diff --git a/speech/cloud-client/README.md b/speech/cloud-client/README.md
index d7bc3a3c43c..c0397107edb 100644
--- a/speech/cloud-client/README.md
+++ b/speech/cloud-client/README.md
@@ -24,3 +24,15 @@ You can then run a given `ClassName` via:
 ### Transcribe a local audio file (using the quickstart sample)
 
     mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.example.speech.QuickstartSample
+
+### Transcribe a local audio file (using the recognize sample)
+```
+    mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.example.speech.Recognize \
+    -Dexec.args="syncrecognize ./resources/audio.raw"
+```
+
+### Transcribe a remote audio file (using the recognize sample)
+```
+    mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.example.speech.Recognize \
+    -Dexec.args="syncrecognize 'gs://cloud-samples-tests/speech/brooklyn.flac'"
+```
diff --git a/speech/cloud-client/src/main/java/com/example/speech/QuickstartSample.java b/speech/cloud-client/src/main/java/com/example/speech/QuickstartSample.java
index 23da6b476d6..73e234836f9 100644
--- a/speech/cloud-client/src/main/java/com/example/speech/QuickstartSample.java
+++ b/speech/cloud-client/src/main/java/com/example/speech/QuickstartSample.java
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
         System.out.printf("Transcription: %s%n", alternative.getTranscript());
       }
     }
+    speech.close();
   }
 }
 // [END speech_quickstart]
diff --git a/speech/cloud-client/src/main/java/com/example/speech/Recognize.java b/speech/cloud-client/src/main/java/com/example/speech/Recognize.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6b6abef94d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/speech/cloud-client/src/main/java/com/example/speech/Recognize.java
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2017, Google Inc.
+
+  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+  limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package com.example.speech;
+
+import com.google.api.gax.grpc.OperationFuture;
+import com.google.cloud.speech.spi.v1beta1.SpeechClient;
+import com.google.cloud.speech.v1beta1.AsyncRecognizeResponse;
+import com.google.cloud.speech.v1beta1.RecognitionAudio;
+import com.google.cloud.speech.v1beta1.RecognitionConfig;
+import com.google.cloud.speech.v1beta1.RecognitionConfig.AudioEncoding;
+import com.google.cloud.speech.v1beta1.SpeechRecognitionAlternative;
+import com.google.cloud.speech.v1beta1.SpeechRecognitionResult;
+import com.google.cloud.speech.v1beta1.SyncRecognizeResponse;
+import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.List;
+
+public class Recognize {
+  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
+    if (args.length < 1) {
+      System.out.println("Usage:");
+      System.out.printf(
+          "\tjava %s \"<command>\" \"<path-to-image>\"\n"
+          + "Commands:\n"
+          + "\tsyncrecognize | asyncrecognize\n"
+          + "Path:\n\tA file path (ex: ./resources/audio.raw) or a URI "
+          + "for a Cloud Storage resource (gs://...)\n",
+          Recognize.class.getCanonicalName());
+      return;
+    }
+    String command = args[0];
+    String path = args.length > 1 ? args[1] : "";
+
+    // Use command and GCS path pattern to invoke transcription.
+    if (command.equals("syncrecognize")) {
+      if (path.startsWith("gs://")) {
+        syncRecognizeGcs(path);
+      } else {
+        syncRecognizeFile(path);
+      }
+    } else if (command.equals("asyncrecognize")) {
+      if (path.startsWith("gs://")) {
+        asyncRecognizeGcs(path);
+      } else {
+        asyncRecognizeFile(path);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Performs speech recognition on raw PCM audio and prints the transcription.
+   *
+   * @param fileName the path to a PCM audio file to transcribe.
+   */
+  public static void syncRecognizeFile(String fileName) throws Exception, IOException {
+    SpeechClient speech = SpeechClient.create();
+
+    Path path = Paths.get(fileName);
+    byte[] data = Files.readAllBytes(path);
+    ByteString audioBytes = ByteString.copyFrom(data);
+
+    // Configure request with local raw PCM audio
+    RecognitionConfig config = RecognitionConfig.newBuilder()
+        .setEncoding(AudioEncoding.LINEAR16)
+        .setSampleRate(16000)
+        .build();
+    RecognitionAudio audio = RecognitionAudio.newBuilder()
+        .setContent(audioBytes)
+        .build();
+
+    // Use blocking call to get audio transcript
+    SyncRecognizeResponse response = speech.syncRecognize(config, audio);
+    List<SpeechRecognitionResult> results = response.getResultsList();
+
+    for (SpeechRecognitionResult result: results) {
+      List<SpeechRecognitionAlternative> alternatives = result.getAlternativesList();
+      for (SpeechRecognitionAlternative alternative: alternatives) {
+        System.out.printf("Transcription: %s%n", alternative.getTranscript());
+      }
+    }
+    speech.close();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Performs speech recognition on remote FLAC file and prints the transcription.
+   *
+   * @param gcsUri the path to the remote FLAC audio file to transcribe.
+   */
+  public static void syncRecognizeGcs(String gcsUri) throws Exception, IOException {
+    // Instantiates a client with GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
+    SpeechClient speech = SpeechClient.create();
+
+    // Builds the request for remote FLAC file
+    RecognitionConfig config = RecognitionConfig.newBuilder()
+        .setEncoding(AudioEncoding.FLAC)
+        .setSampleRate(16000)
+        .build();
+    RecognitionAudio audio = RecognitionAudio.newBuilder()
+        .setUri(gcsUri)
+        .build();
+
+    // Use blocking call for getting audio transcript
+    SyncRecognizeResponse response = speech.syncRecognize(config, audio);
+    List<SpeechRecognitionResult> results = response.getResultsList();
+
+    for (SpeechRecognitionResult result: results) {
+      List<SpeechRecognitionAlternative> alternatives = result.getAlternativesList();
+      for (SpeechRecognitionAlternative alternative: alternatives) {
+        System.out.printf("Transcription: %s%n", alternative.getTranscript());
+      }
+    }
+    speech.close();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Performs non-blocking speech recognition on raw PCM audio and prints
+   * the transcription.
+   *
+   * @param fileName the path to a PCM audio file to transcribe.
+   */
+  public static void asyncRecognizeFile(String fileName) throws Exception, IOException {
+    // Instantiates a client with GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
+    SpeechClient speech = SpeechClient.create();
+
+    Path path = Paths.get(fileName);
+    byte[] data = Files.readAllBytes(path);
+    ByteString audioBytes = ByteString.copyFrom(data);
+
+    // Configure request with local raw PCM audio
+    RecognitionConfig config = RecognitionConfig.newBuilder()
+        .setEncoding(AudioEncoding.LINEAR16)
+        .setSampleRate(16000)
+        .build();
+    RecognitionAudio audio = RecognitionAudio.newBuilder()
+        .setContent(audioBytes)
+        .build();
+
+    // Use non-blocking call for getting file transcription
+    OperationFuture<AsyncRecognizeResponse> response = speech.asyncRecognizeAsync(config, audio);
+    while (!response.isDone()) {
+      System.out.println("Waiting for response...");
+      Thread.sleep(200);
+    }
+
+    List<SpeechRecognitionResult> results = response.get().getResultsList();
+
+    for (SpeechRecognitionResult result: results) {
+      List<SpeechRecognitionAlternative> alternatives = result.getAlternativesList();
+      for (SpeechRecognitionAlternative alternative: alternatives) {
+        System.out.printf("Transcription: %s%n", alternative.getTranscript());
+      }
+    }
+    speech.close();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Performs non-blocking speech recognition on remote FLAC file and prints
+   * the transcription.
+   *
+   * @param gcsUri the path to the remote FLAC audio file to transcribe.
+   */
+  public static void asyncRecognizeGcs(String gcsUri) throws Exception, IOException {
+    // Instantiates a client with GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
+    SpeechClient speech = SpeechClient.create();
+
+    // Configure remote file request for FLAC file
+    RecognitionConfig config = RecognitionConfig.newBuilder()
+        .setEncoding(AudioEncoding.FLAC)
+        .setSampleRate(16000)
+        .build();
+    RecognitionAudio audio = RecognitionAudio.newBuilder()
+        .setUri(gcsUri)
+        .build();
+
+    // Use non-blocking call for getting file transcription
+    OperationFuture<AsyncRecognizeResponse> response = speech.asyncRecognizeAsync(config, audio);
+    while (!response.isDone()) {
+      System.out.println("Waiting for response...");
+      Thread.sleep(200);
+    }
+
+    List<SpeechRecognitionResult> results = response.get().getResultsList();
+
+    for (SpeechRecognitionResult result: results) {
+      List<SpeechRecognitionAlternative> alternatives = result.getAlternativesList();
+      for (SpeechRecognitionAlternative alternative: alternatives) {
+        System.out.printf("Transcription: %s%n", alternative.getTranscript());
+      }
+    }
+    speech.close();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/speech/cloud-client/src/test/java/com/example/speech/RecognizeIT.java b/speech/cloud-client/src/test/java/com/example/speech/RecognizeIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..29ec44934f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/speech/cloud-client/src/test/java/com/example/speech/RecognizeIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2017, Google, Inc.
+
+  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+  limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package com.example.speech;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.JUnit4;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.PrintStream;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for speech recognize sample.
+ */
+@RunWith(JUnit4.class)
+@SuppressWarnings("checkstyle:abbreviationaswordinname")
+public class RecognizeIT {
+  private ByteArrayOutputStream bout;
+  private PrintStream out;
+
+  // The path to the audio file to transcribe
+  private String fileName = "./resources/audio.raw";
+  private String gcsPath = "gs://cloud-samples-tests/speech/brooklyn.flac";
+
+  @Before
+  public void setUp() {
+    bout = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+    out = new PrintStream(bout);
+    System.setOut(out);
+  }
+
+  @After
+  public void tearDown() {
+    System.setOut(null);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRecognizeFile() throws Exception {
+    Recognize.syncRecognizeFile(fileName);
+    String got = bout.toString();
+    assertThat(got).contains("how old is the Brooklyn Bridge");
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testRecognizeGcs() throws Exception {
+    Recognize.syncRecognizeGcs(gcsPath);
+    String got = bout.toString();
+    assertThat(got).contains("how old is the Brooklyn Bridge");
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testAsyncRecognizeFile() throws Exception {
+    Recognize.asyncRecognizeFile(fileName);
+    String got = bout.toString();
+    assertThat(got).contains("how old is the Brooklyn Bridge");
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testAsyncRecognizeGcs() throws Exception {
+    Recognize.asyncRecognizeGcs(gcsPath);
+    String got = bout.toString();
+    assertThat(got).contains("how old is the Brooklyn Bridge");
+  }
+}