Google has announced on the Google France blog that Google Home will be coming to the country starting August 3rd. Initially it will be available online but will be followed up with in-store purchase options. The price of the Google Assistant enabled smart speaker will be a maximum of €149, roughly $170. That is substantially more than the current $129 price here in the United States.
Interestingly, Google Assistant is referred to as “Google Wizard” in the announcement.
Functionally, Google Home will work the same in France as it does in the US, UK, and Canada. You will have the ability to stream music from a range of music services such as Google Play Music, Deezer, Spotify, and Tuneln. You will also be able to keep up with your daily calendar and tasks and, of course, control smart devices.
Use Google Wizard on Google Home to control lighting, thermostats, and switches such as LIFX, Nest, Philips Hue, Wemo (and other compatible partners soon)
As Google Home has expanded it’s global footprint, so too has the price expanded. While it is $129 here in the US, that has been the low price point globally. In the UK, the smart speaker sells for £129 which is $166 while in Canada, it is priced at $179 CD which makes it $138 US. Given that the pricing is not uniform, it is likely due to local tariffs or other duties that Google has to pay which, in turn, gets passed along to consumers.
