Google Nest Mini

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WIREDBetter sound, especially playing music. Onboard machine learning should speed up Assistant response times. Built-in wall mount eliminates the need for accessories. Recycled speaker fabric. Still $49.TIREDNot a very loud speaker. Proprietary power pack currently only available through Google. Motion controls are unreliable.You may think of thermostats when you hear the name Nest, but earlier this year Google began slapping the brand on (almost) all of its home products. And so the Google Home Mini is now the Google Nest Mini, and it's been refreshed for 2019.

The Nest Mini is about the same hockey-puck size as its predecessor, but it's a real step up in sound. Low bass and midrange tones are much clearer, with a level of separation in frequencies that didn't exist in the . Music sounds a lot clearer, though podcasts can still sound muddy and washed out.

Given the sound quality of the old Home Mini, there was nowhere to go but up. The Nest Mini still isn't a room-filling music speaker, but it sounds good enough to pull off a few songs if the need arises, which is more than you could say for the Home Mini. Given the entry-level price of $49, it's a great way to see if a Google-centric smart home is for you, or a cheap way to extend your smart home into new rooms.

WallflowerOutwardly, the Nest Mini is very similar to the Home Mini. Google has changed the speaker cover material to a fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, but it looks and feels nearly the same. The Micro USB plug is gone—instead you get a round plug. It's not a big change, but it means that any Home Mini accessories that used Micro USB plugs won't work with the Nest Mini.

4 new nest mini devices in black blue red and grey [https://media.wired.com/photos/5db0d4158ebd000007e1441a/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/Gear-Nest-Mini-Family-Shot-SOURCE-Google.jpg] Photograph: GoogleThe big addition is wall mounts, but you won't need those anyway, because the Nest Mini has a little notch for wall mounting built right into the back of it. I highly recommend taking advantage of it. It uses a wall as added resonance to somewhat transcend its size and provide decent-sounding music and clearer voice responses to your commands.

When Google revealed the Nest Mini, it touted an ability to adjust its sound to its environment, like the Sonos Move () and other expensive smart speakers. If it's actually doing this, it's too subtle for me to notice. But again, it definitely sounds better on the wall.

There's also a new sensor under the fabric cover that detects when you're reaching for the Mini. It lights up the volume control buttons on the side of the speaker when it detects your hand nearby. This is great when it works, but like the motion , it's just not reliable.

Like Google's other smart speaker devices, you interact with the Nest Mini by saying "Hey Google." The LEDs in the middle of the puck then light up to let you know it's listening, and you can give it a command like "Tell me the weather." Google has added a third microphone to help the Nest Mini hear those commands. I tested it alongside the previous model and it was indeed much better at accurately understanding my voice from afar.

the side of the new nest mini device [https://media.wired.com/photos/5db0d44c08f850000871920f/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/Gear-Nest-Mini-side-view-gray-SOURCE-Google.jpg] Photograph: GoogleThe other big new feature in this update is a dedicated machine learning chip. This allows the Nest Mini to learn your voice better, and speeds up the response time, since in many cases it will be processed locally rather than sent to Google's servers. You'll still need a Wi-Fi connection, and all of your voice recordings are still sent to Google. I could not tell when things were processed locally, if they ever were, but there's a theoretical speed boost when that situation occurs.

One thing Google has not made a lot of noise about is the ability to pair two Nest Minis for a stereo setup. I only had one, so I haven't been able to test the feature, but Google has on its more expensive . Theoretically you could pair a left and right Nest Mini, creating a richer sound setup.

Other new tricks include the ability to broadcast your voice to other Google speakers throughout your house, call others through Google Duo, and become an alarm through Google's .

Not a ThrowawayOne of the nice things about Google's smart home devices is that they last. If you already own a Google Home Mini, there's nothing here that screams "upgrade now." Yes, the sound is better, but if you want to upgrade your sound, you're better off making a more substantial investment in a like a JBL Link 20 ( or .

Google updates its voice assistant across all devices, so the old Home Mini should continue to operate (and improve) well into the future. And when the next Nest Mini arrives in a year or two, this one will probably continue working, too.

On the other hand, if you want to extend your existing Google Assistant–based smart home into new rooms, or you want to try out Google Assistant on the cheap, the new Nest Mini is a great place to start.

Review: Google Nest MiniRating: 7/10If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. . is a product reviewer for WIRED, specializing in portable technology. He was previously a writer and editor for WIRED's Webmonkey.com, covering the browser wars, web standards, the independent web, and all aspects of internet culture. He studied at the University of Georgia.WriterTopicsAdvertisement Privacy Preference Center We process user's data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements, extract insights and generate reports to understand service usage; and/or accessing or storing information on devices for that purpose. Below you may read further about the purposes for which we process data, exercise your preferences for processing, and/or see our partners. Allow All Manage Consent Preferences Functional Cookies Always ActiveThese cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.

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Select All Vendors Select All Vendors All Consent Allowed Confirm My Choices[https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=228464857488266&ev=PageView&noscript=1] [https://dc.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=434737&fmt=gif] [https://ct.pinterest.com/v3/?tid=2613857793509&pd[em]=<hashed_email_address>&noscript=1] Buy Google Nest Mini Chalk White Smart Speaker - PowerPlanet

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SearchSubscribeUK EditionASIAIndia EditionMiddle East EditionSingapore EditionAFRICASouth Africa EditionEUROPEDanmarkSuomiNorge SverigeUK EditionItaliaNederlandBelgië (Nederlands)FranceDeutschlandNORTH AMERICACanada EditionUS (English) EditionUS (Español) EditionAUSTRALASIAAustralia EditionNew Zealand EditionWhy subscribe?TrendingTechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. (Image: © Future)Our Verdict The Nest Mini is a great deal for your first smart home speaker and a simple solution if you want to extend the Google Assistant experience into other parts of your home. It lacks the musicality of the best-sounding Bluetooth speakers and you’ll need to subscribe to Spotify, Google Play Music or YouTube Music to get specific songs to play on-demand, but at this price these issues aren’t deal-breakers.

For Against Google Nest Mini dealsView Similar Amazon USAmazonWe check over 130 million products every day for the best pricespowered by For years Google has been selling its insanely cheap smart speakers to great success, first with the name ‘’ and now with the name ‘ Google Nest Mini’.

Whatever name it currently goes by, these multipurpose speakers serve as both a gateway to the smart home by way of Google Assistant and a solid speaker that can be controlled with your voice or through your phone with Bluetooth.

The finished result is an entry-level smart speaker that doesn’t have the same power or clarity of, say, the , or , but its low cost and spectacular feature set makes it a great jumping off point for folks just getting into smart home voice control and automation.

Price analysis and release date What Google’s mini smart speaker is most for, however, is its rock-bottom price - the Google Nest Mini is supposed to cost $49.99 / £49 / AU$79, but is often on sale for just $35 / £35. (Sorry Australia, it's still the regular price there.)

RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU...When you do the math on how much goes into this speaker - the speakers, the microphones, the wireless receiver and on-board processor - it’s kind of amazing how cheap Google can sell this speaker for.

How much, if any of it, Google makes back in data collection and sales remains a subject of debate (Google has told some sites that data collected through queries may “inform your interests for ad personalization on Google services”) but it’s worth mentioning just so you’re aware of what’s possible.

Its affordable sticker price puts it in line with almost any budget Bluetooth speaker you’d buy on Amazon, and almost none of those can match the Nest Mini in terms of feature set. In fact, the only other speaker in remotely the same weight class as the Nest Mini is the – which also costs just $35 / £29 / AU$79.

We’ll cover the differences in performance and design below, but for now the main takeaway is that this is both one of the cheapest speakers and the cheapest brand-name smart speaker on the planet right now.

(Image credit: Future)Design In spite of the Nest Mini’s affordable sticker price, there’s nothing about its design that alerts you that this is indeed a cheap speaker: The design is modern, clean and unobtrusive, especially if you buy it in a subtle color like Chalk (off-white) or Charcoal (grey-black). If you want to spice things up with the two more colorful options - Coral (pink-red) or Sky (light blue) - you can certainly do so, but those might not fit with everyone’s living room decor.

Regardless of which color you go for, the Nest Mini has a fabric mesh on top that covers three touch-capacitive buttons for raising and lowering the volume, and play/pause. On the underside you’ll find a rubberized base that compliments the fabric mesh and hides a microphone mute button on the back side near the power port. Last but not least, on the underside, you’ll find a place for a universal mount for easy hanging on a wall - a first for Google’s speakers.

What you won’t find anywhere on the Nest Mini is a 3.5mm line-out jack that could, in theory, connect to any other speaker or a line-in aux port that would allow you to connect your phone or MP3 player to boost your music. You’ll find the former on the Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Generation) that was released a year prior to the Nest Mini and the latter on last year’s new Amazon Echo. For neither one to be on the Nest Mini feels like a bit of a misstep.

The good news though is that the Nest Mini can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth 5.0 so there’s always that option, too, if you need it.

(Image credit: Future)Features

While the addition of Bluetooth is great (and, as you’ll see in a minute, desperately needed), the primary way of interfacing with the Google Nest Mini is, obviously, Google Assistant.

If you tried other virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa or Bixby in the past, or have tried Google Assistant on another Android device, you’ll know what to expect here - a solid assistant that can tap into your calendar to make appointments, set reminders and timers, control the music from popular streaming services, connect to some smart TVs and answer many - but not all - of the questions you can come up with on a day-to-day basis.

The experience of setting up and using Google Assistant has largely improved in the past three-and-a-half years since it launched, and really is as simple as downloading the Google Home app if you haven’t already, logging in using your email, and assigning it to a room.

Through the Google Home app you can setup multi-room groups that enable you to hear the same song across different speakers if you own more than one Google Assistant speaker, and control any smart devices you own if you’re too far away from the Nest Mini.

You’ll also be able to use the app to select which services the Nest Mini defaults to when you ask it to play music - which is pretty crucial. Your choices include Google Play Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Deezer or Pandora, but getting the Nest Mini to play a specific song requires a subscription to one of the above services… which is kind of disappointing. The Google Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max can play YouTube Music songs on command without a subscription with ads, and it’s disappointing to find the same isn’t true for the Nest Mini.

The best workaround? Find a song on YouTube you want to listen to on your phone and then connect via Bluetooth to hear that song on the Nest Mini.

The Amazon Echo Dot (on left) next to the Google Nest Mini (center) and Google Home Mini (on right) (Image credit: Future)Audio performance Music from the speaker is fairly middling - it has good clarity in the mid-range that’s perfect for speech reproduction, but it’s not very musical, especially in the high or bass ranges. It will absolutely surprise you by how loud it can get but the fatiguing treble and anemic bass don’t make for the best experience when listening to your favorite songs.

Because of the way it’s designed, you also won’t get any stereo separation when listening to the speaker - though, you will get 360-degree sound that allows you to put the speaker anywhere in the room, especially in smaller rooms like a home office. Admittedly, it’s not the best trade-off if you love music, but it’s one that Google needed to make for a speaker of this size and purpose.

The good news is that, if you’re coming from the original Google Home Mini, you’ll be hugely impressed with the improvements Google made with this speaker. To wit, the Nest Mini uses three speakers, one up over the Home Mini, and has twice the bass response as the original Home Mini. You still won’t hear stereo-channel separation but it’s still a big step up.

While music isn’t exactly the speaker’s strong suit, it really does nail the mid-range. That’s great if you’re trying to hear the daily news over the dull roar of kitchen conversation, and awesome for podcast fans who can never find a speaker that properly amplifies voices.

If you want to try and add back in that treble or bass response, you can attempt to do so through the Google Home app that we mentioned above, but don’t expect the Nest Mini to ever sound as good as its larger brethren the Google Home or Google Home Max.

(Image credit: Google)Who’s it for? Smart home newcomers Despite its musical limitations and lack of an auxiliary port on the back, the Google Nest Mini is a solid speaker - especially at its incredibly low price point. Google Assistant is clearly the killer feature here and its ability to tap into other smart devices is second-to-none.

At-home office workers If you work from home every day, the Google Nest Mini is a solid coworker. It knows your schedule front-to-back, has answers to most any question you can come up with and sounds especially good in smaller spaces like a home office.

(Image credit: Future)Who’s it not for? Amazon enthusiasts It probably goes without saying, but the Google Nest Mini doesn't really interact much with any Amazon product or service. That's not a huge deal per se, but admittedly we still like the Amazon Echo Dot a bit more thanks to its more robust soundstage and inclusion of a line-out jack on the back. The improvements Google made to the Nest Mini make the fight closer than it’s ever been, but we still think the Amazon Echo Dot is the better option, especially if you want better sound quality.

Penny Pinchers Yes the Google Nest Mini is SUPER cheap, and we love that. But that low entry price isn’t so low if you want to tack on services like Spotify Premium or YouTube Music - either of which are needed for on-demand, song-specific playback. The Nest Mini will supply you with a playlist or will shuffle an artist free-of-charge, but specificity is going to cost you - which is kind of a shame.

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