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You've decided to get your hands on a personal assistant, but you haven't chosen which one yet? Whether with the range Amazon Echo ou Google Home, it will become child's play to plan your day, control your connected objects by voice, launch your favorite playlists and many other actions. But which speaker to choose to equip your home?
If your choice is more towards the range Amazon Echo, this is the article you need to read!
Without further ado, let's find out together what Google has to offer in terms of smart speakers.
Google Home Mini
Offered at a low price (count €59 at most retailers), the Google Home Mini nevertheless remains a valuable personal assistant. Like the most successful models in the range, this mini smart speaker is equipped with the Google Assistant, the artificial intelligence in the cloud that answers all your requests.
With its sober design and very compact size, the Google Home Mini will be perfect for multiroom use, in addition to a Google Home Max in the main room of your house for example. It has two omnidirectional microphones, which should be enough to correctly pick up the sound of your voice wherever you are in the room, as long as there is not too much surrounding noise interfering with listening.
On the audio side, the sound reproduction is rather pleasant for such a small object. But as much to say: a dedicated speaker connected to your Google Home Mini via Bluetooth - or a more efficient model - is required if you really want to take advantage of your streaming services like Spotify or Deezer.
Google Home
The smart speaker Google Home is the flagship product of the Google range, but also the first to have been available with the Assistant in French.It has, like the Google Home Mini, two omnidirectional microphones that pose no problem picking up the voice from the moment you are in a quiet place. It is true that the different models of the Amazon Echo range do a little better at this level since the speaker with the least supply has 4 of them, while the 2nd generation Echo has seven microphones.
Google Home's two microphones work perfectly, but sometimes they pick up our voice badly. This is particularly the case when you want to speak to the speaker while it is playing music at a fairly high volume, for example. You should then lower the volume a little and repeat the request, or simply speak a little louder or at a closer distance from the speaker.
Offered at a price of 149€, the Google Home becomes much more interesting in terms of audio playback. The bass as well as the treble are present, all in a fairly good balance. You won't rediscover your favorite tracks with Google Home, so audiophiles will greatly prefer a pair of dedicated speakers - but Google Home's sound reproduction is far from bad.
The base of the speaker is also removable, revealing its speakers. It is possible to replace this base to choose one of another color, but also to opt for a battery like the Ninety7 from Loft, to transform your speaker and make it a nomadic assistant.
Google Home Max
La Google Home Max is the must-have in the range of connected speakers from Google. Initially launched at a price of 399€, it is now possible to find it a little cheaper at certain retailers, generally around 350€.
© Google StoreHere, Google puts the small dishes in the big ones and tries to meet its most demanding customers. With its still so sober and refined design, the Google Home Max sports a size that is surprising to say the least since we are dealing here with a speaker weighing around 5 kg.
Designed to deliver optimal sound quality, the Google Home Max is ideal for placing in the main room of the house and controlling all your connected objects, as well as your other speakers in the range in multiroom mode. In addition, with its dual 4,5 woofers and custom tweeters, it offers an audio experience worthy of its competitors.
It also features a Smart Sound system based on machine learning which automatically adapts the equalizer to the acoustics of the room where the speaker is placed. Unlike the other two models just mentioned, the Google Home Max has an input to connect your record player, turntable, etc.
Google Home Hub
Only available in the United States and the United Kingdom for the moment, the Google Home Hub directly competes with the Amazon Echo Spot. Equipped with a touch screen of 7 and always controllable by voice thanks to the Google Assistant, it embeds the same functionalities as all the speakers mentioned above. However, unlike the Echo Spot, it does not include a camera.
Unveiled in October 2018 simultaneously with the new smartphones made by Google, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, the Google Home Hub should soon be available in French.
Accessories to associate with Google Home
Like the firm of Jeff Bezos with its Amazon Devices, Google offers a multitude of accessories to enrich the “smart speaker” experience.chromecast
Among the most useful, we can mention the Chromecast, a device that allows you to broadcast any content on your TV using the Google Assistant. There are two versions, the most basic at a price of 39€ and the Chromecast Ultra at 79€.
The range of Nest equipment
Google also offers a full range of connected devices that you can find under the name Nest.Controllable with the Google Assistant via your smart speaker or smartphone, these devices fit perfectly into a connected home ecosystem. Take for example the Nest Thermostat, surveillance cameras for inside and outside the house, the camera Nest IQ capable of recognizing a person and following movements, or even the alarm system Nest Protect.
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