Can We Cahnge The Led Color In Google Home Minin

Tom'due south Guide Verdict

The Google Dwelling house Mini looks and sounds better than Amazon's smallest Alexa speaker, just information technology's not quite as versatile.

Pros

+
Bonny design
+
Inexpensive
+
Dandy audio quality for size
+
Tin can control Android TVs and Chromecast

Cons

-
Hard to see status lights from across room
-
Doesn't work with equally many smart-home devices as Alexa
-
Tin can't pair with Bluetooth speakers and no line-out

Update 10/22/nineteen: The 2nd-generation Nest Mini ($49) is at present bachelor. Spotify Premium users can request a free Home Mini while supplies final.

Last winter, I — along with countless others — received an Repeat Dot as a Christmas souvenir. Since so, Alexa has worked its way into my daily routine, enabling me to set alarms, turn the lights on and off, and play music, all with just my vocalisation. Merely after testing out the $49 Google Habitation Mini, I'm almost ready to switch to squad Google. Not simply is the Mini more than attractive than the Dot, but it likewise performs miles better as a stand-alone speaker and supports all the all-time Google Assistant skills. While Alexa even so rules in some areas, the Google Habitation Mini is poised to swallow into Amazon's pb every bit i of the all-time smart speakers on the market.

Design

While Amazon'due south smart speakers are very functional, they're not very bonny. The commonsensical Echo Dot, for instance, is a black, hockey-puck-size device that doesn't inspire whatsoever feelings of warmth.

And then kudos to Google for making the Home Mini something that looks and feels friendlier. Information technology's small-scale and round similar the Echo Dot, but its curved sides give information technology a softer look. Like with the larger Google Home, the height of the Mini is swathed in a gray material, which only adds to its homeyness.

Hidden beneath the fabric embrace are impact-screen controls, which permit you play and interruption music and launch Google Assistant. Tap i side of the Mini to lower the volume and the other side to pump up the jams. Similar to on the Echo Dot, a physical switch on the back of the Mini lets you deactivate the microphone.

Ed. Note: The touch buttons on top of the Google Domicile Mini are no longer functional, though the volume controls will still work.

Although the LEDs on the superlative of the Home Mini light up when they detect your vocalism, they're hard to run into, especially if the Mini is across the room from you. I prefer the Repeat Dot'southward light band, which encircles the top of the device, is much more visible and changes color when it hears your phonation.

Kudos to Google for making the Home Mini something that looks and feels friendlier.

At one.7 inches alpine and 3.9 inches in bore, Google Home Mini is slightly larger than the Echo Dot (i.5 inches tall and 3.3 inches in diameter), only y'all won't observe the difference on your nightstand. I certainly didn't.

Smart Home Performance

Adding smart-dwelling house devices to your Google Home isn't as straightforward as it is with Alexa. To add a device, you outset must select Devices from the side menu. Then, you have to select the smart speaker, press the 3 dots in the upper right corner and choose settings.

Google lags well behind Amazon's Alexa in integrating with other smart-home devices.

From there, yous go to Abode Control, select the service (Leviton, Philips, etc.), then select the room in which the smart devices are located. With the Alexa app, at that place's a specific Smart Dwelling house menu, from which it automatically detects smart-home devices in your network.

Once connected, I said, "Hey, Google, turn on my dining room lights," and they responded instantly.

Google also lags well backside Amazon in integrating with other smart- dwelling devices. While in that location are l-odd manufacturers listed in the Google Home app, some notable missing companies include Logitech (and its Harmony remotes), the Ecobee smart thermostat and Yale locks.

I thing that Google Dwelling has over Alexa is that you can apply the Google service to control smart TVs running Android Tv set, as well as Chromecast devices. I liked that the Google Dwelling app immediately recognized the Sony TV on my home network. Y'all tin can then tell Google Dwelling to play YouTube, Netflix or other content, and the stream will appear right on your Tv. However, your Tv has to support phonation command; my Sony Bravia XBR-49X830C, from 2014, did non. I had to dig through several menus in the Google Home app to find that out.

Sound Performance

Neither the Home Mini nor the Echo Dot should be used equally a main music source, only if you want to do this, the Home Mini can suffice in a pinch. In a head-to-caput audio exam, the Home Mini just blew the Echo Dot out of the water.

Bruce Springsteen'southward vocals on "I'thou on Fire" sounded tinny, hollow and distant on the Echo Dot. It was similar listening to a bad AM radio. On the Habitation Mini, his vocalism was much fuller, the bass line was much more nowadays, and you could hear more of the nuances in the rails. Same thing when I played Billy Joel's "Piano Man"; the vocal sounded full and stiff.

I also liked that I could stream sound directly from a number of sources — such as the Pandora app on my telephone and the Chrome browser on my laptop — straight to the Dwelling Mini. That'due south ane affair you lot can't do with Alexa.

Even so, the Repeat Dot has both a iii.5mm audio jack and Bluetooth, then you can pair information technology with some other speaker very easily. The Home Mini only has Bluetooth, and tin simply exist used to stream sound to the Mini from, say, your smartphone, and not to an external speaker. The simply way to do that is if another speaker is connected to a Chromecast device.

In a caput-to-caput audio test, the Dwelling Mini merely blew the Echo Dot out of the water.

Google and Amazon are fairly evenly matched in streaming-audio services, as both support Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio and TuneIn. Non surprisingly, Amazon has Amazon Music, while Google has Google Play Music and YouTube Music. However, only Amazon lists back up for Sirius XM.

Microphone Operation

Without annihilation else playing, both the Abode Mini and the Echo Dot were able to hear my voice from across the room, even when I talked in a low voice. Notwithstanding, in one case I started cranking tunes, I had to heighten my voice to a nearly shout to make myself heard by the Mini. I didn't have to speak every bit loudly for the Repeat Dot to hear me, simply and then over again, the Dot'south speaker can't get nearly every bit loud as the Mini's.

When I first started using the Home Mini, it would trigger itself unintentionally, and attempt to reply to things it heard. I had placed it under my Television set, and then information technology was amusing at starting time when it tried answering questions from detectives Briscoe and Green from Police & Society, but speedily grew frustrating. And, because it was an upshot with the bear upon controls, turning off the microphone did not alleviate the trouble.

According to Google, a small number of Home Minis had an issue that caused the touch mechanism to behave incorrectly, and the company rolled out a software update that addressed the issue. A 24-hour interval after Google sent me this response, the Abode Mini no longer triggered itself. If users are having whatever boosted issues, they should feel free to contact Google Support at 1-855-971-9121.

Ed. Notation: Google has disabled impact functionality on all Google Home Minis, so now the only mode to trigger the device is to say "Ok Google" or "Hey Google."

Lesser Line

When it debuted terminal fall, the Echo Dot made big waves for its low cost; it has never been easier to become Alexa in your home. The $49 Google Home Mini is poised to practice just that for Google'south Assistant. Not simply is it inexpensive, merely it too outperforms the Echo Dot in audio quality and design. The Mini's ability to bandage both audio and video arguably makes information technology the better device for delivering smarts to your entertainment system. Nonetheless, Google is still lagging well backside Amazon regarding skills and smart-home integration, and fifty-fifty the all-time-designed speaker tin can't modify that fact.

Credit: Tom's Guide

Michael A. Prospero is the deputy editor at Tom's Guide. He oversees the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories, but also tests out the latest standing desks, webcams, drones, and electric scooters. He has worked at Tom'southward Guide for many a year; before that, he was the Reviews Editor for Laptop Mag, a reporter at Fast Visitor, and, many eons back, an intern at George mag. When he's not testing out the latest running lookout, electric scooter, or skiing or training for a marathon, he's probably using the latest sous vide car, smoker, or pizza oven, to the delight or chagrin of his family.