The Google Home Max is a small speaker that has built-in Google Assistant capabilities. It's voice-activated, and it can pick up your voice even if you aren't very close to the speaker. You can also mute the microphone when you don't want it to hear you. Its balanced mid-range makes it suitable for vocal-centric content like podcasts, but it's lacking a bit of low-bass, which can be disappointing for some music fans. On the upside, there are bass and treble adjustments available in its companion app.
Our Verdict
The Google Home Max is fair for music. Its balanced mid-range can reproduce vocals and lead instruments clearly, but its underemphasized treble can make audio dull. Also, it's lacking low-bass, which is disappointing for fans of bass-heavy music genres like EDM. It gets loud, but there's a bit of compression at max volume. Fortunately, you can adjust its bass and treble levels.
- Bass and treble adjustments.
- Lacks low-bass.
The Google Home Max is adequate for videos and movies. Its balanced mid-range can reproduce dialogue clearly, but it lacks low-bass, so you don't feel the deep thump in action-packed scenes. Also, it has a mediocre soundstage, and there's compression when you play it at max volume. Its latency with Android and iOS devices may be too high for watching videos, but fortunately, it performs better over a Google Chromecast connection.
- Bass and treble adjustments.
- Low latency over Google Chromecast.
- Mediocre soundstage.
- Lacks low-bass.
The Google Home Max is okay for podcasts. It has a balanced mid-range that can reproduce voices clearly and accurately. You can also stream podcasts from your phone or tablet to the bar wirelessly over Wi-Fi, and it supports multi-device pairing. Unfortunately, this speaker isn't very portable, and it has a mediocre soundstage.
- Multi-device pairing.
- Mediocre soundstage.
The Google Home Max is great for voice assistant. It has built-in Google Assistant, and the speaker can hear you even if you're far away. You can also mute the microphone if you don't want the speaker to listen to you. Unfortunately, it's soundstage isn't perceived as very large or directional.
- Excellent far-field performance.
- Built-in Google Assistant.
- Mediocre soundstage.
The Google Home Max needs to be plugged into a wall outlet to work, so it isn't suitable for outdoor use.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
This speaker is available in both 'Charcoal' and 'Chalk'. While we tested the 'Charcoal' variant of this speaker, we expect our review to also be valid for the 'Chalk' color as well.
If you come across another variant of this speaker, let us know in the discussions.
Popular Speaker Comparisons
The Google Home Max is a compact speaker with built-in Google Assistant capabilities. You can only use it when it's plugged into an outlet, so it isn't suitable for outdoor use. However, it's voice-activated, and it can pick up your voice even if you're far away from the speaker.
The Google Home Max and the Google Nest Audio are similar speakers, but the Home Max has a more versatile performance. The Home Max's sound profile is better-balanced, and it can get louder. Also, it has lower latency over a Wi-Fi connection, so it's a better choice for watching videos and supports multi-device pairing. That said, both speakers are great for voice assistant support.
The Google Home Max and the Sonos Five are two mid-size speakers with different strengths and depending on your needs, you may prefer one over the other. The Google has better controls and has an excellent-performing Google Assistant built-in. It also supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Google Chromecast. However, the Sonos can produce more low-bass and has a better-balanced sound profile, which makes it better suited for music. It also supports Apple AirPlay.
The Google Home Max and the Apple HomePod (1st generation) are two speakers with a voice assistant built-in, and you may prefer one over the other. While both speakers have a similarly balanced sound profile, the Google speaker has a companion app that lets you EQ its bass and treble and comes with Google Assistant built-in. It also supports Chromecast. However, the Apple speaker uses Siri and supports Apple AirPlay. Since it's a 360-degree speaker, it also has an outstanding soundstage. Both speakers have been discontinued and may be difficult to find in new condition.
The Google Home Max and the Google Nest Mini (2nd Gen) both offer impressive performances for voice assistant, but the Home Max is a better choice for music and videos. Out-of-the-box, the Home Max has a better-balanced sound profile, and it can get louder. Also, it has lower latency over a Chromecast connection.
Test Results
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