Yesterday, Google unveiled a plethora of devices, some that have been on our radar for some time now (Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones) and others that we barely knew the name of (more on that, later). Home Mini, the miniaturized version of Google’s home speaker, was included. The product might appeal to those of you who want to check out the technology without investing too much money #objectmagic
Home Mini is one of the most portable products from Google. It’s small enough, in the shape of a puck (or doughnut), covered by fabric (it was probably inspired by the Daydream headsets) and costs only $49. For that price though, it pretty much gives you all the benefits you’d rip off from Echo Dot. Instead of Alexa, you have Google Assistant to cater to your needs.
You can find out the latest news, listen to podcasts and sort through notifications. But if you want to use it as a more traditional music speaker to play your favorite songs, you’re out of luck – Home Mini lacks a headphone jack. It does connect wirelessly to speakers with Chromecast, though.
To control one, you use taps. Touching the right side of the device turns the volume up, while doing so on the left, lowers it. If you press the middle of the device, you can play or pause the music. Also, if you long press, Google Assistant wakes up.
Google clearly settled for a lower price and smaller size to encourage users to accessorize more than one room in their house with the speaker. You can opt between three colors – gray, black or red.
The company surprised us when stating that Google Home will reach Japan and they’ll offer multi-user support to all Google Home markets.
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