Home Assistant Voice - Preview Edition

by Home Assistant

Meet Home Assistant Voice (Preview Edition) – the first voice assistant built for Home Assistant, by Home Assistant.

Open-source, privacy-first, and designed to blend seamlessly into your smart home, this sleek little unit gives you hands-free, local voice control over your devices without sending your every word off to the cloud.

With dual microphones and an advanced audio processor, Home Assistant Voice cuts through noise to pick up your commands loud and clear. The multicoloured LED ring lets you know when it’s listening, and a hardware mute switch ensures total privacy when you need it. A tactile rotary dial lets you tweak the volume (or LED brightness), and a multifunction button gives you even more hands-on control options.

It's ready to slot neatly into your Home Assistant setup. The built-in speaker handles notifications and feedback, while a 3.5mm audio jack lets you connect external speakers for a bigger sound.

It’s small. It’s smart. It’s totally open. And it’s here to give you a sneak peek at the future of private, local voice control.

Features

Whether you want a fully local voice assistant, a privacy-focused alternative to big-tech devices, or an intuitive way to interact with your smart home, Home Assistant Voice is ready to help.

  • Built for Home Assistant
    The first voice hardware designed by Nabu Casa, the team behind Home Assistant.
  • Privacy-first voice control
    Run locally on powerful Home Assistant hardware or offload processing to the privacy-focused Home Assistant Cloud.
  • No assembly required
    Just plug in USB-C power (not included) and follow the intuitive install wizard—no complicated setup needed.
  • Dual microphones + advanced audio processing
    Equipped with an XMOS audio processor and two microphones for clear voice recognition, even in noisy rooms.
  • Tactile controls
    A rotary dial lets you adjust volume and LED brightness, while a multifunction button can trigger Assist or be customized in Home Assistant.
  • Hardware mute switch
    Physically cuts power to the microphones for total privacy when needed.
  • LED ring feedback
    The multicoloured LED ring provides visual cues for listening status, volume levels, notifications, and more.
  • Onboard speaker + 3.5mm audio jack
    Plays voice responses and alerts via the built-in speaker or connects to an external speaker for better audio output.
  • Expandable & hackable
    Built on ESPHome, making it easy to integrate into your existing setup. The included Grove port allows for additional sensors and extensions.
  • Blends into your home
    A stylish injection-moulded case designed to look good in any setting.
  • Fully open-source
    Completely open software, firmware, and hardware—customise and tweak to your heart’s content!

Ready to take control of your smart home with a fully local, privacy-first voice assistant? Home Assistant Voice is your gateway to the future of open, smart home automation. 🚀

What is the Preview Edition?

Voice assistant functionality in Home Assistant is currently in early stages and is still being expanded on and improved. This Preview Edition is best suited to folks who are excited to participate in this process. If you're after a comfortable Alexa or Google-like experience you might want to wait a bit!

Check out Smart Home Solver and NetworkChuck's videos for an idea of what to expect.

Notes

  • Power supply not included - requires 5V 2A USB-C (we recommend the Raspberry Pi 15W USB-C supply).
  • Requires Home Assistant - needs a Home Assistant setup to function.
  • Speech processing performance depends on your hardware - if you're using a Raspberry Pi or similar low-powered hardware and need faster response times then using the Home Assistant Cloud processing service may speed things up.

Specifications

SoC ESP32-S3 SoC with
16 MB of FLASH storage
8 MB octal PSRAM
Audio Processing XMOS XU316

Featuring:
Echo cancellation
Stationary noise removal
Auto gain control
Power/data USB-C, 5 V DC, 2 A
Radios 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy
Audio output 3.5 mm (⅛”) stereo headphone jack
Digital to analog converter (DAC): TI AIC3202
48 kHz sampling rate
Physical controls Multipurpose button
Rotary dial for volume and other input
Mute switch that physically cuts power to the microphone
Microphone & speaker Internal speaker
Internal dual-mic array
Hardware mute switch
Dedicated I2S lines for audio in and out
Expandability Grove port to connect sensors or other accessories
Easy to open - no clips, only screws to access internals
Exposed pads on PCB for modding
Software ESPHome preloaded
Fully open-source firmware for both the ESP32 and XMOS chip
Requirements Home Assistant already configured on another device.
For fully local speech processing, it is recommended to have a Home Assistant system based on an Intel N100 or higher. Weaker hardware will require a Home Assistant Cloud subscription for optimal speech processing performance.
Language support Check Home Assistant Assist documentation for an up-to-date list.
Environmental conditions
for operation 		Indoor use only
0 °C to 30 °C
32 °F to 86 °F
Humidity: non-condensing
Keep in dry, not excessively dusty environment as this can cause damage to the unit
Dimensions & weight 84x84x21 mm, 96 g | with box: 94x94x30 mm, 120g
Material Enclosure:
Injection-molded
Polycarbonate plastic
Colors: White and Semi-transparent