Blink and you may have missed it, but Google gave us a peek at what sure looks like a new smart speaker during its Made by Google event on Wednesday. A "leaked" product is one that's been mistakenly revealed, whereas the speaker we saw during Google's Pixel event got a clear supporting role, with F1 driver Lando Norris cheerfully chatting with the device. Google meant for us to notice the new and unannounced smart speaker. So, what do we know about this little gray (or porcelain?) That may sound obvious, but so often with rumored or "leaked" new products, we're in the land of pure conjecture.

Smart speakers have become the ultimate multitaskers for your home, combining great sound with the convenience of voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri. Whether you're streaming your favorite playlists, checking the weather, controlling your smart home devices or setting reminders hands free, a good smart speaker can make your day-to-day life a whole lot easier -- and more fun, too. If you're an audiophile, some models prioritize high-quality sound that can fill a room. If you're on a budget, there are plenty of affordable options that still pack in tons of features. And if you're deep into the smart home ecosystem, finding a speaker that seamlessly connects to your devices will be a game-changer. We've picked out the best smart speakers for every need, whether you're after booming bass, a sleek design or advanced voice assistant capabilities.

During CES 2025, I had a chance to check out a demo of the way Google is integrating Gemini capabilities into its smart home platform via devices like the Nest Audio, Nest Hub and Nest Cameras. The main takeaway is that the conversations you have with the Google Assistant will feel more natural. Personally, I'd appreciate being able to ask questions as they pop in my head, without having to formulate some Assistant-friendly sentence before speaking -- what I saw makes me feel like my wish could come true. To kick things off, you'll still say "Hey Google," but for follow-up questions you can skip the prompt and the Assistant will be able to hold on to the thread of your conversation. During the demonstration, held in a simulated (and very posh) kitchen, the Google representative asked things like what to cook with ingredients he had on hand (chicken and spinach).

Has your Google smart speaker been giving you the silent treatment lately? Over the past several days, owners of Google's Nest and Nest Hub devices have been reporting that Google Assistant has stopped responding to basic commands such as "What's the weather" and "What time is it?" Perplexed Nest users had been turning to Google's support team for possible solutions, but with little success. Luckily, Google just told Android Authority that it's deployed a fix and that "all users should be up and running now." The problems appear to have begun earlier this week, with Nest users on Reddit and other forums complaining that their smart speakers were going silent when asked the most basic commands.

Voice assistants are everywhere now – on your phone, in your TV, possibly even in your kitchen appliances. But one of the most common ways that people interact with Siri, Alexa and the Google Assistant is through a smart speaker, and there are now a wide variety of such devices available at a wide variety of price points. There are downsides to having a smart home device that's always listening for a wake word, as giving more personal information to Amazon, Apple and Google can be a questionable decision. That said, all these companies have made it easier to manage how your data is used -- you can opt out of humans reviewing some of your voice queries, and it's also less complicated to manage and erase your history with various digital assistants, too. The good news is that there's never been a better time to get a smart speaker, particularly if you're a music fan. For all their benefits, the original Amazon Echo and Google Home devices did not sound good. Sonos, on the other hand, made great sounding WiFi-connected speakers, but they lacked any voice-controlled smarts. Sonos released its own voice assistant in 2022 and also supports Alexa on its latest speakers.

When Amazon first introduced Alexa and the Echo speaker years ago, the idea of talking to a digital assistant wasn't totally novel. Both the iPhone and Android phones had semi-intelligent voice controls -- but with the Echo, Amazon took its first step toward making something like Alexa a constant presence in your home. Since then, Apple and Google have followed suit, and now there's a huge variety of smart speakers available at various price points. As the market exploded, the downsides of having a device that's always listening for a wake word have become increasingly apparent. They can get activated unintentionally, sending private recordings back to monolithic companies to analyze. And even at the best of times, giving more personal information to Amazon, Apple and Google can be a questionable decision.

If you've been waiting to upgrade your home with the latest gear, this weekend might be the time to do so. From robot vacuums to Instant Pots, there are a number of great sales for connected appliances and kitchen gadgets for Memorial Day this year. As you can imagine, there are quite a lot of them, so we've collected some of the best ones below. Anker's Eufy RoboVac 11S is one of our favorite budget robot vacuums thanks to its slim profile, smart features and affordable price. It doesn't have WiFi, but it does have a remote control.

Most of Google's Nest devices went on sale for the holiday shopping season and, while those deep discounts have come and gone, we're already seeing new sales pop up across the web. Both Best Buy and Adorama have the second-generation Google Nest Hub for $60, which is $40 off its normal price and only $10 more than it was on Black Friday. The Nest Hub Max is also on sale for $190, while the Nest Audio and Nest Mini are down to $75 and $25, respectively. Our favorites of the bunch for most people are the Nest Hub and the Nest Audio. The former is Google's most recent smart display and it earned a score of 89 from us.

Black Friday typically presents lots of opportunities to smarten up your abode, with everything from connected bulbs to robot vacuums undergoing deep discounts for the holidays. We've already seen a few of these items go on sale as part of early Black Friday efforts, and we'll definitely see more today and over the weekend. These devices include not just the aforementioned bulbs and robot vacuums but also sous vide machines, Instant Pots, Nest Hubs and more. To prevent you from sifting through all these sales yourself, we've done the hard work for you. Here are some of the best ones we've seen so far. One of our favorite robot vacuums, the iRobot Roomba 694, is now $95 off, which brings its price down to $180. It does a great job cleaning both hard and carpeted surfaces, plus the app is easy to use.

Apple expanded its HomePod mini lineup with three new colors back in October, and now we're seeing the first discount on those new options, plus the classics. B&H Photo has all of the HomePod mini colors, including the new orange, blue and yellow configurations, for $95 each. That's $5 off their normal price and, while a modest discount, it's one of the best we've seen on the tiny smart speaker. The HomePod mini is Apple's main smart speaker now that it discontinued the original HomePod (although the company still supports that speaker with software updates). It's a capable device and, like other Apple accessories, arguably best for those who have many Apple products and use services like Apple Music.