We got a chance to get our hands on Google Home Mini, already available in Italy for some time. We set it up in French and had a lot of fun!
Small, but with great potential
Google Home Mini is very small, an overall diameter of about 10 cm and a thickness that slightly exceeds i 2 cm. Lower part in plastic, with a single lever to deactivate the microphone. Above, a very pleasant gray fabric cover. The feeling, unfortunately, is that it can get dirty easily. Either way, the protection hides four central LEDs that tell us when the assistant is in action.
Everything is entrusted to our voice, only the volume can be adjusted by touching the assistant on the right or left side. Yes, because, of course, Google Home Mini incorporates one audio speaker ready to give us information or play music.
The power supply is totally entrusted to the current, it does not have internal batteries. In fact, it doesn't even make sense for her to have any. If the power goes out, then your router won't work either. Likewise, it is difficult to imagine the usefulness of the little assistant while you are camping. For that there will soon be the assistant on the smartphone!
Installation
Setting up the Google Home Mini in your home is incredibly simple. Just download the application on your smartphone Google Home (if you don't already have it) and be connected via Wifi. Immediately, the assistant will be recognized and you can give him access to your home Wifi network.
From the same app, you can later pair all other supported smart home devices. Of course, support for third-party applications and devices is constantly expanding.
The audio speaker is not the best, but there are compromises
The integrated audio speaker is mainly used to hear the answers to what we will ask the assistant. However, you can also use it to listen to music from supported streaming platforms. For being a small sound box, it has a quite high volume. At most, however, the music begins to croak. Don't expect who knows what quality, but listening to some Spotify on the fly is just fine.
What did we use it for?
Google Home Mini it is, on the one hand, a valid support for centralizing smarthome controls while on the other it can support you in frequently asked questions and actions. You can, for example, ask him about the weather conditions or our commitments for the day. Of course I also asked him to tell me jokes, but it wasn't a good experience!
However, it is a useful companion in many situations (although you must alternately know English, French or German to use it) and it will also entertain you because it can understand many questions and perform Google searches in your place. He will also be able to set timers and alarms.
To test its goodness for managing smarthome devices, we entrusted it with our smart bulb Yeelight by Xiaomi and TP-Link Wifi electrical sockets. With our voice we were able to control our devices without problems.
How much?
Small in size and also in price. Google Home mini comes sold on the Google online store for 59 euros.
