Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition Review

I have been waiting for proper hardware to match Home Assistant's voice assistant. The Voice Preview Edition delivers industry-leading dual mics with dedicated XMOS audio processing that hears me across the room even over loud music. At $59 it is affordable, plugs in and sets up in minutes with zero flashing, and gives real privacy by running fully local or using their privacy-focused cloud when needed.

Why we built it

We all deserve a voice assistant that does not harvest our data or arbitrarily limit features. Home Assistant made private local home automation possible, and the same must be done for voice. The missing piece was great hardware that is simple to set up, hears you well, gives clear feedback, and fits nicely in the home. The Voice Preview Edition sets a standard for the next several years of open voice development.

Hardware and design

The device uses dual microphones and an industry-leading XMOS audio processor for echo cancellation, stationary noise removal and auto gain control. An ESP32-S3 with 8 MB octal PSRAM keeps everything responsive. The semi-transparent injection-molded shell feels premium and nods to 90s tech. The LED ring is highly customizable from gamer RGB to subtle glow. The rotary dial has satisfying clicks and animations while the physical mute switch completely cuts microphone power.

Setup and usability

No flashing or assembly is required. Plug it in and Home Assistant discovers it automatically. A setup wizard guides new users through everything needed for the best experience. All updates and settings are managed from the Home Assistant UI. The hardware was designed with Home Approval Factor in mind so it can sit out in the open. Volume adjustment is intuitive for everyone in the house thanks to the dial.

Local and private voice

Assist can run completely without the internet for supported languages when you have strong enough hardware. For lower-powered setups or unsupported languages, Home Assistant Cloud offers a privacy-focused offload for speech-to-text and text-to-speech that is fast and accurate. Our long-term goal is fully local operation for all languages at affordable cost. The Preview Edition gives people a way to join the journey early while we continue rapid development.

Open and customizable

We are open sourcing the complete design including 3D files so you can print your own cases. The device works great with default settings but everything from Assist prompts to ESP32 firmware to XMOS firmware can be customized. A concealed Grove port lets you add sensors and turn it into a full ESPHome device. The 3.5 mm jack and clean DAC support use as a media player with Music Assistant. Screws are easy to access with no clips, and exposed pads simplify hardware mods.

Community focus

This hardware was built to let the Home Assistant and ESPHome community work more closely on voice together. We want an ecosystem of voice assistants where people have real choice instead of being locked into proprietary solutions. The community drives the project, whether by contributing code, testing, translating languages or buying hardware and cloud services. I am excited to see what we build together in the coming years.

Who it's for

Get it if: Home Assistant users who want the best possible local voice hardware that respects privacy and can be customized or extended.

Skip it if: People who want a fully polished experience with every language and instant answers to random questions right now.