Why it matters to you
If you’re looking for a Google Assistant speaker to place in all your rooms, the Google Home Mini might be the affordable option for you.
The Amazon Echo has been well received for a number of reasons, including the fact that you don’t necessarily always have to buy a full Amazon Echo for each room. Google has already launched its full-sized Google Home speaker, but now it’s launching a more affordable speaker that you can put in each room — rumored to be called the Google Home Mini.
The Google Home Mini has been rumored for some time now, but the latest leak gives us a pretty good look at what the speaker is supposed to look like. The leak, which comes from Droid-Life, shows off a puck-shaped speaker in three colors — which happen to match the leaked colors for the Google Daydream headset.
According to the leak, the speaker will be available in Chalk, Charcoal, and Coral colors, and it seems as though the speaker will be powered — not wireless — based on the leaked images. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — the idea here is that you’ll be able to get a speaker for each room.
Of course, if you’re buying one for each room, you’ll probably want something pretty affordable, and thankfully the Home Mini reportedly will be. You’ll be able to get one for $50.
The Home Mini should be able to do pretty much everything the standard Google Home can. It’ll come with Google Assistant, and will allow you to schedule things, set reminders, and so on — like Google Assistant on the Home speaker and on an Android phone. The speaker in the device may not be as loud as the standard Google Home, but it will be great for those who don’t necessarily need a loud speaker or those who simply want things like smart home control.
The Google Home Mini isn’t the first non-Home speaker to be launched with Google Assistant. In the past few months, we’ve seen a few devices launch from the likes of JBL, Mobvoi, and even Panasonic, coming in at different price points and with different focuses. The thing that really brings them all together, however, is Google Assistant, which powers all of the speakers. Check out our full list of the Assistant-powered speakers to be launched so far.