With bigger and better sound output, Google has quietly launched its second-generation smart speaker and home assistant in India, the Google Home Mini aka the Google Nest Mini. The smart speaker was launched in October alongside the Google Pixel 4 series. While Pixel 4 won’t land in India, the company has however quickly brought its new smart speaker to India. Off course we can’t neglect Amazon, as they have already brought its third-generation smart speakers to India.
The Google Nest Mini is priced at Rs 4,499 and available to purchase online right now at Flipkart. It’s also available at Reliance Digital and Croma stores across the country. Currently, you could choose from two colour options Chalk and Charcoal. If you’re waiting for a price drop, then the original Google Home Mini is available at a discounted price of Rs 2,999 at Flipkart. Google is also adding ad-free music streaming from Gaana on the device till 31st March 2021. You could also choose from other popular music streaming services in India, including YouTube Music, Spotify, JioSaavn, and Wynk Music.
What changed in Google Nest Mini Smart
Back to Google Nest Mini, it keeps the pebble shape from the original Google Home Mini. Weighing little over 181 g, the smart speaker keeps the original dimension measuring 9.8 cm in diameter, 4.2 cm in height. Its entire enclosure is made of fabric, which Google claims to be made from 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles. The durable fabrics are soft, durable and transparent enough to let through light and sound. What changed in design is the new backside hook slot, which you could use for easy wall-mounting.
The top portion of Google Nest Mini acts as a touch surface to control functions like play, pause, volume, mic, wake Assistant etc. There is also the familiar microphone slider switch on the side to turn the mic off (stop Google Assistant from listening to your conversations).
Under the hood, Google Nest Mini packs a 40mm driver which helps it to project 360-degree sound. The company claims it can now offer 2x stronger bass than the original Mini. It also got 3 far-field microphones which can recognise your voice even in noisy scenarios across the room. The device is powered by a 1.4 GHz Quad-core 64-bit ARM CPU and comes with a dedicated high-performance machine learning hardware engine. Thus Google Assistant responses to your queries are faster and quicker.
Connectivity-wise, the Google Nest Mini supports 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 and built-in Chromecast. There is also a new powerful 15 W power adaptor. The smart speaker is compatible with both Android and iOS devices.