Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition - Privacy Open Source Sprachassistent

Open Source privacy-friendly voice assistant

The Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition is an open-source, privacy-oriented voice assistant that seamlessly integrates with Home Assistant and offers a glimpse into the future of voice control today.

Thanks to an advanced audio processor and two microphones, it can accurately hear commands and control devices.

Tactile controls, the injection-molded housing, and the LED ring give it a premium appearance and allow for discreet integration into the home.

Note: The Voice Preview Edition requires Home Assistant to function.

Further note: Less powerful Home Assistant hardware may lead to slower voice recognition. If you are using less powerful Home Assistant hardware, such as Raspberry Pi 4/5, NAS systems, Yellow, Green, etc., you should offload voice processing to the Home Assistant Cloud.

Main Features

Designed for Home Assistant — The first voice hardware developed by the team driving the development of Home Assistant, built from the ground up to work with Home Assistant.

Experience the future of voice control today — Home Assistant is rapidly evolving its open-source, privacy-oriented voice assistant for the home. The Preview Edition was designed to allow more people to participate in the development and give everyone a first glimpse into the future of voice control.

The easiest way to get started with Assist — Simply connect it to a USB-C power source (cable and power adapter not included), and it will connect to Home Assistant via an intuitive setup wizard. No assembly required.

The private voice assistant — Connecting the Voice Preview Edition with powerful Home Assistant hardware (see note box) allows it to operate fully locally or offload audio processing to the privacy-oriented Home Assistant Cloud. It also includes a hardware mute switch that physically disconnects the microphones.

Voice support — Assist aims to support more languages than other voice assistants, but this is still in progress. Home Assistant needs your help. Check the supported languages in the Home Assistant Assist documentation.

Advanced audio processing — Dual microphones and the XMOS audio processor cut through the noise to hear your voice clearly.

Visual and acoustic feedback — The multicolored LED ring indicates when it is listening, the volume levels, and more. Sensor values, timers, and additional feedback are provided through the speaker. Connect an external speaker via the 3.5mm headphone jack for media playback.

Physical control — The rotary knob allows for volume control and brightness of the LED ring, while the multifunction button can trigger Assist or be customized in Home Assistant.

Adapts to the home — The small, unobtrusive design is injection-molded and gives it a premium look, while the tactile controls provide a premium feel.

Expandable — Based on ESPHome, sensors can be added via the included Grove connector.

Fully open and community-driven — Fully open software, firmware, and hardware allow you to configure it to your liking. Everything is supported by a dedicated community that customizes and adds features.

Technical Specifications

SoC: ESP32-S3 SoC with 16 MB FLASH memory and 8 MB Octal PSRAM

Audio processing: XMOS XU316 with echo cancellation, removal of stationary noise, automatic volume control

Power supply: USB-C, 5 V DC, 2 A

Wireless modules: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy

Audio output: 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC): TI AIC3202, Sample rate: 48 kHz

Physical controls: Multifunction button, rotary knob for volume and other inputs, mute switch that physically disconnects the microphone's power

Microphone & speaker: Internal speaker, internal dual-microphone array, hardware mute switch, dedicated I2S lines for audio input and output

Expandability: Grove port for connecting sensors or other accessories, Easy to open – no clips, just screws to open the housing, Exposed pads on the PCB for modifications

Software: ESPHome pre-installed, Fully open-source firmware for the ESP32 and XMOS chip

Requirements: Home Assistant must already be configured on another device. For fully local voice processing, it is recommended to use a Home Assistant system based on an Intel N100 or higher. Weaker hardware requires a Home Assistant Cloud subscription for optimal voice processing performance.

Voice support: Check the Home Assistant Assist documentation for an up-to-date list of supported languages.

Operating conditions: Indoor use only, Temperature: 0 °C to 30 °C / 32 °F to 86 °F, Humidity: Non-condensing, Store in a dry, not overly dusty environment, as dust can damage the device.

Dimensions & weight: 84x84x21 mm, 96 g | with packaging: 94x94x30 mm, 120 g

Material: Housing: Injection-molded polycarbonate plastic, Colors: White and semi-transparent