Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini: Google has presented the successor to the Google Home Mini with the Google Nest Mini. What are the differences between the two smart speakers and is it wise to upgrade?
Google yesterday successor to the Google Mini Home presented . At first glance, the new Google Nest Mini looks identical to the predecessor, but there is quite a difference between the two small speakers. In this article, we’ll tell you about the differences between the Google Home Mini and the Google Nest Mini.
Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini – Design
When you see the two small speakers next to each other, they look like two drops of water. Again, Google has opted for a small ‘puck’ with a luxurious-looking fabric on the top. The four LED lights are also back on the Nest Mini. These not only indicate the volume, but also show when the microphones are open to listen to a voice command. However, the materials used are quite different this time. Google has chosen to use some recycled material for the housing. For example, the fabric is made one hundred percent from recycled plastic bottles and the housing is also partly made from recycled plastic.
In terms of appearance, the biggest change is the addition of the wall mount. On the bottom of the Google Nest Mini you will now see a hole with which you can attach the small speaker directly to the wall. So you no longer have to buy an optional holder for wall mounting.
Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini – Service
The Nest Mini has capacitive buttons. We also found these on the Google Home Mini, but were partially switched off before the launch because they regularly activated the microphones. Later this was partially turned back on via the volume buttons. This time you can start, pause and stop music by tapping on top of the Nest Mini and you should also be able to switch on the microphones for a voice command in this way. Incidentally, the new smart speaker recognizes when you are in the area by means of ultrasonic detection. The LED lights will light up when you walk to the speaker, so that you can immediately see the volume and adjust it if necessary.
Completely new is the addition of a special machine learning chip. With this AI chip, we will soon have access to the new Google Assistant that can respond much faster to commands and can multitask much better. This chip ensures that part of the data processing can also take place locally. No longer is a command sent to a Google data center, processed there, and then returned with an answer. In the future, this must be able to take place locally, at least in part. Frequently used commands can be stored locally and immediately executed without this information having to be sent all over the world first.
This opens the doors to new possibilities. In recent years, the Google Assistant has been continuously improved and provided with new possibilities. The new machine learning chip ensures that the Google Nest Mini is completely ready for the future and should in any case ensure faster reactions and better privacy. You will soon be able to easily delete the history of your voice commands over a certain period. Initially, however, the new Google Assistant will only work in English. Users who want to use the Dutch language will have to wait a while for the new Google Assistant version.
Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini – Sound
A common complaint from the Google Home Mini was the sound. The quality was reasonable when you let the speaker play the radio in the background, but for really listening to music, the quality was still below par. This time Google has developed a completely new speaker for the Google Nest Mini. For this they built a special test room where they could test every influence. They found out that the materials used and even the fabric and the color of the fabric had an influence on the sound quality. Ultimately, the completely new speaker emerged from this test room.
This time, the Google Nest Mini has a much louder speaker that also has to ensure that the bass is much more present. To be more precise, the Nest Mini should display the power of the bass twice as much as compared to the first Google Home Mini. This is due to a new 40 mm driver to bring the bass more into the foreground, without compromising the other sound quality. The accompanying software must provide a natural sound that sounds richer than the original. Let’s hope the sound quality is indeed going to be much better than the Google Home Mini.
Another new feature we’ll be seeing is the ability to set up a stereo pair with two Nest Minis. For example, two small speakers will soon be able to play real stereo sound. The new Nest Mini has three far-field microphones. This is one more than on the Google Home Mini and should hopefully ensure that your voice commands are heard better. These microphones are also used to adjust the sound level of the smart assistant and any music to the ambient noise. Is it very noisy in your living room? The Google Assistant automatically adjusts to the sound in the living room, so you will always hear the answer to your voice commands. Bluetooth 5.0 is also present this time in contrast to Bluetooth 4.1 on the old version.
Should you upgrade?
The Google Nest Mini therefore comes with more improvements than you might initially think. How the enhanced sound actually sounds is unclear at the moment, so we cannot judge that yet. It is nice to see that the Google Nest Mini has at least made a big step forward internally. In this case, we will leave it in the middle whether you need to upgrade, but the addition of the AI chip, the wall mount and the possibility to use two Nest Minis as a stereo pair is in any case a nice addition. For the rest, the Google Nest Mini has the same functions as the Google Home Mini. This means that you can again ask the Google Assistant plenty of questions, control your smart home with your voice and of course listen to music. Chromecast is once again built-in.
