Google may have retired the Home Max at the end of last year, but you can still find it on sale at the odd online retailer. And as it just so happens, A4C has discounted the smart speaker to $199.95. Using the checkout code "SLICK25," you can get an additional $49.98 off the Home Max, making it $149.97 The last time you could buy the Home Max for under $150 was Black Friday 2020. Priced at $400 when it first came out, in more recent months we've see it cost closer to $180 to $200. We gave the Google Home Max a score 88 in 2017.

Despite Google's Home Max being officially retired and pulled from sale a couple of weeks ago, the Google Store is once again offering the speaker for sale. While flashing a message saying the device is sold out and prompting customers to try out a pair of the new Nest Audio devices instead, it will still let you check out a Charcoal-colored Home Max speaker for $179. Everything we said in our 2017 review still stands, in that this voice-activated speaker has excellent sound quality and plugs directly into Google's Assistant ecosystem, except it doesn't cost $400 anymore. It's unclear how many unsold units are left, but as Android Police notes, this may be your actual last chance to snag one if you missed out on the Black Friday sales that dropped its price to $150. If $179 isn't quite low enough get you to bite, then check out Google's eBay page, where the device is available in both Charcoal and Chalk with full warranty and free shipping, but adds an extra $20 discount that's available through Thursday.

Google has announced that it's no longer making its music-focused Home Max smart speaker, which is--or was--the best-sounding smart speaker on the market. In a statement provided to TechHive, Google says that the $299 Home Max will continue to work normally, and that it will still offer software and security patches for the device. The statement also points smart speaker shoppers toward the Nest Audio, a new music-focused speaker with a smaller design and a more palatable $99 price tag. We've sold out of Google Home Max and will no longer be manufacturing the device. With the launch of Nest Audio, we're offering a range of great home audio solutions, particularly with two Nest Audios paired for stereo sound.

Google's smart speakers and displays have steadily improved over the years, and luckily for us, a few of them are on sale for Black Friday. The biggest discount by far is the Google Home Max, which is now selling for $149.99, a whopping 50 percent off its regular price of $299.99) Sure, it's a few years old now -- we gave it a review score of 88 in 2017 -- but it's still a very good device, with stellar audio that outclasses most other Google-powered smart speakers, especially in terms of volume and bass. Our main complaint about the Home Max at the time was its high price tag, but since it's half off now, the Home Max is looking like quite a bargain. The Google-powered Nest Hub Max is on sale for $179.99 this week as well, which is $50 less than its usual price of $229.99.

In a lot of ways, smart speakers are the ideal home stereo for the streaming music generation. Telling an Amazon Echo to play whatever song was on your mind for the first time was a bit of a revelation. And music remains one of the most-used and most crucial features of any smart speaker. The only problem is lots of them sound terrible. Sonos, Google, Apple and Amazon all have smart speakers where music quality is paramount, but a $200 Echo Studio or Sonos one is a tough sell next to a $50 Echo Dot or Nest Mini.

It's been three years since Google released a smart speaker with music quality in mind. The Google Home Max was the polar opposite of the Home Mini, a large and powerful speaker that could fill a room with great-sounding audio. But unsurprisingly, cheap and tiny smart speakers like the Home Mini and Amazon's Echo Dot have had an easier time gaining traction than more expensive options like Apple's HomePod and the Home Max. Google is trying to split the difference with the Nest Audio, a compact smart speaker that the company says will offer a robust music experience without breaking the bank. I've been testing the Nest Audio for a few days, and while it doesn't sound as good as bigger and more advanced music-focused speakers, I can say it's a major upgrade over something like the Nest Mini or Echo Dot.

Google appeared to discontinue the original Home speaker when it recently marked the product as "no longer available" in its store. That move suggested a replacement smart speaker is on the way, and now we've gotten what's likely our first proper look at it. Recently certified by the FCC, here is our first look at GXCA6, the new @Google Nest Speaker, replacing the original Google Home. The Federal Communications Commission just certified some type of "wireless device" from the company, though many of the details about the gadget remained confidential. Reports have suggested that Google was working on a Nest-branded speaker to replace the Home and this filing fits the bill.

A few weeks ago, the Google Store listed the Google Home smart speaker as "no longer available." Now, we might know why. According to 9to5Google, the company is planning on a new Nest-branded smart speaker that is more in line with the minimalist look and fabric stylings of the Nest Mini and the Nest Hub. The device is apparently codenamed "Prince" and is said to be somewhat of a rival to the Sonos One, which might mean more robust speakers. It's unclear when the product will actually launch, but as the Pixel 4a is likely delayed, Google's next smart speaker will probably have a later debut as well.

Google's big, premium Apple HomePod rival the Home Max is finally being released in the UK today, bringing Google Assistant to the high-end smart speaker market. Announced in October 2017 and on sale in the US since November, the Home Max joins Google's smaller Home and smallest Home Mini smart speakers as the big one. Google Assistant sorts voice commands, controls and questions exactly the same as Google's smaller smart speaker offerings, but the way it sounds couldn't be more different. 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. 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.

You now have a viable option if you want a high-end Google Assistant speaker that slots between the good-but-not-mind-blowing Home Max and Bang & Olufsen's ultra-premium Beosound models. Harman Kardon has unveiled the Citation 500, a smart speaker that touts 200W of stereo audio and high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz support in a compact form for £549 (about $708). It's difficult to say for sure that it bests the Home Max when Google doesn't provide official wattage, but it could easily outperform much of what's on the market. As it stands, the Citation isn't relying solely on audio prowess. It serves as a smart home hub, and an LCD on the top helps control playback when you're not shouting song requests.