Google Home Mini Review: The Primary Great Echo Dot Rival

Google Home Mini Review: The Primary Great Echo Dot Rival

The Google Home Mini looks and sounds better than Amazon's smallest Alexa speaker, but it’s almost as versatile.

OUR VERDICT

The Google Home Mini looks and sounds better than Amazon's smallest Alexa speaker, but it isn't quite as versatile.

GOOD STUFF

• Good sound quality for voice responses
• Attractive design
• Impulse purchase pricing

BAD STUFF

• Fabric might not last long
• Limited audio output options
• Fewer smart home tricks than Amazon’s Alexa

The Google Home Mini may are usurped by the Nest Mini last year, but we do not think you ought to write it off just yet – not least because you'll find some fantastic Google Home Mini deals as a result.

It's cute, it's compact, and it had been only $49 / £49 / AU$79 at launch (although you'll generally find it for fewer than half the worth these days). The affordable Google Home Mini does something that the majority of the simplest Bluetooth speakers can’t: it comes equipped with Google Assistant, which is usually at the able to assist you find answers, activate the tunes, dim the lights, start a television program and more by using nothing but your voice.

That means that the house Mini is strictly just like the larger, costlier Google Home and even the far more powerful Google Home Max therein it can control your smart home devices. But that’s where the comparisons stop. While the others bring very solid standalone speakers from a performance standpoint, the house Mini can’t hold its own because the sole sound-maker in your house.

There’s certainly a facet of subjectivity in judging sound quality, but most would agree that what the house Mini is capable of isn’t an entire lot. The soundstage – despite being pitched as 360-degrees – falls a touch flat. While skilled in pulling up the foremost obscure music you'll think of from a reasonably big variety of streaming services, the Mini features a difficult time doing them justice due to this speaker’s diminutive profile.

However, if you already own a Google Home or have a speaker found out with a Chromecast Audio, the house Mini will make your audio arrangement even sweeter with its expertise leaning on the highs within the sound profile. Vocals and therefore the like chime through clearly, but are available at the expense of, well, everything else. This isn’t a drag if you've got other speakers learning the slack, but by itself, the house Mini just isn’t mighty enough.

In spite of that fact however, it’s impossible to not recommend this tiny device. Its Assistant smarts, large list of features and low price make it easy to require the plunge on the house Mini.

Design

The Google Home Mini looks as if Google turned the house the wrong way up, then smushed it right down to size. As such, you’ll find the material texture on the highest of this device with the matte plastic on rock bottom half. Also, if you wish to match tech to food, this device seems like a macaron.

The palm-sized Home Mini gives off a glance that its fabric mesh is simply for looks, but it’s actually conductive to your touch during a few areas. For instance, tapping the highest pauses and resumes play. Google had plans to permit for the Assistant to be summoned by tapping and holding on the center, but has since permanently (via: 9to5Google) disabled the feature thanks to privacy concerns.

Placing a finger on the left and right sides of the speaker lowers and raises the volumes, as you would possibly expect. And lastly, whenever you navigate together with your voice or touch, the house Mini will illuminate four LEDs on its top to point out that your action has been registered.

Moving right down to the lower half, the house Mini features a micro USB port on its rear to supply power (this device is battery-free, just like the Amazon Echo Dot) and a microphone switch that permits you to show off active listening, making this a speaker that you’ll need to tap to interact with.

Exposing its bottom, you'll see a circular rubber mat to stay still on whichever surface that you simply place it on. Google provided TechRadar with a coral (peach-colored) model, but the house Mini is additionally available in chalk (grey) or charcoal (black).

Performance

The Google Home Mini is that the most affordable Google Assistant-enabled speaker available and thankfully, its voice recognition doesn’t suffer from the reduction in size and price. Whether shouting from across the space or speaking gently 10 feet away, the house Mini yielded similarly great results.

In terms of what the house Mini can take hold of, the list goes on. you'll place a involve free within the US, a feature that's also recently launched within the UK, also as stream music through an assortment of music apps like Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music, iHeartRadio and more. It can send an invitation to tug up a YouTube video over to your Chromecast to effortlessly begin viewing. The house Mini is additionally a sensible home hub therein it also can integrate with Internet of Things (IoT) devices from the likes of TP-Link, Philips Hue, Wemo and more.

But putting aside its smart capabilities for a flash, the house Mini boasts a powerful set of features that are available right out of the box for those that can’t be bothered to speak to their speaker or connect it with extraneous services.

Connecting may be an ace the Google Home app and is quick to show you a thing or two about the house Mini, like how it works and resources that provide instant access to a good sort of free audio content. If you would like to solely use the house Mini as a group of Bluetooth speakers, the Google Home app offers up pairing settings, though they're rather buried within the app.

Once your smartphone is about up with the house Mini, it’s simple to start listening. Either give the speaker a shout for a few tunes, being as specific or vague as you’d like, or simply hit the Cast button near the highest to offer your phone free reign to push its audio straight to the house Mini.

Speaking of Cast, Google’s latest speaker works best within a crowd of other Cast-enabled devices. In my studio, I grouped together a Google Home, a Chromecast Audio-connected soundbar and therefore the Google Home Mini to create a surround-sound setup. When during this grouping, the house Mini stood out because the star of the highs, pushing the vocals through extra hard when the larger Home was more focused on the mids.

But, on its own, the Google Home Mini shouldn’t be used the maximum amount quite a desk buddy. It’s quite enough if you’re simply using it to urge a glimpse at your calendar, hear the newest news or phone a lover with its free voice calling (available now in US, coming later within the UK). But if you’re trying to find something which will faithfully reproduce your favorite music, this isn’t the simplest solution out there. This mini speaker can get fairly loud, but there’s no bass within the delivery.

Verdict

Similar to the Amazon Echo Dot, it's clear that the house Mini is Google’s attempt at getting the Assistant into as many homes as possible. At that, the sheer amount of capabilities that the Google Home brings additionally to its chic, premium build and therefore the low price make it a moment star.

If you’re within the marketplace for an inexpensive speaker, the Google Home Mini will do the trick for several. But, confine mind that it’s best viewed as a supplement to the house family, not the inspiration. This device’s specialty, apart from being oh-so smart, is especially to reward those that are already within Google’s Cast-enabled walled garden with an inexpensive, new device.

Yes, the Google Home Mini is a smaller amount than half the worth of the larger Google Home, and half its size, too; however, it just doesn’t sound like we’re getting half its performance – we’re getting something a touch less