In my last video when I reviewed Sony’s First Google Assistant integrated Smart speaker,
I mentioned how I really like the Google Home Mini and the Google Home Max, but I don’t
really like the original google home.
But the longer I’ve owned my google home mini I’ve grown to like it even more especially
cause it keeps evolving.
So heres a quick little review on the Google Home Mini and a few new features that you
might not know of.
I actually picked up my google home mini during the holiday season for 30 bucks.
But the google home mini usually retails for $50 and I haven’t seen it go back to that
30 dollar range since Christmas.
A lot of people might still be a little nervous of brining in a smart speaker into their home
cause they don’t want to be spied on.
But either way, if you use any of google’s services in any way shape or form, or any
other form of social media like facebook or instagram, these companies already have a
lot of information on you any way whether you know it or not.
So my reasoning when I first got my smart speakers was if these companies already have
a ton of information on me anyways, might as well get a smart speaker so they can foster
my laziness even more.
Now heres a quick run down of the google home mini regarding hardware, its tiny, its slightly
bigger than a hockey puck, I think that if you get the black version its going to disappear
in most rooms.
The top is covered in fabric and theres a lot of rubber on the base so this thing isn’t
going to be moving a lot.
On the back theres a micro USB port for power and a mic mute switch, unfortunately theres
no AUX jack so you cant hook up the mini to a better speaker to play music.
And its a shame cause even though the 40 millimeter upward firing speaker is decent for passive
listening I would have liked to be able to hook up my mini to the JBL boombox.
But I guess Google needs a reason to sell you their Google Home Max or a chrome cast.
The Mini also comes with a premium feeling power cable which has a pretty small plug
and its a very decent length.
When smart speakers first came out they were really only good for asking them arbitrary
questions like how tall is the president, the weather and controlling your smart light
bulbs if you had them.
But as these speakers have progressed you can ask them to do more complex tasks like
talking to other applications, ordering stuff on line, making calls and their voice recognition
can even tell different people apart.
Personally I really like talking to crypto prices so I can either cheer myself up or
get really upset for a few minutes.
And I really like the call function cause after a long editing session I can just have
mini call my local deli so I can get a take out order ready without having to stop what
I’m doing on the computer.
Now when
the
google home mini was first released there was a problem where if you pressed the center
of the mini to manually activate your assistant, like you do on the original google home…
after the mini answered your question or did what ever you asked it to do it just kept
recording everything.
And this was a huge problem cause google’s smart speakers are only supposed to listen
to your voice when the notification lights are on.
And google said that this was a hardware issue.
So google got rid of the touch controls on the Mini at launch.
But now if you tap on the sides of the mini you can adjust the volume and if you press
and hold on either side you can play or pause your music.
But unfortunately you cant manually skip a track or activate your voice assistant, all
of that has to be done through voice commands.
Obviously if you’re picking up a google home mini you’re not looking for amazing
sound quality, but heres a quick little sound test.
Again, the mini’s sound quality isn’t amazing but if I’m at my desk doing research
I might ask it to play something for back ground music, what I really do like using
the mini for is having it play white noise while I’m editing my videos, it really helps
cut down on distractions.
The Mini also helps make me a little more efficient when I’m getting my work done
cause I can ask it for unit conversions on the fly, I can ask it how to spell or define
a certain word, and I can also set timers to better manage my time.
And even for me, someone who talks pretty fast, the mini doesn’t have a problem hearing
me or understanding what I said.
Even when I wake up in the morning and I’m just mumbling my words the mini clearly understands
when I tell it to snooze my alarm.
Its not like the Xbox one where you really have to enunciate your words for it to under
stand you and even still its only good 50 percent of the time.
(xbox one demo) And even if you’re talking very softly at a distance the mini has no
problem hearing you, thats why I made my own routine for when I get up at night to use
the bathroom where if I say “night light” to my mini it’ll set my lamp to 15 percent
brightness, and I don’t have to worry about disturbing anyone else in the house.
Like I mentioned in my last video, I really don’t see a need for the original google
home…
since it doesn’t sound good for listening to music its really just plus sized Google
Home Mini to me cause I strictly use it for voice commands.
So if you’re trying to decide between the two I highly advise you just get the mini
and avoid over paying.
I really feel google needs to release a second google home with much better sound quality.
For $50 the Mini is great for what it is and the convenience it offers, but I would really
like to see an AUX so I can plug in my own speaker and I would also like to get rid of
the micro USB port and throw in 2 USB C ports.
One for power and one so I can charge up my future Pixel 2 XL.