When horizontal the hidden touch strip on top acts as a pause-play button and a volume slider, both of which work well.Ī mute switch on the back allows you to turn off the microphones if you would like a little privacy from Google Assistant’s listening out for its wake words, which are either “Hey Google” or the older “Okay, Google”. It can be stood up vertically or placed horizontally with a little rubber foot that attaches to the bottom magnetically. White dots in the centre of the fabric front show when the Home Max is actively listening to you, when it’s working on a query or speaking to you, or shows the volume level when you adjust it. It is about the size of a large bookcase speaker, but weighs over 5kg. In white and grey it’s simple fabric front and rounded corners make the Home Max look a bit bland up next to a Sonos Play:5 or an Apple HomePod, but it might be easier to blend in with soft home furnishings. The Home Max is relatively large box speaker, by smart speaker standards, with a white or black smooth plastic body and grey or charcoal coloured fabric front. The Home Max is overkill for most people, but at least it's an option if you're all about that bass.The Home Max joins the original Google Home (left) and the smaller Home Mini (right). The Google Home Max (opens in a new tab) has some minor flaws like the sometimes wonky touch strip and the Assistant has trouble hearing a 'Hey Google' voice command over loud-playing music unless you shout. These are all great - the Assistant is more intelligent than it was when the Google Home launched and it's far superior to Alexa and Siri when it comes to understanding context and voice commands.īut I'd argue the Assistant is of secondary importance on the Home Max because if you've got the cash to drop on this smart speaker, you're doing it because you care about sound quality. It can play your music, tell you the weather, search for things on Google, and control your smart home devices - to name just a few of the many skills it's capable of. The Home Max is a smart speaker, which means it's powered by the Google Assistant, which can do all the things the Assistant does on the smaller Google Home or Home Mini. On punier smart speakers, the same song is more muddled and you don't get as much dynamic range.ĭon't forget the Home Max can control your smart home, check the weather, and all those other great things the Google Assistant does. 'Closer' by The Chainsmokers definitely sounded clearer than through an Echo or Google Home the song's gentle claps and synths never overpower Halsey's verses. Listening to 'Sorry Not Sorry' by Demi Lovato, her vocals are crisp and prominent and don't get drowned by the track's beat. Like HomePod, the Home Max is a warm-sounding speaker. Of course, this is not to say the Home Max doesn't sound good when it's playing at 'normal' room volume, because it does. I didn't get to test this out, but at SXSW Google had an an activation where they had two Home Maxes paired together inside of a custom lowrider. If you somehow have the dough for two Home Max speakers, you can pair them together for even louder sound.

Apple's smart speaker is somehow able to maintain a cleaner sound separation at higher volumes, which I value more than pure resonance.

To my ears, there's more distortion compared when the Home Max is playing at max volume than on HomePod. If you live in a spacious house and want to rock out, the Home Max will not disappoint.Īt 100 percent volume, sound quality breaks just a little. Not if you want to continue living in your apartment without getting visits from angry neighbors or the cops. However, if your living situation's like mine - a post-war apartment complex with wafer-thin walls, floors, and ceilings - you won't be able to get much out of the Home Max's maximum volume setting. If you live in a house and want to rock out, the Home Max will not disappoint. Its vibrations will rattle your furniture, and it's no wonder a rubber pad for the speaker to sit on is included in the box. No joke, the hairs on your arm will stick up. The Home Max can get so loud you can sometimes feel it. The Home Max plays audio in stereo, except when it's positioned vertically.

Google home max