Google unveiled something Tuesday that looks a lot like the Google Home Mini they debuted two years ago — but with a new name, better sounds, faster processing time, and eco-friendly materials.
Google brought the Home team under the Nest brand back in May. The Nest Mini they announced on Tuesday is a product of that collaboration. It’s a rebranded version of the Home Mini that retails at the same price — $49. (While the Home Mini is still available at the Google store, the device is being replaced with the Nest Mini going forward.)
As for the changes, Google says the Nest Mini’s bass is twice as strong as the Home Mini’s, and its sounds are refined by an audio tuning software developed by in-house sound engineers. It’s an upgrade that’s supposed to make the Nest Mini sound rich, detailed, and clear at every volume level.
Google unveils Sky, a new color for the Nest Mini.
Image: Google
The sound doesn’t just get better. It also gets more adaptive, according to Google.
Google says the Nest Mini automatically adjusts the volume of Google Assistant, news, and podcasts depending on the amount of background noise it detects. That way, you can hear Issa Rae and John Legend — who narrates two of the 12 total Assistant voices in English featured in the U.S. — over the repetitive rumble of your laundry machine if you fancy.
Thanks to a machine-learning chip with up to one TeraOPS processing power, the Nest Mini can also process some commands much faster than the Home Mini, Google says. Rather than processing selected Assistant functions from Google’s data center, they’re being processed within the device itself.
The Nest Mini can be paired to other Nest speakers for a whole-home sound system, according to Google. Stream Transfer will also allow Google Assistant to seamlessly move sounds from one speaker to another.
The Nest Mini is designed to complete a whole-home audio system, according to Google.
Image: google
The Nest Mini comes in three of the same colors as its older iteration — Chalk, Charcoal, Coral — plus a new color, Sky. While its looks don’t deviate from the soft round edge design of the Home Mini, the wall mounting capability is new.
Also new are the eco-friendly materials used to give the Nest Mini its looks. Post-consumer plastic accounts for 35 percent of the external enclosure’s build and 100 percent of the fabric’s build.
The Nest Mini now available for pre-order at the Google Store. It launches at retail stores on Oct. 22.