74 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 44
REVIEW
It’s not the best portable speaker we’ve ever heard
and it’s not going to win any awards for its playback
potential. But it does the job. And for many people
that’s the most important thing.
They want music, they want it loud, and they
want it in every room of the house. Google Home
Mini can do that, with a little help from its friends
when you set up multiroom audio.
We found Google Home Mini’s twin built-in mics
did a good job of understanding our commands,
even when we were getting tongue-twisted over
the wake command. You might need to raise you
voice if music is playing loud, but overall it deals
with background noise with minimal fuss.Verdict
We’re clearly big fans of the Google Assistant, and any
device that makes it more accessible to the masses
is well worth a second look in our book. If budget
was no option then the standard Google Home offers
significantly better audio quality, but for most people
budget will unfortunately come into play should they
wish to set up speakers in every room of the house.
Audiophiles aren’t going to be impressed by Google
Home Mini’s reproduction of lows and mids, but we’re
not all audiophiles. Many users will be quite satisfied
with its highs, and for everyday conversing with the
Assistant the 40mm driver is adequate.
We do prefer Google Assistant to Alexa, despite its
fewer ‘Skills’, but something we’d love to see Google
borrow from Amazon is a more natural wake word and
the Dot’s AUX port. Add in the ability to connect the