The Google home max is a large smart speaker that can be used to play music, control your smart devices and much more. Its main selling point is that it sounds excellent and is easy to set up.
Unfortunately, Google has discontinued the Home Max so you can no longer officially buy it from the company. However, there are still a few good options for people looking to get a loud and great-sounding smart speaker.
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1.It’s big
It’s big
Google home has been the go-to answer for those who want to get a smart speaker without committing to a full Amazon Alexa set. But with the arrival of the Max, the company has entered the high-end audio space.
Google Home Max is the company’s attempt to take on Apple’s HomePod in terms of sound quality. Like the HomePod, it relies on a variety of microphones to adjust audio settings based on how the sound bounces off your walls.
It also has a far-field microphone to listen for your voice commands, although this is not perfect in all environments. If you are in a quiet room or there are people nearby, it will not hear you well enough to execute commands.
The biggest issue
- with the Home Max is that it’s a bit on the expensive side (it costs $399 in the US) but if you’re looking for a speaker with exceptional music performance, this is an excellent choice. The speaker’s overall audio performance is superb, with a good tonal balance, full midrange frequencies and good volume consistency across all volumes.
- When it comes to music, the Home Max can play from a range of services, including Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music and Google Play Music. It can even search for playlists and stations in your library.
- There’s a 3.5mm input on the back, as well as a USB-C port for connecting to other devices. It’s also Bluetooth-enabled for playing your music directly from a smartphone or tablet.
- On the smart side, you can link it to Google’s own Home products and a range of other wireless devices from Nest, Philips Hue Lights and Ring doorbell. And it has the ability to control your connected devices remotely, too.
The Google Home Max is a massive speaker that looks and feels like an oversized version of the original Google Home. It’s a bit on the heavy side and has a fabric sheath covering the front portion of the speaker where the speakers live. It has a small power plug and a traditional quartet of Assistant LEDs on the front.
It’s loud
The Google Home Max is designed for people who love big sound and want to be able to play music at high volume. This means it’s an excellent choice for people who have a large room and want to fill it with loud music, but it’s not ideal for people who just want to listen to background music.
The Max’s size also makes it difficult to place in many rooms, unless you buy a special sticky rubber mat that Google offers with the speaker. The mat is meant to isolate vibrations but can easily detach if you move the Max, and it collects dust and animal hair.
As a result
- the Home Max isn’t the best fit for most homes. If you live in a small space, the Home Mini is a much better choice, as it can connect to any sound system and play music through Chromecast Audio.
- It’s also worth noting that the Max is very expensive, even for a smart speaker. If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative that offers great sound, the Sonos Play:5 is an excellent choice, especially since it doesn’t require an Echo Dot to function with Alexa.
- Another thing to note is that the Google Home Max doesn’t have a touch strip on the top like most other speakers. Instead, you’ll have to slide your finger across the speaker to adjust the volume or tap it to pause playback. The capacitive touch strip works well enough, and it can even be used for hands-free voice commands if you use your voice to control the speaker.
In terms of the speaker itself, it has a very similar design to Google’s other smart speakers. It’s a tall, humongous speaker that looks pretty cool with its gently rounded corners and fabric-covered front, though it’s not quite as attractive as the Home Mini.
On the inside, there are two 4.5-inch woofers and two 0.7-inch tweeters. The woofers are a little less sensitive than the tweeters, but they produce plenty of rich bass and midrange.
Using Google’s Smart Sound technology, the Home Max optimizes its audio output based on its placement in a room. It uses onboard microphones to evaluate the space and tune its sound accordingly. This process is called Room EQ and it changes the frequency spectrum to better match the room’s environment.
It’s expensive
The Google home max is the flagship of the company’s smart speakers, and it’s also the most expensive. But it’s worth the hefty price tag for its impressive sound quality and Google Assistant features, especially if you love a good bass boost.
The design of the
- Google home max is similar to the company’s smaller Home devices, with gently rounded corners and a fabric-covered front. The speaker is a little bigger than a Sonos Play:5, but that’s understandable considering the massive amount of audio power it packs inside.
- One of the big reasons that the Home Max is so big is because it has a large number of woofers. The dual 4.5-inch high-excursion woofers are responsible for the massive amounts of bass you hear in the Max’s audio.
- Unlike the majority of the Google Home and Amazon Echo models, the Google home max doesn’t have any buttons on its body or face, instead opting to use a touch strip and verbal commands to control the speaker. You can tap the center of the speaker to play and pause music or activate the Assistant.
When you first set up the Google home max, it will prompt you to connect it to your Wi-Fi network and add a Google account. After that, you can start using your new speaker by opening up the Google home app on an iOS or Android device.
It’s a pretty straightforward process that takes just a few minutes. The app walks you through the process of connecting your Max to your Wi-Fi network, adding a Google account and training it to recognize your voice. You can then play music from your Google music library or your preferred streaming services like Spotify or Pandora.
You can also use your Google home max to act as a soundbar/speaker for other home entertainment components by using an optical to analog connection. This requires a few extra components, so it’s not the easiest solution, but it’s one that can be done.
While this isn’t the easiest solution, it’s a great way to upgrade your home entertainment system and get better audio. And it’s a lot less complicated than setting up a soundbar or sound system in your home, which often requires multiple cables and a lot of work.
It’s easy to set up
If you’re thinking of getting a Google Home Max, one of the first things to do is make sure it’s connected to your home Wi-Fi network. Once you’ve done this, it’s a simple matter of opening the Google Home app on your phone or tablet and following a few steps.
Then, you’ll want to add the speaker to your Google account and train it to recognize your voice. Once that’s done, you’ll have access to your Google Assistant and all of the features it offers.
In addition
- to the voice assistant, the Max also has a built-in stereo audio system. It uses two 4.5-inch high-excursion woofers and two 0.7-inch custom tweeters.
- That’s more than enough power to deliver a decent stereo sound, especially if you use it in conjunction with other Google Home speakers (which is recommended for better results). It also has six microphones that allow it to adjust the audio output depending on where it’s placed in your room.
- Unlike the Echo speakers and Apple HomePod, the Max doesn’t have multi-room magic to help it deliver a consistent sound across your entire house. It does have a clever feature called Smart Sound that monitors the position of the speaker and adjusts its equalizer settings to ensure it delivers great sound every time.
- Its bass and treble controls can be adjusted using the Google Home app, though that’s a bit limited when it comes to the low end. That’s fine for most music, but some might find the speaker lacking a little bit of grit in its low E string.
The speaker has a rubber bass pad that helps to keep the rumble from disturbing anyone else in the room. That’s a good thing because the speakers are fairly loud, even with their relatively small size.
Once you’ve got it connected, you’ll need to change your TV’s audio output settings to use the Google Home Max as your main sound source. It’s a simple process that’s a great way to upgrade your TV’s sound without spending a fortune on a soundbar.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a smart speaker that can handle music the way you want it to, then the Google home max is the one for you. This $400 device delivers a huge sound output, but also comes with some useful features that other speakers in this price range have missed out on.
The Google Home Max is the largest of Google’s home assistant devices, and it packs a lot into its large form factor. It can handle loud tunes, is well-tuned to different acoustics, and offers a 3.5mm input for legacy audio gear, like your turntable or LP player.