Google Home vs Google Home Mini: Which One Is Better For You?

Table of Content

• "name": "Google Home speaker",
• Google Home vs Nest Audio vs Mini vs Max vs Hub vs Hub Max: Which Google speaker should you buy?
• Google Home: voice assistant and good speaker
• DJI
• Smart Speaker Expert.
• What's different between the Nest Mini and Home Mini?
• Extensive touch controls
• Google Home vs Google Nest Mini

It has the same Google Assistant features as its larger siblings, but in a much more compact size. The Google Home Mini has a physical microphone mute button and it's also possible to control the volume with a tap on each side of the device. The Google Nest Mini and Home Mini share the same cute puck-like design and they offer the same dimensions too. They are both circular with a material covering and they both feature LED lights at the top, which light up when Google Assistant is activated. Plus, the Max can also detect where walls and other objects are in your house and automatically tune the speaker to cater to the specific space it’s in—much like Apple’s HomePod.

The Nest Mini is 2 inches tall, 4 inches wide, and is about the size of a hockey puck. The Google Nest Mini retains the cute, compact design of the Home Mini that we know and love, but it makes it more sustainable, whilst adding the convenience of a built-in wall mount. Along with sound improvements, the Nest Mini adds a third microphone compared to the Home Mini. It enables the second generation model to respond to voice better and faster than the original model. While the main design between the Google Home Mini and the Nest Mini is the same, the Nest Mini adds a screw mount on the rear, allowing the device to be wall hung. Craig Lloyd is a smarthome expert with nearly ten years of professional writing experience.

"name": "Google Home speaker",

Though the Mini speakers sound decent for their size and their 40-millimeter driver produces 360-degree sound, they also can wirelessly connect to any speaker with Chromecast built-in. You can use it independently, but your music won’t sound the same as it does coming out of a typical Bluetooth speaker, for example. In addition to answering questions, the Assistant can also tell you the weather or your schedule, give traffic information, and control smart-home devices. Since its debut, Google Nest and Home products have become more useful in the last category, gaining the ability to control more than 1,000 smart-home devices. It obviously works with Nest, another Alphabet company, as well as Philips Hue smart lights, August smart locks, and so on.

The audio quality still isn't the best on the market, but there is a slight improvement compared to the original Google Home Mini. The Nest Mini is never going to win awards for its audio fidelity, but as a desk buddy for casual listening, it's a great choice. The ability to connect your phone via Bluetooth is another useful feature, and we like the fact that you can pair two to create a stereo sound system – and they're so cheap, that this really won't break the bank. Subtle design changes, like the ability to wall-mount and the use of eco-friendly materials are a step in the right direction, while ultrasound technology makes the Nest Mini smarter than its predecessor. The Google Nest Hub Max is the biggest Home device with a display and ushered in the name change to Nest.

Google Home vs Nest Audio vs Mini vs Max vs Hub vs Hub Max: Which Google speaker should you buy?

If you want a voice assistant that's easy to talk to, a Nest speaker will be better. And, of course, any smart home devices you already use should be factored into your decision. You can connect both smart speakers to Wi-Fi and be up and running in just a few minutes. The Nest Mini is the obvious champion between these two smart speakers. The best part is it’s only around $10 more than the Home Mini and offers improved sound quality, updated hardware, and a broad spectrum of mounting possibilities. The Nest Mini is a prime choice for any homeowner desiring excellent audio quality.

You can tap the sides of the Mini to change volume, stop a process, or mute. However, it can be a bit difficult because they’re not properly marked — often requiring several taps before they’re found. There’s a small mic switch at the bottom to turn the mic entirely off as needed. The Mini comes in several different color options, including dark blue and orange.

Google Home: voice assistant and good speaker

If you have a second speaker of the same type, you can pair them together to create a stereo sound setup. The Mini costs so little, however, that it’s practically an impulse buy. As a result, you can pick one up and give it a try with little risk. Plus, if you upgrade to a better speaker later, you can keep the Mini in the mix by moving it to a different room to extend your smart home functionality. You could do the same thing with Google Home, but the Mini is better suited for this use case. Google Home and the Mini both take a minimalist approach to buttons and ports.

You can also play or pause music, change the volume, or activate Assistant. The discontinued Google Home Max was easily the loudest first-party smart speaker out there, but it's no longer available. Now, the Echo Studio is by far the strongest in terms of sound quality, with powerful audio and the ability to fill a room with directional sound thanks to its angled drivers. The new Nest Mini has been updated to support Bluetooth 5, which offers a stable connection when playing music wirelessly from your device.

The Google Assistant has come leaps and bounds over the years, becoming one of the best smart assistants available. All of the Google Nest and Home devices have the same Google Assistant inside, so there’s no reason to opt for one over the other in that aspect. It’s great at answering trivia-like questions, like, “Who won the World Series in 1976?

Plug in the Dot, and you can add voice controls to your own sound setup. You can do that with the Mini or the Home too, but you need to buy an extra Chromecast audio streamer. You can turn the microphone off via a switch, so they can’t eavesdrop on your conversation.

It is compatible with Apple's Siri voice assistant, allowing you to use voice commands to control the device from other Apple HomeKit-compatible devices. Design-wise there’s not a huge amount of difference between these two smart speakers; they’re exactly the same size and shape, with the same chic fabric grille and four-LED display. Alexa and Google Assistant are two of the leading voice assistants out there. Here's how the smart speakers that use them stack up against each other. The Dot's biggest advantage over the Mini is the 3.5 mm stereo output port which allows you to connect it to your own speakers.

The Nest Mini stands out a bit since it's updated to support Bluetooth 5 and provide a more stable connection when you're playing wireless music from your smartphone. You can also connect either smart speaker to a wide variety of smartphones, including iOS and Android models. The Nest Mini has LED lights illuminating the center when Google Assistant is in action. It looks similar to Google Home Mini in size, but the new version has a wall mount, which is quite convenient. Google revamped its Works with Nest program over the last few years, and a lot of smart devices have lost compatibility as a result. Google replaced the old program with a stricter Works with Google Assistant version and has slowly been building compatibility back up with newer smart devices.

What's different between the Nest Mini and Home Mini?

The speaker isn't as high-quality, which makes the Home Mini less suitable for playing music. It's possible to connect the Mini to other WiFi speakers in the house. This way, you can still play your favorite music with beautiful sound. It is compatible with Google Assistant, allowing you to use voice commands to control the device from other Google Assistant-compatible devices. At just $30, the rounded plastic puck, covered in fabric, is an inexpensive entry into Google's burgeoning smart home ecosystem. It offers a speaker that while lacking in bass is adequate for most voice-based tasks.

If you’re fully committed to building a smart home, however, consider investing more up front in a speaker that you’ll love, especially if you listen to a lot of music. Or hold off until Google releases updated versions of the two products. The price drops on the originals could be a tip-off that new models are coming soon. Comparing the two, the original Home surpasses the Mini in audio quality, while the Mini has a lower price and is marginally more portable. They’re well-matched in other aspects with the main difference being a matter of personal preference regarding the design. The Home Mini is cheap and cheerful, so buy one if you want to dip your toe into the world of smart speakers.

The Home Mini is significantly smaller and doesn't have the same number of features — for obvious reasons. It lacks the top touch controls of the Google Home , and has neither the absolute volume nor the microphone sensitivity of its larger counterpart. Stepping down from those models, the Echo Dot has a bit of an edge over the Nest Mini, which has fairly weak bass and midrange. Of course, these smaller speakers are much more suitable for nightstands and desks than serving as a room's main audio device.

After five seconds of doing that, the factory reset process begins. At that point, continue holding it for at least 10 seconds more until you hear a sound confirming your speaker is resetting. Here we come across one of the biggest differences with the Nest Mini, the speaker upgrade. The Nest Mini still has a 40mm driver, but Google reports that it redesigned the sound system to provide bass that’s twice as strong as the original model. This is hard to judge when the specs are the same, but there is a notable sound improvement.