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While it's a good value for the price, its poor sound performance makes it a better desk buddy than a standalone speaker. When it comes to speakers, Google has the $50 Mini, the $129 Home, and the $399 Max. Google Assistant is also available on every recent Android phone, without you having to hunt down an app. Compared with some of our favorite Bluetooth speakers , you could say that the Mini's 40mm drivers sound tinny and harsh.
Receive expert tips on using phones, computers, smart home gear and more. Make sure all your devices are connected to the same network. When you purchase through our links we may earn a commission. Exposing its bottom, you can see a circular rubber mat to keep still on whichever surface that you place it on. Google provided TechRadar with a coral (peach-colored) model, but the Home Mini is also available in chalk or charcoal .
Ports and Connectors
To get started, fire up the Google Home app, then tap the “Devices” icon in the upper right corner. And get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles.
The speaker doesn't have a 3.5mm output jack or a standard Bluetooth connection. You can play music from your phone by using the Google Home app, and can connect the speaker to a larger, Chromecast-enabled speaker for better sound quality. But there just aren't that many Chromecast-enabled speakers, and you can plug an Echo Dot into anything. You can get similar results by connecting a Chromecast Audio to your favorite speaker and using it with the Mini, but that's an extra purchase and step that will be a deal breaker for many people.
Use Google Home Mini with Chromecast
You can ask Alexa about concert tickets via Stubhub, to order you a Lyft, or to get groceries through Peapod. Alexa can connect to your YNAB home budget or tell you TV schedules. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions.See how we test. Google's demand that its speakers play only with other Google-compatible equipment continues to be the platform's weakest aspect, and the primary reason the Echo Dot remains our Editors' Choice.
With Google Home, however, piping music through your entire house is only as costly or difficult as adding a few more speakers to the mix. Your first step is to set up audio groups in the Google Home app. You can create multiple groups with the same speakers, which is nice if you have a bunch of Homes and want multiple groups for different occasions. If you’re in the market for a cheap speaker, the Google Home Mini will do the trick for many. But, keep in mind that it’s best viewed as a supplement to the Home family, not the foundation.
How to set up whole-home audio with Google Home
It’s more than enough if you’re simply using it to get a glimpse at your calendar, hear the latest news or phone a friend with its free voice calling . But if you’re looking for something that will faithfully reproduce your favorite music, this isn’t the best solution out there. This mini speaker can get fairly loud, but there’s no bass in the delivery.
This includes the Google Home Mini, which is a compact but very well-endowed smart hub. Google's own Google Assistant powers the Google Home Mini. This is an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant. When available, your speaker or display will automatically update to the latest software version. To play something with your voice, just say “OK Google, play in the .” So, for example, I can say “Play In Flames in the back of the house,” and Google Home recognizes this as my audio group.
The Home Mini is also a smart home hub in that it can also integrate with Internet of Things devices from the likes of TP-Link, Philips Hue, Wemo and more. Vocals and the like chime through clearly, but come in at the expense of, well, everything else. This isn’t a problem if you have other speakers picking up the slack, but by itself, the Home Mini just isn’t mighty enough. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. Speaking of Cast, Google’s latest speaker works best within a crowd of other Cast-enabled devices.
This device’s specialty, aside from being oh-so smart, is mainly to reward those who are already within Google’s Cast-enabled walled garden with a cheap, new device. Once your smartphone is set up with the Home Mini, it’s simple to begin listening. Either give the speaker a shout for some tunes, being as specific or vague as you’d like, or just hit the Cast button near the top to give your phone free reign to push its audio straight to the Home Mini. We're seeing more Alexa-enabled speakers than Google-enabled speakers coming down the pike in the next few months, and Alexa has maintained its lead in third-party services. Some speakers, like the upcoming Sonos One, support both. To use your Google Home Mini as a TV speaker, you first have to connect the device to your TV.
This should also generate a new entry at the bottom of the Devices page, though I had to close the Home app and re-open it for this new card to show up. On the next screen, give the group a name and then choose any other speakers you’d like to add to the group. From there, find any speaker you’d like in a group and tap the three-dot overflow menu in the upper right.
You will get a cipher on your TV and smartphone, and if they match, you're all set to go. TheGoogle Terms of Serviceand supplementalNest Terms of Serviceapply to use of the Google Home app and devices set up via the app. Say, for example, you want a group that includes every speaker in your whole house, but you might also want to create separate groups for upstairs and downstairs speakers. Tap the overflow menu button and then tap the “Edit Group” command. After adding your speakers, click the “Save” button to create the group.
Google's new Nest Wifi mesh network router and access points are practically a no-brainer if you're already thinking about upgrading your current wireless setup. The router itself can be controlled with voice commands from any of your Google Home devices, and the access points that extend your wireless signal throughout your house pull double duty as smart speakers. Here are some things to consider if you're looking at getting your hands on one of the new devices, as well as how to set up speaker groups to enjoy house-wide audio once you've added more smart speakers. Cameron Summerson is ex-Editor-in-Chief of Review Geek and served as an Editorial Advisor for How-To Geek and LifeSavvy. He covered technology for a decade and wrote over 4,000 articles and hundreds of product reviews in that time.
Google Home still offers less support for third-party services than Alexa. To sum it all up, the Google Home Mini can be used as an external audio output for your TV as well as so many other things, which makes it an ideal purchase for anyone. You can use your Google Home Mini to ask Chromecast to pause, play, skip, or stop content being played on your TV. Ensure your Chromecast is plugged into your TV and that it is on the same network as your Google Home Mini, connected to the same Wi-Fi network or router. Below are the specifications for Google Nest and Home speakers and displays .
In spite of that fact however, it’s impossible not to recommend this little device. Its Assistant smarts, large list of features and low price make it easy to take the plunge on the Home Mini. The Home Mini is the cheapest way of buying into the Assistant yet for those looking to buy into Google’s smart home ecosystem.
Whether shouting from across the room or speaking gently 10 feet away, the Home Mini yielded similarly great results. The Google Home Mini looks as if Google turned the Home upside down, then smushed it down to size. As such, you’ll find the fabric texture on the top of this device with the matte plastic on the bottom half. Also, if you like to compare tech to food, this device looks like a macaron. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. —they connect them to bigger, better-sounding speakers using the audio-out port, which the Home Mini lacks.
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