the better.
Keeping you and your family safe
Reliable and speedy internet is important; it underpins so much of our work life, while giving us access to plenty of fun stuff, like streaming videos and playing online games. Equally as important is security and keeping safe online.
Many mesh Wi-Fi systems include various security features and parental controls to provide a secure, customisable online experience. Consistent with everything else about eero, Wi-Fi security and content moderation aren’t an afterthought; it’s baked into the system as a set of easy-to-use features.
By default, an eero mesh Wi-Fi system automatically updates itself with the latest software. This serves multiple purposes: one is to keep your Wi-Fi running without interruption. Secondly, it applies up-to-date security patches that protect every connected device at the router level.
For even further protection, an eero Plus subscription ($15.99 per month or $159.99 annually in Australia) adds more features aimed at protecting the whole family. Content filters can be applied to each family member’s profile as needed, ensuring only age-appropriate content is accessible.
Additional premium eero Plus features enhance your online experience, like ad blocking, VPN access, and password management. There’s also even more security, as your mesh Wi-Fi system works to block viruses and phishing attempts online.
If you do need a hand at any stage, eero has local support available through the app and via telephone. Even after hours, you can reach customer support, so no waiting around until the next day. You can also access a wealth of helpful information through eero’s support site.
Wi-Fi should be simple, automatically keeping you connected around the home. Mesh Wi-Fi is even better, connecting more devices across greater distances. For a simple mesh Wi-Fi system that works out of the box, eero is one of the best options.
To make it even easier to get started, the eero range is discounted during the end of financial year sales:
Bringing Gemini Live to life, the latest Google Home Speaker is ready to engage in deep and meaningful conversation.
It’s almost a decade since the original Google Home smart speaker was unveiled, reaching Australia before the Alexa-powered Amazon Echo and later joined by Apple’s Siri-powered HomePod.
All three talkative smart assistants have gradually grown smarter and more life-like over the years. Not only in their ability to perform more complex tasks, but also in their ability to engage in natural language conversations.
Over that time, we’ve seen smart speakers and screens of all shapes and sizes. The new $199 Google Home Speaker is the first from Google since the launch of the $149 Google Nest Audio back in 2020.
The new Google Home Speaker costs more than the old Nest Audio, and you get a lot less actual speaker in return, but the focus is less on sound quality and more on a shiny new lamp for Google’s more powerful genie.
I honestly laughed aloud when I opened the box to discover that the latest Google Home Speaker looks a hell of a lot like the snowglobe-style Apple HomePod Mini and Amazon Echo (4th Gen).
I laughed not only because Google’s smart speaker design team has fallen into line with its rivals, but also because the size of the Google Home Speaker immediately looks like a major step down in sound quality compared to the much larger Google Nest Audio – which has lived in the corner of my kitchen bench for six years, since it usurped the original Google Home.
It’s a valid first impression; once you fire up the new Google Home Speaker, you soon discover its 360-degree sound is absolutely no match for the old Google Nest Audio – especially when it comes to the low end. The sound is a bit brash and flat, especially once you crank the volume, and you miss out on graphic equaliser settings.
This new speaker has no chance of stealing the Nest Audio’s pride of place in my small kitchen. It’s no surprise, considering the Google Home Speaker packs a single 58 mm driver, while the Nest Audio packs a 75 mm mid-woofer and a 19 mm tweeter.
The new Google Home Speaker is actually much closer in size and style to the 2019 Google Nest Mini that lives on the sink in the children’s bathroom. The Google Home Speaker has a slightly larger footprint and stands about twice as tall as the Nest Mini, so it needs a little more space.
A family portrait, with the Google Home Speaker and Google Nest Mini in front of the Google Nest Audio and original Google Home. Image: Adam Turner.
It’s no surprise that Google spruiks its new speaker’s audio credentials by comparing them to the Nest Mini, boasting a driver twice the size and 2.5x stronger bass. Yes, the new Google Home Speaker certainly does sound better than the Nest Mini, let’s just forget to mention the superior Nest Audio.
Shying away from sound quality in favour of a compact design has been the trend for several years, with Google abandoning the Sonos-esque Google Home Max and Amazon retiring many of the larger Echos. Only Apple has stuck to its guns by releasing the beefy HomePod 2 alongside the HomePod mini.
The new Google Home Speaker retains the same design as the Google Nest Mini, with tiny light-up touch-sensitive volume buttons and a central play/pause button hidden under the mesh. There’s still a mute switch at the rear, plus Google has added an Echo-style glowing status ring to the base.
Viewed from above, you can see the lit volume buttons, which are far too small and difficult to find. Image: Adam Turner.
The new speaker isn’t prepared to share the stage, with Google recently discontinuing the Nest Audio and Nest Mini, leaving the Google Home Speaker as the tech giant’s only smart speaker. At $199, it’s now a lot more expensive to dip your toe into the Google speaker ecosystem than snapping up a $79 Nest Mini.
Those two old Nest speakers are still valuable, considering that mine seem perfectly capable of running the exact same Gemini and Gemini Live experience as this new Google Home Speaker.
The only improvements are that the Google Home Speaker steps up to Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4, plus it is now a Thread border router as well as a Matter hub. This means it can connect to more third-party smart home gear, similar to the Google Nest Hub smart screen.
Viewed from below, you can see the glowing status ring and mute switch. Image: Adam Turner.
Google Home Speaker specifications and price
Speaker
Omni-directional sound with 58 mm full-range driver
Microphones
3 far-field microphones
Privacy
Physical mute switch
Chipset
Quad Core A55 2.0 GHz with NPU
RAM
1 GB LPDDR4
Onboard storage
4 GB EMMC
Power
AC via 30-watt USB-C adaptor
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4 GHz/5 GHz)
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 5.4
Smarthome
Thread 1.3 border router (2.4 GHz) Works as a hub for Matter with Google Home
Dimensions
86.6 mm height, 107 mm diameter
Weight
396 gm
Colours
Hazel or Porcelain (Jade and Berry are US-exclusives)
Setting up the Google Home Speaker is very straightforward, especially if you’ve already used the iOS or Android Google Home app to set up other smart home gear.
The catch is that adding the Google Home Speaker to your home will permanently replace Google Assistant with Google Gemini on all of your Google smart speakers. Thankfully, this doesn’t cripple third-party Google-compatible devices like the Lenovo Smart Clock in my kids’ bedrooms, even if they can’t run Gemini Live.
Google has recently been pushing homes with existing Google speakers to upgrade to Gemini, but I’ve been putting it off because these kinds of updates tend to break old features. So far, I haven’t encountered any glaring issues.
What is interesting is how much more Google is focused on warning people about the shortcomings of smart assistants, compared to when it launched its first smart speakers 10 years ago.
I was at Google I/O 2016 in California when they launched the original Google Home, and no one wanted to acknowledge the potential dangers of putting an all-knowing smart assistant in your home with absolutely no ability to restrict access for children.
The original Google Home and later Google Home Mini.
These days, the new Google Home Speaker comes with copious warnings about not trusting Gemini or letting children speak to it unsupervised. Along with filters to restrict certain features and topics of conversation for children and voices it doesn’t recognise, Google’s extensive disclaimers include:
Gemini for Home isn’t a person: Teach children that Gemini for Home is a tool, not a person. Help them understand that even though they can chat with Gemini for Home, it doesn’t have feelings and isn’t a person to confide in.
Keep personal info private: Teach children that their private information should stay private. Remind them not to share sensitive details like their full name, home address, school name, phone number or family information in their chats.
Gemini for Home can make mistakes: Help children think critically about answers and encourage them to double-check responses from Gemini for Home.
Gemini for Home can make mistakes: don’t rely on it for professional advice.
That’s a lot of provisos and quid pro quos for an all-powerful genie. I don’t know, Abu, he probably can’t even get us out of this cave.
Gemini versus Gemini Live
With those extensive disclaimers out of the way, it’s time to start chatting with the Google Home Speaker. Of the smart assistant’s new personas, Calathea seems closest to the original female Australian voice (she might be called Eucalyptus on some devices). It’s still jarring if you’ve been listening to the old voices for a decade.
Gemini is determined to make things personal, so I’ll refer to Calathea as “her” rather than “it”. Just to confuse things, there are actually two genies of the lamp: you can choose between talking to Gemini or Gemini Live, even though they use the same voice.
Gemini is the replacement for the old Google Assistant, summoned as before with “Okay, Google” and performing the same tasks while speaking in a slightly more natural manner.
Like Google Assistant, she supports continued conversation, so you don’t need to keep saying “Okay, Google”, but she can handle more complex queries. Gemini also tends to offer longer answers to questions, speaking with authority on topics where the old Google Assistant would cite its source – something that rubs me the wrong way.
For example, ask Google Assistant “How many months in the Roman calendar?” and she responds. “10 months, according to the website webexhibits.org…” before launching into more detail. Meanwhile, Gemini simply launches into an answer with no acknowledgment of the source, perpetuating AI’s terrible habit of scraping information without attribution or permission.
Instead of chatting with Gemini, you can say “Okay, Google, let’s talk” to summon Gemini Live. It’s a much more conversational experience, which lets you interrupt and ask follow-up questions. She also copes better with conversations where you stumble and change direction mid-sentence.
A meeting of two minds
Rather than asking her for specific answers, Gemini Live is more useful for exploring topics. We started off talking about Iron Maiden’s early influences and then pivoted to a long chat about the Western Bulldogs’ chances of making the finals, including a look at our next few matches and an explanation of the AFL’s new Wildcard finals round.
Gemini Live doesn’t have strongly held opinions, which sometimes makes it difficult to have a real conversation.
When I slagged off the Wildcard finals round as a shameless grab for cash by the AFL, she didn’t disagree with me but said it was a controversial issue and presented both sides of the argument. That’s a diplomatic approach, but a real person would have an opinion of their own and take a stance, even if you both agreed to disagree.
If you push her for an opinion on most topics, she says “as a home assistant, I don’t have opinions” and gives you a balanced answer. But asked her opinion on whether the world is flat or 5G causes COVID, and she categorically states that the “scientific consensus” is otherwise.
Retort with “I disagree”, and she says “that’s fair” before steering the topic into safer waters. It would be interesting to know exactly which topics are locked down and how much leeway she gives crackpots and bigots.
Gemini Live handles flowing conversation and complex topics surprisingly well. What’s particularly interesting is that when the conversation reaches a natural pause, she often asks you an engaging follow-up question to seek your opinion and drive the conversation forward.
She impressed my wife, a high school librarian, with her ability to discuss authors and genres, while linking themes and making reading recommendations. Gemini Live throws in phrases like “oh, that’s such a good choice” when you mention your favourite books, leaning into those sycophantic tendencies that can make personable AI dangerous for some people.
It’s easy to get drawn into conversations with Gemini Live, although, as a cynical tech reviewer, it’s hard to shake the feeling that she’s simply telling me what I want to hear.
She’s also parroting ideas stolen from other sources, particularly scraping the work of my fellow journalists. Realistically, her thoughts on the Western Bulldogs’ chances of making the finals are actually sports journalists’ thoughts that she regurgitates without permission. When I called her out on this, we dove into a discussion on intellectual property, again without her taking sides.
Talking to Gemini Live would seem more natural if she could dial down the perkiness, dial up the moxie and occasionally adjust her tone to suit the topic at hand (think Tony Stark’s Jarvis). Instead, you get the exact same demeanour whether discussing baking a cake or burying loved ones.
Occasionally, she simply stops talking, and it’s hard to know whether you’ve stumped her, hit a nerve, or she’s just encountered a glitch. You sometimes get “sorry, something’s not right”, so we’ll assume it’s just teething issues.
Asking her to tell me about “Adam Turner the technology journalist” was a timely reminder that Gemini Live and her kind simply can’t be trusted to get their facts straight.
After detailing my work as a journalist and corporate writer, she confidently went on to discuss my supposed work as a cybersecurity researcher – the exploits of a different Adam Turner.
When I pointed out her error, she corrected herself and admitted the mistake, but it makes you wonder how much you can trust her when she spouts erroneous information with such an air of confidence. Interestingly, I asked her the same question the next day, and she didn’t make the same mistake.
It’s important to note that Gemini Live isn’t free; it comes with the Google Home Premium subscription – with Google throwing in six months for free if you buy a Google Home Speaker by September 30. Along with Gemini Live, some of the subscription-exclusive features include video storage for Nest cameras, smart notifications when the doorbell detects a person and quick summaries of the day’s events.
Who is the Google Home Speaker for?
The Google Home Speaker is a great fit for Google-centric homes like mine. That said, Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are also getting smarter (even though Alexa+ isn’t yet available in Australia), so it’s worth weighing up your options if you’re just starting down the smart home path.
It’s just a shame about the Google Home Speaker’s lowly sound quality. It would be more forgivable if it were pitched as a replacement for the Nest Mini, with a Nest Audio replacement to come. Remember, if you already own a Google Nest Audio, with far superior sound quality, it will happily upgrade to Gemini and Gemini Live. So there’s absolutely no reason to upgrade to the Google Home Speaker, unless you desperately require a Thread border router and nothing else in your home can do the job.
Personally, I don’t think Gemini Live is worth paying for, but you might think otherwise or get value from other aspects of a Google Home Premium subscription.
Finally, just remember, even Google admits you should never completely trust the genie of the lamp.
Google Home Speaker
The Google Home Speaker brings Gemini Live to life, but falls short on sound quality compared to its predecessors.
Features
9
Value for money
7
Performance
7
Ease of use
9
Design
7.5
Positives
Compact size
Supports Gemini and Gemini Live
Six-month free Google Home Premium subscription
Negatives
Inferior sound to Google Nest Audio
Makes Google’s entry-level speaker more expensive
Extensive disclaimers as to Gemini’s trustworthiness
