In case anybody's thinking about pulling the trigger on this, you should know there's a long-standing bug that causes the Home Max to frequently drop its WiFi connection. You can search for "Google Home Max keeps dropping wifi" and find a huge thread dating back a couple years, if you want to verify. Google knows about the problem, but hasn't done anything to solve it, and it's a lot more annoying than you might think it'd be.
Anyway, there's an easy solution that works for several people, including me: if your access point supports a 5GHz band, just put the Home Max on it, with no other devices.
If your AP doesn't support 5GHz, I'd seriously think twice about purchasing this, even at this discount. It'll drive you absolutely nuts.
Sound is fantastic on this. Built in assistant is a bonus, but great to have in the family room. Frozen II soundtrack never sounded so good!
Heads-up Google Home Max is discontinued by Google. That means no firmware updates but existing services are promised by 'Google' to work.
Google doesn't keep up their promise in most cases.
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The sound quality is similar, so I would go with the Echo Studio since it is still officially being sold and supported. As mentioned in some other comments, this speaker has some problems that Google has not addressed and likely will not at this point.
Got one, hope the wifi issues are not as bad as described here. Was confused between Nest hub max and this one, don't think I need a non shutter cam in my room though. Was there any better alternative? My current JBL link 300 is great but the Bluetooth randomly disconnects ( probably due to phone interference?) Hoping the Aux out overcomes all Bluetooth issues when connected to my laptop. Thank you!
I have three with no problems whatsoever. One (or two for stereo) is great in the kitchen so you can control your music by voice when your hands are dirty. The kids have a Chromebox so I use another as the hard-wired speaker. Makes it easy to "broadcast" to them (eg, "dinner time!") as well as set timers for play/work or answer quick questions via the Assistant.
Klipsch hands down lol. Get a google chromecast audio on ebay (and a nest mini if you absolutely need voice controls). The max is great compared to smart speakers but it's average compared to even computer speakers. This is coming from a guy who has two separate max stereo pairs in different rooms and getting embarrassed when my echo dot connected to my logitech 2.1 system blew it out of the water downstairs.
Man I miss the being able to pick up Chromecast audio's for $15 on sale. My house has 10 different audio zones powered by a mix of stereo receivers with Chomecast built in, Chromecast audios and Google/Nest speakers. Most recently I added some nice in ceiling speakers during our kitchen remodel and had planned to power them off a BT amp that was linked to a Nest Mini I had hidden on top of one of the kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately BT introduced a delay with the other speakers, and even worse it was an inconsistent delay. There's a setting buried in the google home app that allows you dial in that delay, but as soon as I'd skip a track the delay would change. I ended up paying $50 for another Chromecast audio on Ebay and connecting it to the aux in on the BT amp and setting the Nest Mini's default audio to the Chromecast. Problem solved. I know the day is coming when the world's supply of Chromecast audios will be gone and I hope by then SOMEONE has realized there is still a market for these miraculous little audio devices.
I have been using it since it first came out. Got 3 now. Thinking about buying another one to make 2 stereo pairs. I have had zero wifi issues, but my home router is also Google Mesh, so maybe that's why.
The sound quality is so nice that I mostly use Max now for music. It works with Youtube Music, which is linked directly on your Google Home App. My only minor complaint is that its microphone is not as strong as other google home devices IMO. Sometimes we have to yell and repeat a few times before it registers "hey google" command.
I bought one of these during one of the winter sales and it's been great! Fills my great room with sound and I have it synced with the other speakers in my house through the Google home app with no issues.
I have this on my 2.4GHz wifi and I've never noticed any issues connecting to it or dropping music or anything. Some ymmv with that issue, apparently.
Yes, it's discontinued. Why else would it be on such a steep discount? I never would have bought it for MSRP ($400!) but $150 is a solid price. If eventually it stops working as an assistant it still has aux input and it's a good sounding speaker that will continue to work as such.
If you're in the market for a smart speaker and you are already in the Google ecosystem this is just the best speaker out there.
I have 2 of these in stereo. I think they sound great although I am admittedly not an audiophile.
I have not experienced the wifi issues that people are mentioning. I had this in an apartment first with Orbi mesh wifi that had both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. No drop outs. I then moved to a new townhouse that has Ruckus wireless access points running both 2.4 and 5GHz bands and again no issues.
Now if anyone can point me to a decent deal on the Nest Hub Max I'd appreciate it lol
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Anyway, there's an easy solution that works for several people, including me: if your access point supports a 5GHz band, just put the Home Max on it, with no other devices.
If your AP doesn't support 5GHz, I'd seriously think twice about purchasing this, even at this discount. It'll drive you absolutely nuts.
Google doesn't keep up their promise in most cases.
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The sound quality is so nice that I mostly use Max now for music. It works with Youtube Music, which is linked directly on your Google Home App. My only minor complaint is that its microphone is not as strong as other google home devices IMO. Sometimes we have to yell and repeat a few times before it registers "hey google" command.
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Yeah lol we all got several!
This thing blows away the regular Google home. Not even close. You will not be disappointed.
The stock has pretty much run dry. I dont think this will go down much. Although i would love to pay just $50 for one.
I have this on my 2.4GHz wifi and I've never noticed any issues connecting to it or dropping music or anything. Some ymmv with that issue, apparently.
Yes, it's discontinued. Why else would it be on such a steep discount? I never would have bought it for MSRP ($400!) but $150 is a solid price. If eventually it stops working as an assistant it still has aux input and it's a good sounding speaker that will continue to work as such.
If you're in the market for a smart speaker and you are already in the Google ecosystem this is just the best speaker out there.
If so, is the upgrade worth it?
The Google Audio gets good reviews as well.
Wondering if I should disable the microphone in that case for security reasons.
I have 2 of these in stereo. I think they sound great although I am admittedly not an audiophile.
I have not experienced the wifi issues that people are mentioning. I had this in an apartment first with Orbi mesh wifi that had both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. No drop outs. I then moved to a new townhouse that has Ruckus wireless access points running both 2.4 and 5GHz bands and again no issues.
Now if anyone can point me to a decent deal on the Nest Hub Max I'd appreciate it lol
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