Table of Content
- Google Home Hub gen1 Under Cabinet Hanger Bracket / 3d printed / Hub Max / nest hub / nest home
- Speaker
- DESIDERADA POEM by Max Ehrmann - Inspirational 1920s Prose Poem by American Author - Unframed Wall Art / Pop Art -Life Lessons
- Yale Assure Lock 2 with Wi-Fi review: Future-proofing your home security
- Base for Google Home
- Other Photo frame settings
Behind the fabric are four lights that only show up when you’re adjusting something on the speaker. They’ll turn off a second after you change the volume or after it’s done listening to what you said. Around back you’ll get the power supply input, a 3.5mm input, and a physical mute switch. The mute switch doesn’t stop music playback, it just turns off the microphone so it isn’t always listening for the hotword. Speaking of which, I found that the microphones on the Google Home Max aren’t too good at picking up my voice when music was playing around 75% or above.

Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Google says it's equipped the Max with a special AI-enable feature called "smart sound," which automatically detects the speaker's surroundings and optimizes its output based on what it picks up.
Google Home Hub gen1 Under Cabinet Hanger Bracket / 3d printed / Hub Max / nest hub / nest home
You can really hear and feel the bass when beats are pounding on a track, but we recommend staying under level 7 volume because the audio quality becomes strained at higher volumes. Fortunately, you can tweak the bass and treble accordingly via the accompanying Google Home app. We’ve certainly experienced better audio quality with smart speakers such as the Apple HomePod and Sonos One, but the Nest Hub Max isn’t too shabby. It sits nicely between the Google Home and Google Home Max speakers in terms of audio quality. Another recent introduction to Google Assistant is the ability to pause media content, like YouTube videos or songs in Pandora, using the new Quick Gestures function.

If you're mostly doing background listening, my advice is to save the money and get a single Sonos One at half the price of the Max -- or even a Google Home or Mini, if you're on a tighter budget. No other track I tried illustrated this better than "Yulunga " by Dead Can Dance. With this track spinning from Spotify, the Google speaker exhibited a huge sound that extended beyond the boundaries of the cabinet. All of the elements -- the singer's voice, the left-right panned shaker eggs, the various drums -- are treated equally, and none of them jut out awkwardly. The Max's response to voice commands was excellent, and it did a better job deciphering my Australian accent than the Sonos One with Alexa. I found I could say "Hey Google" in a normal voice from 6 feet away and the speaker would hear it most of the time.
Speaker
As far as design is concerned, the Google Home Max looks great wherever you decide to put it. Taking a step back from the details in build materials, one of my favorite things about the speaker is its simple and minimal design. Besides the switch on the back , the Google Home Max is just one block of plastic. There aren’t any knobs or buttons to take away from the smooth design which makes sense since most of the functionality can be controlled with your voice. There is just one touch sensitive area on the side of the speaker that’s responsible for volume control or pausing/playing music, but that’s it.

It’s useful when there’s just too much noise around for the microphones to pick up your voice commands. All that’s required is for you to stare in the direction of the smart display, raise one hand, and open your fist. In our testing, it really does require you to look in the direction of the smart display, given it’s reliant on facial recognition to work.
DESIDERADA POEM by Max Ehrmann - Inspirational 1920s Prose Poem by American Author - Unframed Wall Art / Pop Art -Life Lessons
In keeping with the minimalist aesthetic of products such as the Google Home Mini and Daydream View, the Google Home Max demonstrates that twill is the new piano black. The whole front of the speaker is covered in a gray cloth while the back is a smooth, matte plastic. The Google Home Max builds the convenience of Google Assistant into a plus-size speaker that can fill a room with excellent sound. To turn off banner notifications, open Photo frame settings for your display, then set “Banner notifications” to Hide. You can add or remove albums with the Home app or your Nest display. Live Albums automatically add photos from your Google Photos library so you don’t have to manually update the photos on your Nest display.

And because you can orient the speaker vertically or horizontally that touch-sensitive bit can either be on top or on the right side. One helpful feature is that a voice will tell you when you’ve accidentally turned the speaker turned upside-down if you’re moving it. There’s nothing different about the design besides the obvious increase in size, though. As far as smart display designs are concerned, its contemporary look can mesh nicely with various styles of decor.
On the top is a touch-sensitive section for playback and volume. At higher volumes, the speaker had trouble picking up the hotword. The Google Home Max has an acoustically transparent fabric that won’t get in the way of your music. The small lights behind the fabric light up when you speak or adjust playback.
Yes, you can pair two Max speakers, but the price is steep and in our tests, it didn't perform well as a pair. Two Sonos One speakers, meanwhile, pair very well, cost the same a single Max, and next year Sonos will add Google Assistant too . If I had to choose straight-up between a single Max and a pair of Sonos Ones in stereo mode, I'd take the Sonos speakers for their improved soundstage. The slight emphasis in the lower frequencies will probably be a positive for most people because of its subtlety. It doesn’t overpower the mids at all and when paired with how loud this thing can get, so it’s perfect for powering your parties.
The floating display, combined with its rounded corners and mesh fabric base, gives it a distinctive aesthetic that’s pleasing to the eyes. The battle to own prime real estate on your kitchen counter, desk, or living room continues as more and more smart displays vie for your attention. Setting it up requires the smart display to create a model of your face, which is stored and encrypted locally. We like how the Nest Hub Max can detect our face and tailor the cards in the interface, but it works best when you have multiple members linked to the smart display. If you do, each person will get a tailored experience and interface whenever their face is detected.

That’s been slowly getting better , but that’s not an issue at all with the Google Home Max. Setting it up is as easy as plugging it in and opening up the Google Home app. It’s very similar to how easy Sonos makes setting up with their app. The Google Home app walks you through step-by-step how to connect the speaker to your wireless router and get it ready for streaming. You should know that WiFi is mandatory as there is no ethernet input if you want to connect it directly to a modem.
One of the nice things about Google's approach to all its Google Home products is that it doesn't limit features to certain models. Ultimately, we decided to place it on the coffee table in our living room. This was a strategic decision because, unlike the previous version, this one packs a 6.5-megapixel camera. Not only does it offer the convenience of video calls courtesy of Google Duo, but it also acts as a blanket of security because it essentially doubles as a Nest Cam. This doesn’t mean you can’t place it elsewhere, but know that it should act as a complementary addition — instead of being a standout focus. Is the Google Home Max the speaker that will tempt audiophiles away from their two-channel systems?
