Google Home Mini Manual page 12

The Google Home Mini comes at less
than half the price of the full-size Google
Home, but still packs a punch!
The Google Home Max shares the Mini design language but it's
big, brash and unashamedly loud. It's not cheap and is very heavy,
but it's all about the audio quality. It has four drivers (two woofers
and two tweeters), the ability to automatically tune its settings to
suit your room (it even detects when you've moved it around), six
microphones this time round to help it hear over the booming
audio, a 3.5mm input and a USB-C port for Ethernet connectivity.
Size and power aside, the experience is largely as it is for any other
Google Home device, with touch controls and the same mute
switch once again. Two Home Max devices can be paired to give
powerful stereo audio.
Google Smart Displays respond to commands in the same way
as a Google Home device, but also have a screen for watching
content and for making video calls. They are still in their infancy,
but the ability to build visual content into Google Assistant apps
will increase their utility, with launch applications including viewing
footage from a Nest camera; watching step by step cooking
directions; or viewing a map with directions. A key launch feature is
integration with YouTube and the YouTube TV service.
What Google doesn't offer is a portable Google Home product
in the style of the battery-powered Amazon Echo Tap. It's likely that
third-party Google Assistant enabled speakers will emerge to meet
this need in the same way that Assistant-powered headphones are
now available on the market. By providing the underlying platform
and allowing other manufacturers to integrate it into their products,
Google can ensure there's a Home or Assistant to suit everyone.
Owners of multiple Google Home devices throughout the
home can take advantage of synchronised music playback similar
to that offered by the Sonos range of devices. The Home range
make fantastic media playback devices thanks to their support for
the open Google Cast protocol, which is now included in most
media apps on Android as well as in the Chrome browser. While
supporting Google Cast natively, Google Home devices can be
Google Home
11
Introducing...
Get more from Google
Listen to music
One of the most used aspects
of Google Home... Whether it's
from Google Play Music, Spotify
or even the radio, Google Home
makes listening easy.
Smart Home control
Google Home connects to a wide
range of Smart Home products,
allowing you to set your heating,
hot water, power devices on and
off and control smart lighting.
Use Google Assistant
If you can ask Google Assistant,
you can ask Google Home.
Weather, sports scores or just
general knowledge, Google's
knowledge is always on tap.