Google today unveiled its new Home Mini smart speaker. It’s basically a miniature version of last year’s Home speaker that costs way less than before.
Specifically, the Google Home Mini costs just $49. This means Google is competing head-to-head with Amazon at this point since both OEMs have smart speakers at this price point and relative size. Whether consumers will want the Google Assistant over Alexa will be determined over time, and it should be interesting to see both Amazon and Google compete in the less-than-$100 range of smart home devices.
Touching a bit more on the Home Mini itself, Google has wrapped the entire top side of the device in a custom fabric which is light enough to play audio through and is durable enough so it doesn’t wear out as quickly as it could. There are speakers aligning the entire inner circumference of the device for 360-degree sound, while two far-field microphones allow for voice commands. If the sound from the Home Mini doesn’t suffice your needs, you can always connect to a set of Chromecast-enabled speakers.
Pre-orders start today for the Google Home Mini, and the device will launch in three colors at various retailers on October 19th.
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