Gemini is coming to supercharge Google Assistant on smart displays and speakers – and here's how it will work

Gemini and Google Assistant are teaming up on some devices (Image credit: Future / Truls Steinung)

Gemini is being added to older devices with Google Assistant
Hidden code reveals the upgrade is coming soon
The "improved Assistant" will offer more comprehensive answers

Rather confusingly, Google has two smart assistants in play at the moment: Gemini and Google Assistant. For now at least, Google Assistant is sticking around on smart displays and speakers, but we've now got some clues as to how Gemini will be helping out.

The team at 9to5Google spotted code hidden in the latest Google app for Android that referenced "an improved Assistant" with richer responses, a better understanding of your instructions, and a new set of voices to pick from.

At the same time as the launches for the Google TV Streamer and the 4th-gen Google Nest Thermostat, we heard that Gemini would be front and center on new products – but that Google Assistant would still be doing a job on older hardware.

Switching over

Google Gemini AI — Gemini is now available for both Android and iOS (Image credit: Google)

Google clearly sees Gemini as the future when it comes to smart AI-powered assistants. It's preloaded on the new Pixel 9 phones – see our Google Pixel 9 Pro review for details, for example – and is being pushed into multiple Google apps.

There are an awful lot of devices out in the wild with Google Assistant on them though – including third-party hardware that's not made by Google – which means support for the older AI bot is going to have to continue for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully, as far as the user experience goes, this continuing transition will be pretty smooth: you'll just speak out or type your requests, and the AI will respond accordingly, no matter which assistant you're actually using behind the scenes.

Gemini is slowly but surely adding support for all the tasks that Google Assistant is capable of, while also providing a more intelligent and deeper set of responses when needed, thanks to generative AI – and it seems it's about to arrive on more smart devices soon.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.