Google Nest Mini review: Modest improvements make Google’s smallest smart speaker even better

You can’t be blamed for mistaking the $49 Nest Mini for its two-year-old predecessor, the (also $49) Google Home Mini. Indeed, the biggest difference between the two smart speakers, which look virtually identical aside from a few iterative design tweaks, might be Google’s decision (which I still find confusing, frankly) to swap out the “Home” moniker for “Nest,” following in the footsteps of the re-branded Google Nest Hub and the recent Google Nest Hub Max.

Still, there are some laudable changes here, though none that demand turning in your existing Home Mini(s) to your local recycling center. Among the improvements: marginally better sound, a new mounting hole, an additional built-in microphone, and a machine-learning chip designed to make Google Assistant faster and smarter over time. The Nest Mini’s capacitive touch controls have also been shuffled and refined, although they might still confuse someone who isn’t familiar with the speaker’s tricks.

So, should you upgrade? Given the Nest Mini’s inexpensive price tag (which will probably see steep and periodic discounts in the coming months, if history is any guide), a better question is: should you buy a Nest Mini to go with your current Home Mini? By all means, yes, particularly given the upcoming Nest home monitoring features that both the Nest Mini and Home Mini will support. More on that in a bit.

If you haven’t jumped on the smart speaker bandwagon yet, the Google Nest Mini makes for a great place to start, particularly if you’re a loyal Google user. Of course, the $49 Amazon Echo Dot remains a worthy Nest Mini competitor, particularly when it comes to Alexa’s dominance in the area of smart home voice control. That said, considering their inexpensive price tags, you don’t necessarily need to pick one over the other—even if you use an Android smartphone.

Design

Set the Nest Mini next its predecessor and you’ll have difficulty telling them apart. They both bear the same telltale oval shape when viewed from the side, the same fabric covering (in chalk, coral, and charcoal colors, with a new sky shade replacing the Home Mini’s aqua flavor), and the same four LEDs peeking through the top of the fabric when Google Assistant is awake and chatting.

Ben Patterson/IDG
Pop quiz: which of these Google smart speakers is the new Nest Mini?

Look a little more closely, however, and you pick out some key differences. Turn the Nest Mini over and you’ll spot the new mounting hole, which makes it easy to hang the Nest Mini on a hook or (if you’ve pounded it in far enough) the head of a nail.

Ben Patterson/IDG
The new mounting hole on the back of the Google Nest Mini lets you hang it on a wall without needing to buy a third-party bracket.

It’s not surprising that Google added a built-in mounting option on the Nest Mini, given the wide range of third-party mounting accessories that sprouted up for the Home Mini. That said, the single mounting hole means that cable management is up to you; and trust me, without some help on your part, the Nest Mini’s charging cable won’t hang perfectly straight along the wall like it does in Google’s press photos. Score one for third-party mounts like the Mount Genie that hang the Google Home Mini from an AC outlet, with its excess power cord neatly wound around the mount.

Ben Patterson/IDG
You can hang the Google Nest Mini from a wall thanks to its new mounting hole, but cable management is up to you.

Another small difference has to do with the Nest Mini’s charging port. Gone is the Micro-USB port that sits in the base of the Home Mini, it’s been replaced by a barrel-shaped charging port. That’s a bit of a shame, given that you could swap out the Home Mini’s original charging cable with a third-party, 5V Micro-USB charger, but it’s a safe bet that the Nest Mini’s 15W power draw demands a more robust power source. (It’s worth noting that the third-gen Amazon Echo Dot has a barrel-shaped charging port, too.)

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