Dear Steemit Friends,
I previously unboxed and set up my Google Wifi System and as a supplement to that purchase, I decided to also pick up a Google Home Mini to add some automation around the house. For a while, I was trying to decide between getting an Amazon Echo Plus or A Google Home. During Black Friday and ongoing, everything Google ended up getting their prices slashed, so that made my decision a little easier - that and my decision to buy the Google Wifi System - Although that does not mean I'm not open to buying an Echo Plus at a later time.
I purchased the Google Home Mini for $29.99 USD and it came with a $10.00 Best Buy Card, which basically puts the overall price at $19.99 - If I were able to use the gift card on the purchase. I later ended up buying another unit (which I will talk more about further down in this post) using the gift card and got another $10.00 Best Buy Gift Card.
Like the Google Wifi, unboxing the unit was fairly quick as you can see below
The packaging was minimal and the unit came with the following
- 1 Google Home Mini Hub
- 1 USB-C Connector
- 1 Quick Start Manual
setup was easy. You simply plug the device in, download the App, and wait for it to locate and set up the device. As soon as you plug in the device, 4 LED indicators light up letting you know that the device is on and booting up.
In order to set the unit up, you will need to download the Google Home App from the respective App store for your mobile device. Once downloaded, it will automatically search for any device you have around the house.
setup takes about 15 minutes and as soon as it is done, the device is ready to use. Most SMART Home peripherals and devices work with the Google Home Mini, however, setting everything up has proven to be somewhat challenging. I purchased a Philips Hue Started Kit (Which I will review in a future post) and have been having challenges adding new light bulbs. I initially installed Hue with the 4 starter pack lights, however, I have since added 4 more lights in different rooms, but Google Home still only identifies only the 4 initial lights. At this point in time, I am only able to turn on all lights and not just the bedroom lights. If I ask Google to turn on the lights in the living room, it does not know what I am talking about. Although I have 8 lights, it only says "turning on 4 lights" when I command it to turn on the lights.
In order to use the device all you have to do is start by saying "Hey Google" and then follow it up with a command. What is good about Google Home over Alexa is its ability to do continuous conversations. I can say "Hey Google" once and then ask it what is on my calendar for the day and it will reply. I can then ask it to send a reminder to everyone without having to say "Hey Google" again, which is a limitation for other devices such as Alexa.
The downside to this device is that you need to associate your Google account to fully benefit from all the features. It also stores a history of everything you ask it, so if you are worried about privacy then this is not a device for you. The device also recognizes different people's voices so anyone can ask it questions or give it commands. The device is constantly learning and listening so that it adapts to all of the people who use it.
Each user has their individual profile. If my wife asks what is on her calendar for the day, it will not give her the details of my calendar, if she asks it to call someone who is on my contact list but not hers, it will not do it. It has very good voice recognition and only access information of the owner of the account that is speaking. Our Google Home is set up so that it answers me using a male voice and it answers my wife using a female's voice.
If you have a large house, I would recommend buying multiple devices, which is what I had to do (allowing me to use my $10 Best Buy Gift Card on the 2nd unit). This keeps you from having to yell across the house. One note of caution though is that you should place each hub far enough from each other so you can understand what it is saying without both of them responding to you at the same time.
Image Source
The Google Home does a great job scouring the net to find and provide you the answers to any question or inquiry you ask it. The speakers on the mini are not as good as the larger unit and definitely not as good as the Amazon Echo speakers, so I would not recommend streaming music from it. This device is primarily used for controlling the devices and gadgets in your home and providing you responses to the questions and commands you give it.
All-in-all I would recommend picking up one of these units if you want something affordable and reliable to control your house. The build quality is solid and its simplistic design will blend well with most household decor. For $29.99 you get a pretty good bargain for a pretty rock solid device. I'd rate this device 3 out of 5 stars just because of the challenge I'm having setting up my Philip Hue lights, but if in time I finally figure out how to get everything working right, I will give it a better rating, after all some of it is most likely user error.
I hope you enjoyed my review of the Google Home Mini. If you have any questions, inputs, or feedback, please feel free to post a comment below. I would also appreciate your Upvote, Follow, and Resteem if you feel this post was informative and will help others.
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