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Google Home still offers less support for third-party services than Alexa. To sum it all up, the Google Home Mini can be used as an external audio output for your TV as well as so many other things, which makes it an ideal purchase for anyone. You can use your Google Home Mini to ask Chromecast to pause, play, skip, or stop content being played on your TV. Ensure your Chromecast is plugged into your TV and that it is on the same network as your Google Home Mini, connected to the same Wi-Fi network or router. Below are the specifications for Google Nest and Home speakers and displays .
In my studio apartment, I grouped together a Google Home, a Chromecast Audio-connected soundbar and the Google Home Mini to build a surround-sound setup. When in this grouping, the Home Mini stood out as the star of the highs, pushing the vocals through extra hard when the larger Home was more focused on the mids. That means that the Home Mini is exactly like the larger, more expensive Google Home and even the much more powerful Google Home Max in that it can control your smart home devices. While the others make for very solid standalone speakers from a performance standpoint, the Home Mini can’t hold its own as the sole sound-maker in your house.
Use Google Home Mini with Chromecast
This includes the Google Home Mini, which is a compact but very well-endowed smart hub. Google's own Google Assistant powers the Google Home Mini. This is an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant. When available, your speaker or display will automatically update to the latest software version. To play something with your voice, just say “OK Google, play in the .” So, for example, I can say “Play In Flames in the back of the house,” and Google Home recognizes this as my audio group.
Placing a finger on the left and right sides of the speaker lowers and raises the volumes, as you might expect. And lastly, whenever you navigate with your voice or touch, the Home Mini will illuminate four LEDs on its top to show that your action has been registered. PCMag supports Group Black and its mission to increase greater diversity in media voices and media ownerships. Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox.
Doesn't Play Well With Others
You will get a cipher on your TV and smartphone, and if they match, you're all set to go. TheGoogle Terms of Serviceand supplementalNest Terms of Serviceapply to use of the Google Home app and devices set up via the app. Say, for example, you want a group that includes every speaker in your whole house, but you might also want to create separate groups for upstairs and downstairs speakers. Tap the overflow menu button and then tap the “Edit Group” command. After adding your speakers, click the “Save” button to create the group.
This will allow Google Home Mini to either play streaming content or, in reverse, be used as the audio output. There are additional functionalities such as volume control without the additional Chromecast player plugin. This smart speaker includes a wide range of functionality in homes, but our focus in this review will be mainly on how it can be used as the audio output device for your TV, whether the TV is smart or not. There’s certainly an aspect of subjectivity in judging sound quality, but most would agree that what the Home Mini is capable of isn’t a whole lot.
Amazon Echo Show (1st Gen,
In general, Google Assistant is better at interpreting loose, natural-language queries than Alexa is. Alexa gets more powerful when you include its library of third-party skills, but you often need to know the specific wording to make things work. For example, if I ask Google Assistant, "Where is Blade Runner 2049 playing near me?" it will give me movie showtimes, automatically. For Alexa, you have to specifically "Ask Fandango." I can ask Google Assistant directly for a fried chicken recipe; with Alexa, you need to remember to enable the Allrecipes skill. That said, Alexa's recipes then come from Allrecipes, a reliable source; Google's came from some site I'd never heard of.
You can ask Alexa about concert tickets via Stubhub, to order you a Lyft, or to get groceries through Peapod. Alexa can connect to your YNAB home budget or tell you TV schedules. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions.See how we test. Google's demand that its speakers play only with other Google-compatible equipment continues to be the platform's weakest aspect, and the primary reason the Echo Dot remains our Editors' Choice.
Receive expert tips on using phones, computers, smart home gear and more. Make sure all your devices are connected to the same network. When you purchase through our links we may earn a commission. Exposing its bottom, you can see a circular rubber mat to keep still on whichever surface that you place it on. Google provided TechRadar with a coral (peach-colored) model, but the Home Mini is also available in chalk or charcoal .
The soundstage – despite being pitched as 360-degrees – falls a little flat. While skilled in pulling up the most obscure music you can think up from a fairly wide variety of streaming services, the Mini has a difficult time doing them justice because of this speaker’s diminutive profile. You plug the Mini into the wall and set it up through the Google Home app on Android or iOS. Then, when you say "Hey Google," four soft LEDs light up in the middle of the speaker, and Google Assistant answers. The app is very similar to the Alexa app (and, like the Alexa app, it buries many of its options and third-party services under a hidden menu). Building a house-wide audio system used to be an expensive, complicated process requiring professional installation and pricey equipment.
At arm's length, it can be up to 10db louder than the weak little Dot, with a much rounder sound that at least it suggests bass. The Google Assistant's voice sounds considerably more natural and human than Alexa's does. That said, this is still a secondary speaker; if you want to kick back and enjoy music, you need to get the larger Google Home. Google Assistant helps you to search the web, play or pause music, dim smart lighting, and even control your TV. It can also take charge of your TV's audio, and this begs the question of How to use the Google Home Mini as a TV Speaker and plenty more besides.
In spite of that fact however, it’s impossible not to recommend this little device. Its Assistant smarts, large list of features and low price make it easy to take the plunge on the Home Mini. The Home Mini is the cheapest way of buying into the Assistant yet for those looking to buy into Google’s smart home ecosystem.
One of the ways to do this is by using Google's Chromecast, a streaming media player that takes content from the web and plays it on your TV upon request. Once you have your speaker groups set up, playing music through all the speakers in a particular group is as easy as saying what you want to play and what speaker group you want to play it through. For example, "OK, Google, play reggae radio on whole house speaker group." Alternatively, "OK Google, play some Katy Perry on the upstairs speakers." The Goole Nest Wifi system includes access points that double as smart speakers and are available in three colors to compliment your home decor. If you're looking to add voice control or audio playback to more rooms of your home, at $49 (£49, AU$79) the updated Google Nest Mini is the least expensive way to do it. But, on its own, the Google Home Mini shouldn’t be used as much more than a desk buddy.
To get started, fire up the Google Home app, then tap the “Devices” icon in the upper right corner. And get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles.
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