Its almost worthless: Google Home users slam painfully slow Gemini assistant but its getting a global rollout no matter how much you dislike it

Date:
Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Description:
Google Home has started expanding Gemini globally, but some users have yet to get along with it.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Google Home is rolling out Gemini to 16 more regions Despite this, users are still experiencing performance issues with commands A handful of users have aired their thoughts on Reddit, but Google has been fine-tuning the
experience After a six-month wait, Google Home is finally expanding its
Gemini early access program to countries outside of the US, Canada, and Mexico, but users arent quite getting along with the updated voice assistant.

The company shared a post on the Google Nest Community site detailing that it will be rolling out Gemini for Home in 7 new languages to the following 16 countries: Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Australia Japan New Zealand As mentioned, the rollout is still in early access, so you'll only get access to Gemini for Home on your Google smart speaker or display if you opt in through the Google Home app, as 9to5Google puts it. Article continues below You may like Gemini can't possibly be this stupid' Google's smart home issues continue Android Auto users still on Google Assistant are finding broken functions Google just upgraded Gemini again to 3.1 Pro

The move is part of the companys massive overhaul of Google Assistant, its long-time virtual assistant across Googles slew of smart home devices, including the Google Nest Audio and the Google Nest Hub smart display. Google announced the replacement back in October 2025 , but the rollout hasnt been the smoothest, and users have been faced with major issues that have yet to
be resolved. "I switched back to Google Assistant" Users had hoped that the Gemini for Home upgrade would be the answer to a smoother smart home experience, but it turns out this is far from the case. If anything, Google Home device owners have called it a downgrade as one Reddit thread puts it , but why are users hating it so much?

A common issue among Google Home users relates to the slow and sometimes absent responses to home commands. As one user shared, they experienced a
7-10 second delay before Gemini took action after asking it to turn on a light; It is so slow to trigger my home commands, it's almost worthless, they claimed . And the same goes for routines, as another frustrated user pointed out, In the worst cases, it's like a five-minute delay, but lately it's
around like ten seconds.

The rise in these common bugs hasnt convinced users that Gemini for Home is a suitable enough model to replace Google Assistant, which, according to a handful of users, is arguably the better one. As a result, users are seeking ways to revert to using the voice assistant predecessor , but Google has promised a series of much-needed upgrades in Gemini for Homes global rollout. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our
trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

With the next phase of the global expansion of Gemini for Home, the tech
giant revealed its been fine-tuning the Gemini experience based on user feedback. In addition to updating support for the family experience and reducing verbosity to ensure more natural interactions, Google says its reduced smart home latency by 40% for speedier responses to voice commands,
as well as improving Geminis context-aware intelligence to distinguish
between the different devices in your smart home ecosystem. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/its-almost-worthless-google- home-users-slam-painfully-slow-gemini-assistant-but-its-getting-a-global-rollo ut-no-matter-how-much-you-dislike-it


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