Polk Assist Voice Enabled Google Smart Speaker

Polk Audio is very hush hush about the features of their new smart speaker that will be available just in time for summer for $199. With an announcement of their new smart speaker only a month away from the shipping date everything better be ready to go! The new smart speaker will be called the Polk Assist and will feature the Google Assistant built in for hands-free help around the house, music streaming and control of your smart home devices. The Polk Assist will also have Chromecast built in so you can group multiple Chromecast-enabled speakers and sound bars for multiroom playback from compatible audio apps including Pandora, TuneI, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio, NPR and Spotify.

Polk Audio is committed to providing premium audio solutions enabled by the Google Assistant and Chromecast. With the addition of the Polk Assist smart speaker, consumers can easily add Google Assistant hands-free convenience and Chromecast hi-res multi-room audio streaming to their home.

- Michael Greco, global brand director, Polk Audio.

The Polk Assist is built on the Android Things platform, Polk Audio leverages Google intelligent learning algorithms and the Android development and partner ecosystems to deliver a smart, hands-free premium audio experience. The Polk Assist speaker is one of the first smart speakers built on certified Android Things System-on-Modules (SoMs) which benefit from regular feature and security updates from Google.Optimizing set-up and control. Users simply plug in the Polk Assist and download the free Google Home app in the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android to begin using the smart speaker.

With one 3.5" driver and a 1" tweeter the sound should be a big step up from the Google Home. which only has a single 2" driver and passive radiators. Granted the Google Home is $99 whereas the Polk Assist is twice that at $199, but if you're looking to actually be able to hear the assistant grant your wishes or play some music we find the price to be nominal.

Audioholics has seen some revolutionary products from Polk Audio recently including the MagniFi Mini and MagniFi Max, both of which will work with the Polk Assist. If the Assist is anything like Polk Audio's recent soundbars than it should be extremely easy to setup and use.  The Polk Assist will be available in midnight black and cool gray, and will begin shipping in June 2018 for $199.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.