Nest Mini: What's new in Google's latest smart speaker?
What's the story
Merely a month after its international launch, Google's latest smart speaker for homes, the Nest Mini, has debuted in the Indian market. The Google Assistant-powered device comes as an upgrade over the two-year-old Home Mini and boasts some significant improvements, like better audio quality, to revamp your experience. Plus, it is priced at just Rs. 4,499. Here's all about it.
Design
Same old design with minor tweaks
From the looks of it, Google Nest Mini looks pretty similar to Home Mini. You still get a flat bowl-like speaker with LED lights under the fabric top cover and microphone slider switch. In fact, the only things that have changed are the new power connector port and cable, and the hook for mounting the device on a wall.
Improvement
New machine learning chip under the hood
What sets Google Nest Mini apart from its predecessor is the inclusion of new hardware under the hood. First, there is a dedicated machine learning chip that boasts of 1 TeraOPS of processing power and allows the device to process all the commands locally. It prevents the speaker from processing commands at Google's data centers and, therefore, makes it more responsive than Home Mini.
Audio improvements
Then, you also get better sound quality
Along with the ability to process commands quickly, Google Nest Mini also brings enhanced audio quality. Google says that the bass of the new device is twice as powerful as it was on the Home Mini, and you will also get the experience of a richer and more natural sound profile while streaming content from services like Spotify, YouTube Music, Gaana, and JioSaavn.
Improvement #3
Google Assistant also get smarter on the new device
Among other things, you will also get access to some additional Google Assistant quirks on the new device. For instance, the Assistant will automatically adjust the audio level of the Nest speaker according to the noise levels in the room. It even allows building a speaker system if there are other Nest devices in the same home.