It’s taken some time, but Google finally has a new home speaker that’s set to make its retail debut sometime in 2026. We don’t know much for now, but the company has teased the look, and shed some light on what we can expect from the speaker, with the main difference being the ability to create more seamless interactions thanks to Gemini.
But before that comes around, it looks like Google is making a small upgrade to its current smart home speakers, adding a pop of color to the Google Nest Audio and Nest Mini (via 9to5Google). A new firmware is rolling out to those in the Preview Program, with version 3.77.500695 giving users a more colorful lighting experience with a “Hey Google” activation that mimics the color branding we’ve seen with Gemini.
A small update with a nice touch
While it’s not exactly the easiest thing to catch on camera, you can see the new color change in action thanks to a short clip captured and shared on X by Max Jambor. Although the color change only happens for a split second, it’s clear that there is a different color scheme being used when compared to the standard white lights that usually light up when you go to wake up a Google Nest device.
For the most part, it’s a nice touch, especially considering that you don’t really expect Google to do much with the old speakers at this point. Again, this is only available right now for those that are enrolled in the Preview Program. If you’re curious and want to give it a try, you can always join by heading into the Google Home app.
If you’re willing to wait it out, this is something that will most likely hit public release sometime soon. It’s a nice little upgrade that doesn’t bring any functionality, but does add a small pop of color after all these years to freshen up the experience just a bit. Of course, times is ticking on these older products, since Google is now more likely focused on its new speaker coming in 2026.
