Having discontinued the original Google Home at the retailers, Google had built up a good amount of anticipation for its successor. The very first Google Home was introduced in November in the year 2016. It was a robust-looking device that would fit right into your home. With the launch of Google Home, the company intended to give its users a version of it’s AI assistant that could be kept around the house. The year after Google Home’s launch, the Google Home mini (a more compact version) was launched along with a substantially sized Google Home Max. With the launch of these three products, Google had introduced home speakers in the market catering to all the size needs.
Earlier, in the year 2014, Google had bought Nest, a hardware company. However, Google had let Nest continue functioning independently until very recently. In 2017, Google finally decided to combine forces with Nest and, shortly after, launched its line of the Google Nest speakers.
Along with the Google Nest Hub and the Google Nest Hub Max, the company introduced display screens to enhance it’s smart home products. Eventually, in the year 2019, Google rebranded its initial Google Home Mini and launched it as a new Google Nest Mini.
Google has completely discontinued its Home line of products and is now re-branding under the “Nest” name.
What makes Google Nest Mini different?
The new Nest Mini is similar to the initial Home Mini in terms of looks but is quite different when
it comes to function and performance. While retaining the appreciated aspects of the initial Home Mini, the new Nest Mini comes with some significant improvements. It sports a better sound system with enhanced bass, is more intuitive than its predecessor, and is made out of recycled plastic!
This eco-friendly model also comes with a fabric face and a rubber pad base for a better grip (just like the Home Mini but more environment friendly). The face of the speaker is responsive to touch and has three far-field audio receptors. When you’re playing your playlist on the device, you can see the volume controls by simply hovering your hand over the top of the device. A set of LED lights will turn on automatically and indicate where you need to tap to adjust the volume. There are two lit up dots, one on each side of the volume display. You could tap on the left or the right dot, respectively, to increase or decrease the volume and tap on the center of the device to pause or play.
The speaker is pretty small in size (98mm by 42mm) and weighs only 181 grams. The face of the speaker has been made entirely from recycled plastic bottles, and the body uses about 35% recycled plastic. The Nest Mini can be connected via Chromecast, Wifi, and Bluetooth. The new Mini also comes with a hole at the back, which lets you mount the device on a wall.
Accidental activation of the device has been cut down significantly, owing to the newly added wake word engine. It also has a built-in learning chip for improved speed and privacy.
A Better Sound System
The new Nest Mini has become quite popular for its incredibly solid bass and overall well-rounded sound performance. It can be said that the Nest Mini has come a long way from its predecessor in this aspect. It’s AI assistant sounds much better, and the details of what has been said are crisp and clear. Being a small speaker (a mini if I may), it can’t be loud enough to fill up a room, but it still does a pretty good job given its price. With the Nest Mini, you definitely get what you paid for, if not more.
Intuitive Assistance
The assistant supports playback from YouTube Music, Google Play, and Spotify, among others, and is easily compatible with Apple and Android devices.
The intuitive assistant is quick to learn and can distinguish one user from another to present customized results. It answers questions, presents search results, is capable of regulating your smart home devices, setting timers, and pretty much everything that every other AI Assistant is capable of doing. The assistant also comes with options of different voices, but this will most likely vary depending on the country that you’re living in.
Everything considered the real improvement in the device came with the built-in learning chip. It has made the device truly capable of evolving with the user and performing intuitively.
Mia Watson is an avid technical blogger, a magazine contributor, a publisher of guides at Blogs Book, and a professional cyber security analyst. Through her writing, she aims to educate people about the dangers and threats lurking in the digital world.
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