Survey says Google could be making a huge mistake with its smart home product line

Google has largely left the entry-level and lower mid-range markets entirely with its recent suite of devices. Sure, the Pixel A series still exists, but I wouldn’t dare call it budget. Then there’s the death of the Chromecast series, which offered users an affordable way to bring streaming smarts to their screens. It now seems that the Nest Mini, a device that rarely costs a handful of notes, is next. The speaker is currently out of stock, with little evidence of a restock ahead of the pricier Google Home Speaker debut. The lack of a budget speaker option, as my colleague Brady Snyder argues, could come back to bite Google if it doesn’t address it.

I still own a Nest Mini, but given that the replacement will cost three times as much while offering nothing revolutionary, I’m certainly going to miss the cheap-and-cheerful speakers at the heart of my modest smart home setup. But do you feel the same way? Is it time for Google to retire the Nest range in favor of the new Home era products?

We wanted to know if killing off the Nest Mini and Audio in favor of the new speaker is, in fact, a good idea. So, we ran a reader poll, and the results are clear: Google could be making a massive mistake.

There’s no other way to frame this: more than nine in every 10 readers (91.4%) will miss the old Google audio products when they’re gone. Just under half of all respondents (48.3%) will miss them because “they’re functional,” while 43.1% will miss them because “they’re cheap.” Given the Nest Mini’s modest price and the Nest Audio’s regular dips below $99, it’s notable that more readers value these products’ reliability and functionality over their price.

Only 6.5% of readers would side with Google if it chose to replace the Nest audio lineup, noting that both devices are “outdated.” And what will really hurt Google’s pockets, only 2.1% of respondents, nominally 117 voters, will be “upgrading” to the Home Speaker once it arrives.

One reader, James TS, explains that they’ll upgrade eventually due to the Nest Mini’s gradual decline.

I have about five of these things and they’ve slowly gotten worse and worse since around 2020. It’s moved to Gemini now which struggles to do basic tasks that Google assistant used to do. When they die I’d be looking at other products anyway.

And yes, many other readers blame this Nest Mini performance dip on Gemini. Reader shonclark writes:

Using Nest Minis with the forced change over to Gemini instead of Google Assistant, there is a huge drop off in performance. What was once fluid is now painful and agitating, *if* it executes what you ask it to do.

Where is Google’s smart home program headed?

Google has yet to confirm the death of the Nest Mini and Nest Audio, but it’s safe to assume both products will be phased out in the near future in favor of more Gemini-friendly hardware. You can still find both devices on sale at various retailers, but for how long is anyone’s guess.

We’re interested in your views on Google’s smart home portfolio and how the demise of the Nest Mini will affect it. Find a few questions below:

• Do you think Google should replace the Nest Mini with a “Google Home Speaker Mini” instead of killing it off?
• Have you experienced any performance issues with your Nest Mini or Audio since the transition to Gemini, and how has that affected your user experience?
• If you currently own Nest products, do you plan to upgrade to the new Google Home Speaker, or are you considering alternatives from other brands?
• What features or improvements would you like to see in the new Google Home Speaker that would justify its higher price point?
• What advice would you give to Google as they continue to develop its smart home product line?

Be sure to drop your answers in the comments section below.