Google Nest Smart Speaker 'Prince' Tipped To Take On Sonos One

Google is gearing up to release a new Nest smart speaker that is allegedly codenamed 'prince,' a new leak claims. The model is said to feature a familiar Google smart speaker design, but with upgraded audio compared to the previous Google Home model, enabling it to take on the Sonos One smart speaker. The speaker model hasn't been officially announced at this time, but will likely make an appearance later this year.

The leak comes from 9to5Google, which reports that it got word about the smart speaker from 'sources familiar with the matter.' The report claims that the Google Nest 'prince' smart speaker will feature Google Assistant, as expected, and will not feature any sort of display.

The sources claimed that the new speaker will be 'in a similar vein' to the competing smart speaker Sonos One. Consumers can expect larger speaker drivers, the report claims, as well as a fabric-based design akin to what we see with the existing Nest Mini and Hub models.

The report indicates the new Nest smart speaker won't feature any unique functionalities from a software standpoint, though this is a leak, of course, and we won't know for sure until an official announcement is made.

The big appeal of this model, based on the leak, will likely be the audio quality, which probably won't reach the level of the large Google Home Max, but may eclipse that of other Google smart home speakers. We'll likely see this model launch alongside other new Google offerings later this year, at which point its official name will be revealed.