Google Home Mini Review
Hey guys! Today, I am going to be talking about the Google Home Mini. Last week, it was announced that if you have a premium individual or premium family account with Spotify, you are eligible to get a FREE Google Home Mini. Sadly, this does not apply to people with premium student accounts.
Coincidentally, last week, my good friend Jenny gifted me a Google Home Mini and it arrived a few days ago. I am not a tech-savvy person, so this review will not be going completely in depth, but I will talk about the set up process and what it does! Read on below if you want to know more about the Google Home Mini!
The Set up
The set up is pretty straightforward. When you take out your Google Home Mini, a small set of instructions come with it and here’s what it tells you to do:
Plug your Google Home Mini into an outlet.
Download the ‘‘Google Home” App.
Once it downloads, make sure your wifi is on (it’s required for the set up).
The app will show you step by step how to get your Google Home Mini to work. It will also make you sign into a google account (also required).
The app will show you different settings and give you a brief summary of what the Google Home Mini can do. It will also have you speak to it.
Once this is done, your Google Home Mini will be ready to go, all you have to do is say “Hey Google” and a command.
So, What Does It Do?
Surprisingly, a lot. Here are some of my favorite functions:
It can tell you the weather and time.
You can make phone calls (no texts though as of now).
If you connect to bluetooth on your phone, it can be used a speaker to play podcasts and music.
If you connect your Spotify account to your Google Home Mini, it can play anything you ask it too (without having it be connected to bluetooth).
It also has sleep sounds such as, rain, ocean sounds, white noise, and more.
You can ask it to make reminders and set up alarms.
It can tell you the news and you can set up what news outlets you want to listen to using the Google Home app.
You can set up morning and night routines with the Google Home app. If you do use this option, when you say “good morning Google”, it will tell you the weather, how long your commute is, and the news. This is just an example though, there are different routine customizations.
It can tell you jokes and sing lullabies.
You can ask it questions and it will answer you.
Is It Worth It?
The Google Home Mini retails for $49 , if this was not gifted to me, I would not purchase it. I love trying new things, but I can definitely live without it!
That being said, I think it’s a pretty cool gadget and would be great for someone who has a smart home devices. The Google Home Mini is compatible with a plethora of devices, which you can see here.
Unfortunately, I do not have any of them, so my use for the mini is limited to the functions I mentioned above.
If you can get it for free though, as I did, I do think it’s fun to have around and I can do virtually anything with it even when I’m in my bed (the mini is on my desk).
For My Conspiracy Theorists
I do think it’s weird that all of sudden, Google wants to give out Google Home Minis. I wonder what’s the reasoning behind it. Perhaps they are not selling or perhaps something else?
I already have a phone, a computer, and a tablet. So, the government is probably already listening to me and I don’t really care (I bet you they are bored-I am not a very interesting person).
Regardless, I’ll probably unplug it or turn off the mic (there is button under the device that does this) when my communist friends are over.
Some Final Thoughts
My wifi is incredibly slow, so it took longer than expected to set up the Google Home Mini.
After the set up was finished, I haven’t had any problems though. If you don’t have trash wifi, this will most likely not be a problem for you.
To turn the volume up or down, you can command it to do so, or you can click on the sides of the device to do it manually (the instructions that come with it has photos that show you where you click)
The mini is tinier then I expected and can fit literally anywhere. As I mentioned above, I decided to put it on my desk.
If you want to know more about how to get a free Google Home Mini with your Spotify account, click here.
For all commands and functions, this article is great and helped me discover some new things the device can do.
