Google's Home Mini is a great little device, offering the power of Google Assistant in a small, puck-like speaker. It's the smallest in the Google Home portfolio, followed by the Google Home, Home Max, Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max and rumour has it, it's about to see a successor.
Claimed to be called the Nest Mini - which makes sense given the Home Hub rebrand to Nest Hub and the launch of the latest Nest Hub Max - this is everything we know so far.
Google Nest Mini release date and price
- 15 October 2019 likely
- Around £30/$30
The Google Nest Mini is expected to be announced on 15 October at the Made by Google event in New York City. You can read about how to watch the event live in our separate feature, but the Pixel 4 smartphone is also expected to be revealed officially at the event.
The current Google Home Mini retails for around £30/$30. We'd expect the Nest Mini to remain around the same price, especially given the Nest Hub Max was introduced at a reasonable price and the Nest Hub has seen a reduction in price since it was first announced.
Google Nest Mini design
- Similar to Home Mini
- Could be larger
- Integrated wall mount
The second generation of Google Home Mini is expected to follow a similar form factor to its predecessor. Based on the reports, the Nest Mini might be a little larger than the Home Mini (42 x 98mm, 173g) but it will be circular in shape and remain nice and compact. Perhaps it will be similar to the Heat Link that comes with the Nest Thermostat E?
It's claimed the Nest Mini may offer a built-in wall mount - something the current Home Mini requires an accessory for - and there's also the suggestion that there will be a 3.5mm audio out jack on board, like the Amazon Echo Dot has.
We expect to see a material cover, like the current Mini and the rest of the Google Home and Nest home line up, and we also expect Google to retain the physical microphone on/off switch.
Google Nest Mini features
- Google Assistant
- Speaker
- Proximity awareness
The Google Nest Mini is expected to offer the same functionality as the Home Mini, meaning Google Assistant and all the features that come with Assistant will no doubt be on board.
That means you'll be able to use the "Hey Google" or "Ok Google" wake words to ask the Nest Mini to control a compatible smart home device, find out what the weather is like, play your favourite music or ask a question you want an answer too, among plenty of other things.
The Nest Mini will also be a speaker. It won't be as powerful as the Google Home, or other Google Assistant speakers, but it will still be able to play the radio or Ed Sheeran's greatest hits, like the Home Mini can.
Rumours claim the Nest Mini will also feature proximity awareness however, allowing the Nest Mini to reveal volume levels when it is approached, for example. At the moment, the Google Home Mini has four LED lights that light up on the top of the device when Google Assistant is listening to your command but you'll find no volume controls.
Google Nest Mini hardware and specs
- Sound improvements
- More bass
- Higher maximum volume
The current Google Home Mini has a 40mm speaker driver and it features Bluetooth, Chromecast and Chromecast Audio. We'd expect the Nest Mini to offer all the same hardware, though there has been talk that the new device will get an upgrade in the sound department.
According to rumours, the Nest Mini will offer higher maximum volume, better bass and better overall quality. Currently, the Home Mini is a perfect device for access into the Google Assistant and Google Home system, but it isn't the device we would recommend if you want a decent sounding speaker to use all the time.
No specifics have been revealed as yet in terms of speaker driver size, but we'd expect the Nest Mini to support multi-room audio when grouped with other Chromecast-enabled speakers.
Google Nest Mini rumours: What's happened so far?
This is everything we have heard about the Google Nest Mini so far.
12 September 2019: New Google Nest Mini speaker with wall mount pops up at FCC
A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing includes an illustration of the rumoured Nest Mini showing the integrated wall mount and audio-out port.
The illustration shows a round device, like the current Home Mini, and it doesn't offer anymore detail on what the top of the new device might look like, what features it might offer or what hardware is under its hood.
22 August 2019: Google working on second-gen Nest Mini with better sound, wall mount and 3.5mm jack
A report from 9to5Google claimed Google was working on a second-generation Home Mini called the Nest Mini. It said the device would offer a similar form factor as the current model but it would deliver a sound upgrade, built-in wall mount and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The report also mentioned proximity awareness in the second but said the device would offer the same features as the current model.
No comments: