Condensing everything that’s good about the bigger Google Home into a small pin-cushion-like speaker works great, but it won’t blow you away for music

Google Home Mini is the company’s new smart speaker that shrinks down all the intelligence into a cheaper, smaller package.



The Home Mini joins last year’s Home and the upcoming Home Max smart speakers housing the Google Assistant, the voice assistant housed in most Android smartphones that has access to your Google profile and its various bits of information.

What is it?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The row of LEDs lights up red when the mics are muted. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Google Home Mini is a wifi-connected smart speaker that looks like a small fabric-covered pin cushion. It comes in a grey, black or coral with a colour-matched plastic base and rubber foot to keep it from sliding about when you prod it.

There is a row of four LEDs in the top that light up when you speak to it or adjust the volume. They’re simple and easy to understand, lighting up red when muted, but are difficult to see from across the room.

What does it do?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The original Google Home on the left, the new Google Home Mini on the right. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The Home Mini basically does everything the full-sized Google Home does, just in a smaller package with a much smaller speaker.

It’ll answer questions, set timers and alarms, play music, read the news or information from the web, and control a relatively large collection of smart home devices such as Hue lights. It can also read out your next appointment if you’ve got your life plugged into Google services and give you traffic updates on your commute.

How does it work?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest To mute the mic you have to slide the switch on the back of the little puck. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

All you have to do once set up using the Google Home app on an Android or iOS device is say the wake words: “OK, Google” or the easier to say “Hey Google”. Assistant will then wait for your command or question.

Google Assistant is better than any other voice assistant at recognising what you’re trying to say, even if you’ve garbled the question.

Home Mini is capable of hearing you over fairly loud noises, such as the a cooker hood going full blast, but struggles a little when it is playing music at full volume. At volume level 10 you can hear it over the sound of a loud washing machine in the kitchen. I wouldn’t call it room-filling sound but it’s still fairly loud and clear when maxed out.

It won’t replace a good Bluetooth or wireless speaker as there’s no real bass and the treble can be a little harsh, but is much louder than Amazon’s similar Echo Dot smart puck. I was quite impressed.

You can set the Home Mini to always play music out of a Google Cast-enabled speaker or the Chromecast Audio dongle, but cannot link it to a Bluetooth speaker. You can use the Home Mini as a Bluetooth speaker, however.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tap to adjust the volume. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

You can control the volume by asking for a particular level from zero to 10, asking Assistant to turn it up or down, or by tapping on the left or right side of the little puck.

Taps have to be more deliberate than for a smartphone screen, but it works fairly well. To mute the microphone you have to slide a switch on the back of the speaker which is a bit awkward and is easier if you just pick the thing up. You can’t do it via voice anymore.

Observations

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Google Home Mini on the left, the Amazon Echo Dot on the right. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

If two Google Home products can hear you, only the closest responds despite both activating

Alarms sound on one Home unit only if you have more than one

It comes with a microUSB power adapter

Google Assistant can ring your phone if you’ve lost it, even if you’ve got more than one linked to your Google account

Keeping the fabric dome clean will need a vacuum cleaner

There’s no 3.5mm or Bluetooth audio output

You can control videos on a Chromecast or Cast-enabled TV

There’s still no support for G Suite accounts, only personal Google accounts

Price

The Google Home Mini costs £49, while the original larger Google Home costs £129.

For comparison, Amazon’s Home Mini competitor the Echo Dot costs £49.99 while the 2017 Amazon Echo costs £90.

Verdict

The Google Home Mini is all the functionality of a full-sized Google Home shrunk into a small fabric-covered pin cushion.

It doesn’t sound as good, and isn’t as loud, as the bigger Home, but sounds better and is louder than Amazon’s Echo Dot.

It’s a great little smart speaker giving access to a world of information through Google Assistant, while playing music and controlling the odd smart home device, if you’re OK with the privacy implications of having a voice-controlled speaker in your home.

It works best if you’re plugged into Google’s ecosystem, but at £50 the Home Mini is a great little thing to have about the house.

Pros: full Google Assistant, relatively discreet, Bluetooth in, sounds decent for a small speaker, relatively loud, can hear you very well Cons: no 3.5mm jack or Bluetooth out, fabric could get dirty in a kitchen, LEDs a bit dim to see from across the room

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Speak to the Home Mini and the LEDs light up and pulse to let you know it’s listening to you. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

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