Minimum Google Nest Review
Meet the Google Nest Mini, first of its name. Look familiar? Well, that's because this is really the Google Home Mini 2, presented under the Nest banner when Google tries to put all its smart home devices under one roof.
The design has essentially not changed, but with improved internal components and some new features, all for the same price, we are not complaining so far.
Price and availability.
The Nest Mini will launch from October 22 and will cost £ 49 / $ 49, although you can book it now on Google. That is exactly the same initial price as the Home Mini, although an aggressive price war with Amazon has meant that the Home Mini has been available at a discount for almost its entire useful life.
The new model is similar enough to make it a good time to take an original Home Mini as prices go down and retailers try to liquidate stocks, especially since it has been our recommendation for the best Google Home device, although that may change soon.
Design and construction: if it's not broken, don't fix it
Let's be frank: this thing looks a lot like the original Home Mini. I eat a lot, a lot. It is essentially the same.
And that is not bad! The original Home Mini is a great-looking kit that blends comfortably in most homes, and the small refinements in the Nest Mini should only be added to that.
The smallest, but best, change is a small slit in the back so you can mount the Nest Mini anywhere you can escape by digging a nail into the wall to hang, opening a completely new range of points for it in the home.
There is a new color, the sky, a pale blue that combines with the existing chalk, coal and coral. The construction is also more sustainable: the main plastic housing uses up to 35% recycled plastic, while the fabric mesh is made entirely of recycled bottles.
The most substantial design change is itself below the surface. Google has modified the Mini's LEDs, adding two on the side of the device to highlight the touch volume controls.
Otherwise, it's basically the same: four LEDs at the top to show when the Assistant is active, a physical silence switch from the microphone on the side and exactly the same compact form factor similar to a pebble.
Specifications and features: sound and computing
Basically, there are two main changes in the internal components of the Nest Mini, along with some smaller quality of life adjustments.
First big change is that most people will never notice: a new machine learning chip. This should improve the processing power of the Mini, allowing it to recognize voice requests faster and handle queries on the device faster.
It is difficult to assess the difference this will really make, of course. In a brief demonstration at the Google office, the Nest Mini certainly seemed receptive enough, but I will have to get one at home and put it next to a Home Mini to really see how much has changed.
The wizard itself has had some adjustments and new features, but none of these is exclusive to the Nest Mini, and is also being implemented on all existing Home / Nest devices. The biggest one is perhaps the option to (finally!) Create speaker groups on the fly and move music from one Google speaker to another, all through voice commands, although obviously that only helps if you are willing to commit to More than one device.
What is easier said is that Google has renewed the sounds of the device. There is a new amplifier and speaker configuration that Google says should sound louder and better overall, with an improved bass response by 40% in particular.
The original Home Mini sounds good, and quite well given its small size, but anyone with a suitable speaker would surely prefer to play sounds through it.
These improvements should make the Nest Mini a better independent speaker, and it certainly sounded louder and better balanced for me on the first listen. It is still unlikely that a speaker of this size will sound good enough to stream the music in your living room, but these settings should give the Nest Mini enough thrust for your bedside table.
There is also a better sound at the other end. Google has added a third microphone, which should help the Mini to get his voice: good news for anyone who has ever repeated angrily on his Mini until he only listens for once, which is probably anyone who has had a smart speaker from Any manufacturer, to be honest.
And finally, a small quality of life adjustment: the built-in probe technology will detect your hand when you approach the Mini to touch it, activating the LEDs in advance to guide you to the correct touch controls. It's the little things that count.
Early verdict
Despite the big name change, the Nest Mini is far from being a review of the Home Mini. If your home is already equipped with the originals, there is no real reason to change them for the newer model, unless you are desperate to mount one on the wall.
But for anyone who wants to add Google to more rooms, or take the Google Assistant to their home for the first time, the Nest Mini is the new best and cheapest way to do it.
Specs
- Google Nest Mini: specifications
- Google Assistant
- Far field voice recognition with microphone mute switch
- Touch controls
- Wifi
- Bluetooth
- Android and iOS compatible
- Chromecast and Chromecast Audio built-in
- Micro USB
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