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The soundstage – despite being pitched as 360-degrees – falls a little flat. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Goes from here forward, the Dot has an important hardware feature that the Mini surprisingly lacks -- a line-out jack. You can plug the Dot into your own speakers to make up for its own lack of sound quality. One other point worth mentioning is the Google Home Mini's array of far-field microphones.
I compared the same songs across both devices, and the Dot consistently came up short, without even a hint of a bass. Your milage may vary, of course -- if you listen to a lot of audio through your phone's speaker, the Mini will be an improvement. The Home Mini can stream audio, video or images from Google Photos to any Chromecast-enabled device . Controlling audio and video was one of my favorite features with the original Google Home, and that's still the case here.
Design
I prefer the Echo Dot's light ring, which encircles the top of the device, is much more visible and changes color when it hears your voice. So kudos to Google for making the Home Mini something that looks and feels friendlier. It's small and round like the Echo Dot, but its curved sides give it a softer look. Like with the larger Google Home, the top of the Mini is swathed in a gray fabric, which only adds to its homeyness.
Google made changes to the Mini only where needed, maintaining the affordable price, without compromising on design quality. The Mini is powered by a 15-watt power adapter connected to a DC power jack, a change from the former’s standard Micro USB connection. Even though it would’ve been ideal to get USB-C, given that it’s unlikely for the Nest Mini to be moved frequently, it’s perfectly alright for Google deciding to go with a proprietary connection. There’s no 3.5mm audio jack to connect an external speaker, but there is Bluetooth support. Where the Google Home Mini really impresses is with its range of uses, offering everything the larger Google smart speakers do taking up a fraction of the space.
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The team at Google spent hours testing the audio transparency of dozens of fabrics to create a more eco-friendly cover for the Nest Mini. The speaker's top fabric is made from 100% recycled plastic, and the external enclosure is made from 35% recycled plastic. Google told me that one half-liter plastic bottle makes enough fabric to cover a little bit more than two speakers.
Nick Pino is Managing Editor, TV and AV for TechRadar's sister site, Tom's Guide. Previously, he was the Senior Editor of Home Entertainment at TechRadar, covering TVs, headphones, speakers, video games, VR and streaming devices. He's also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he's not using if anyone wants it. While music isn’t exactly the speaker’s strong suit, it really does nail the mid-range.
Amazon Echo ( review
The soft look of the light gray fabric and the Mini's rounded corners make this a much friendlier gadget than the Echo Dot, and one that I'd be happy to put just about anywhere in my house. My soundbar happens to be Cast enabled, so I set the Home Mini to default music playback to the soundbar whenever I requested it. This largely worked well, with a little bit of a lag to wake the soundbar up and connect it to the stream. Standard voice commands and replies still came out of the Mini’s speaker instead of punting to the soundbar every time.
Google sells these wall mount kits, and we’d wager that the speaker is so lightweight that strong 3m tape could work just as well should you not want to drill into the wall. Except for an additional color option of Sky blue, the designs are pretty much identical. The Nest Mini is more eco-friendly, however, now using recycled plastic to create the fabric top. Upgrade your lifestyleDigital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one-of-a-kind sneak peeks.
Google knows that the vast majority of smart speaker users rely on them to play music, and competition has become fierce. A handful of audio gear companies have begun to sell their own Google Assistant-powered speakers — most of which trounce Google’s in terms of audio quality. 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.
Two LEDs on the side of the Nest Mini show you where to tap for volume control. 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. 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. Sony, B&O, Philips and Polk are on board with selected hardware, however. In terms of services, you can get news and sport updates from the BBC, Sky, Reuters, CNN and more, and you can control YouTube, Netflix and Spotify among others.
Since there's no AUX port, the only way to connect the Mini to a better speaker is through Chromecast, which certainly doesn't work as well as a 3.5mm cable. You can't even Bluetooth out to another speaker, which is odd given you can use the Home Mini as a Bluetooth speaker for your phone or laptop. For $49, that's totally excusable, but it's something worth being aware of. For what it's worth,, the Mini absolutely outclasses the Echo Dot in audio quality. The Dot sounds tinny and hollow when Alexa speaks to you, and music playback is even worse.
And, because it was an issue with the touch controls, turning off the microphone did not alleviate the problem. If you want a powerful, fast, and attractive smart speaker for an affordable price, you won’t be disappointed with the Nest Mini. But as of right now, the Nest Mini brings a faster and smarter assistant. It’s $49 online, which surprisingly is the same current selling price of the Google Home Mini ($39). We were a bit surprised that Google waited so long to update its Mini speaker, yet it didn’t make any drastic changes to the device’s overall appearance.
Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence. Google Assistant’s abilities will be familiar to anyone with an Android phone or tablet and are largely impressive. It’s every bit as good at hearing you as Echo devices, and for the typical sort of questions, it understands you more often than not, and also tends to have an answer. Google has just launched hands-free calling in the UK, following an initial US launch. For convenience, you can set your Home’s caller ID to be your regular phone number using the Home app.
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