Hands and ears on the Google Home Max

Google's latest smart speaker has the specs to appeal to audiophiles. The $400 Google Home Max takes the same digital assistant from Google Home (called Google Assistant), and adds premium sound tech for better music playback. Google's high end smart speaker is available now from the company's site as well as Best Buy and Verizon. 

If you just want Google Assistant, you can spend much less on the original $130 Google Home or the $50 Google Home Mini. The Max offers extra oomph if you're particular about sound quality.

Specs include:

Six onboard microphones for far-field voice control
Two 4.5-inch (114 mm) high-excursion dual voice-coil woofers
Two 0.7-inch (18 mm) custom tweeters
Inputs: USB-C (for separate Ethernet and digital audio dongles), 3.5 mm auxiliary, Bluetooth
Acoustically transparent fabric in two colors: chalk and charcoal
Silicone base

The Max will also adapt to the room it's in -- subtly adjusting the bass and treble mix on its own depending on the reverberation it senses from nearby walls. 

The Max will also act differently if it's placed vertically instead of horizontally. When horizontal, it's left and right sides will play sound in stereo. If you turn it on its side, the Max will switch to mono sound. 

In addition to a spot to plug in the power cable, you can also connect an auxiliary cable to the back of the Max and it has a USB-C port. 

You can use the USB-C port to charge your Google Pixel phone. 

The Max comes in two colors. Here's the chalk. 

Here's the charcoal. 

If you have more than one Max, you can pair the two together to play music in stereo. 

You'll be able to tailor the Max to your space to fine tune your listening experience.