Today, at its fall hardware event, Google announced the latest to join its Google Assistant hardware, in the Google Home Mini. The Google Home Mini is seen as a direct competitor to the Amazon Echo Dot, which is priced the same, and is seen as a cheaper, and smaller version of the original Echo – or in Google’s case, Google Home. The Google Home Mini will be priced at $49, which is significantly cheaper than the $129 Google Home. The Google Home Mini is open for pre-orders starting today, and it will be shipping on October 19th.
The Google Home Mini is basically a small puck (a little larger than the Echo Dot or a hockey puck) that has Google Assistant built-in. It is covered in a cloth-like material, which keeps it looking unique, while also still outputting some great sound. Now the speaker inside the Google Home Mini is not that great, since it is such a small speaker, and it is pretty cheap, Google had to cut corners somewhere. Of course, Google does allow you to connect an external speaker to the Google Home Mini so you can get some better sound out of it, which is definitely nice to have. The Google Home Mini does have the Google Assistant inside, which means that you’ll be able to ask the Google Assistant all sorts of questions from the weather, to what’s on your calendar for today and using third-party apps you can get news headlines, start a workout and plenty more. Since Google opened the SDK for the Google Assistant earlier this year, a slew of apps have started working with Google Assistant to give it even more functionality.
The Google Home Mini is going to be available in three colors: chalk, charcoal and coral. It is up for pre-order on the Google Store later today, along with a few other retailers. Which includes Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Verizon. The Google Home Mini officially launches on October 19th, so pre-orders should be on doorsteps by then, if not a bit earlier. And finally, it’ll be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, UK and the US.
Pre-Order Google Home Mini (B&H Photo)Pre-Order Google Home Mini (Google Home)