Google’s $399 Premium Home Max Speaker Now Available

Google unveiled a premium smart speaker called the Google Home Max along with its new line of hardware back in October. The company is finally opening up the sales of its new premium smart speaker, which costs $399 — around $270 more than the regular Google Home. For the extra price, you are getting a lot of things on the Home Max, and if you care about sound quality, you will want the Max over the regular Home.

That’s because of the Smart Sound feature that comes with the Home Max. It’s an AI-powered feature that utilizes the 6 built-in microphones to adapt to the surrounding environment and automatically adjust the music. The feature works from the get-go, so you don’t have to worry much about setup every time you move it around your house.

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For the speakers, Google has packed two 4.5-inch “high-excursion” woofers and 0.7-inch tweeters that make the Max 20x more powerful than the regular Home, according to the company. Just like other Home devices, it comes with Google Assistant and there are four LEDs on the top that’ll light up when you activate the assistant.

Design wise, the Google Home Max actually looks pretty good. It has a polycarbonate housing with an acoustically transparent fabric covering the front. You can get it in Chalk or Charcoal, both of which look gorgeous. And yes, you can place it vertically without compromising the sound quality thanks to Smart Sound.

Google’s Home Max speaker is available for purchase today from the Google Store, Walmart, Verizon, and Best Buy. It costs $399, but you can get a free 12-month YouTube Music subscription if you have not used YouTube Red or Music in the past. You can also check out the speaker in-person at Google’s pop-up stores in NYC and Los Angeles, as well as select Verizon stores.

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Conversation 7 comments

  • wolters

    Premium Member
    11 December, 2017 - 2:22 pm

    <p>I ordered mine first thing this morning from Best Buy. Shows delivery for the 13th. Best Buy has gone back to showing "Coming Soon" so if you try to order one now, it may be sold out. And yes, I'll jump off the "Vaporware" bandwagon now…I just hope the Google Home Max delivers. </p>

  • Travis

    11 December, 2017 - 3:00 pm

    <p>Is it worth hundreds more than the Invoke which sounds pretty good?</p>

    • wolters

      Premium Member
      11 December, 2017 - 3:47 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226500"><em>In reply to Travis:</em></a></blockquote><p>I look forward to Paul's review but I'll post my initial thoughts in this thread once I receive mine. If it doesn't knock my socks off for this price, I'll return it. </p>

  • cornholio

    Premium Member
    11 December, 2017 - 4:32 pm

    <p>I was on the wait list for weeks before I found out that only folks who've not used Google Play Music get the 12 month free subscription. Totally lame that current subscribers get screwed. After I found out about this, removed myself from the list.</p>

    • jgraebner

      Premium Member
      11 December, 2017 - 6:33 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#226547">In reply to cornholio:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yeah, I was seriously tempted when I saw that promotion until I read the fine print. Seems like this would have been a good opportunity for them to get current customers to upgrade, which probably could have generated a lot of word of mouth.</p>

  • wolters

    Premium Member
    13 December, 2017 - 11:34 am

    <p>Immediate first impression…HEAVY…Wow so heavy. It arrived at my workplace and I am taking it home to connect and try out. I'm thinking it is going to impress. </p>

    • wolters

      Premium Member
      15 December, 2017 - 10:30 am

      <blockquote><a href="#227142"><em>In reply to wolters:</em></a></blockquote><p>My second day. More impressed with the sound now. The bass is rich and a perfect balance. My main problem…finding a place for it. Way too big for where my former Alexa and Google Home was sitting. </p>

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