The more electronic devices we have at our disposal, the more convenient our lives become. And the imaginary king of these life-easing devices is voice search engines, which have long been dominated by Amazon's Alexa.
But it is increasingly being followed by Google Nest Mini, which is only getting better with each version. What do we appreciate most about it? How well do you need to know English to be able to use it on a daily basis? Find out that and much more in today's review.
Content of the review
At the beginning, I have to add that before testing Google Nest Mini I also tested Alexa, so you canyou can also look forward to a comparison of the basic differences between the two voice search engines at the end of the review. Our video review can be found here, among other places:
Design-wise, it fits into absolutely every home
The Google Nest Mini has a practical round shape and is available in four coloursIt can be placed almost anywhere in any home. Unfortunately, only two variants are available in the Czech Republic, but more will definitely be sold in the future. While the bottom part is rubber for maximum grip, the top part is covered with a fabric made from 100% recycled PET bottles. This fabric is quite pleasant to the touch, which you will appreciate especially whenwhen manually changing the volume, switching the microphone on or off.
The primary difference from Alexa is the ability to hang the Google Nest Mini on the wall, but honestly I thinkI think this is more or less pointless, because in that case you have to hang a cable from the wall, which logically looks quite unsightly. On the other hand, it's still better to have this option and not use it than not have it and need it.
Features you'll be amazed by
It's probably not humanly possible to list all the features that Google Nest Mini can do. You can play games, listen to your favorite music, control lights throughout the house, learn about the latestnews from around the world, find out the weather forecast and much, much more. In my time testing this smart assistant, I've particularly liked the following features:
"Ok Google, tell me about my day"
I'm sure most of you have some sort of morning ritual that you keep repeating. If you say this phrase to your smart assistant, it will automatically give you information about today's forecastweather, traffic, scheduled appointments and the latest world news. In addition, it can also tell you about any restrictionson your route to work or play your favourite genre of music. But it's up to you what you add to your morning (or evening or afternoon) routine. So once again, the smart assistant saves you time spent looking at your phone, so you can get on with more rewarding activities first thing in the morning.
"Ok Google, turn my lights [colour]"
If you're using smart bulbs and want to switch them, you don't necessarily have to pull out your phone. Again, you can change the colour, adjust the brightness, or turn the lights on or off with a simple command. I especially like this feature in the evening before bed, when after reading some book, I didn't have to laboriously get up and turn off the lights manually, but simply by voice from the comfort of my heated bed.
"Ok Google, how do i make [recipe]"
Also, does it happen to you from time to time that you have some ingredients at home and you don't know what to cook with them? Again, just ask the above question and the voice assistant will either send the recipe directly to your phone or start dictating the process to you. Similarly, you can also ask for sub-steps during the cooking process and it should be able to answer your question.
"Ok Google, play radio"
If you don't want to play your songs from your phone right now, you can leave the radio on, whichGoogle Nest Mini offers a range of radio options, and you can choose your favourite genre. I consider the huge advantage of radios to be that they improve your English and make you understand foreigners better, for example. Not to mention that the song selection on most stations is really good and suits almost everyone.
Does Google have any shortcomings?
In addition to the features mentioned above, this voice assistant has, of course, a whole range of otherch - you can ask about the nutritional value of a certain food, call an Uber, order a meal and much, much more. But what bothered me about the functioning of the Google Nest Mini is the device's inability to stay paired with some key apps, such as Spotify. This happens because you have your phone set to English. If you had your phone set to English, Spotify would stay paired all the time. But of course, that's not realistic for most of us, which is why the Google Nest Mini gets minus points from me.
The second problem is the addressing itself, because if you address your Google Nest Mini with "Ok Google," it turns on yoursearch engine on your phone, which of course is not at all intentional and a minor problem.
The Google Nest Mini is priced relatively well
The Google Nest Mini can make your day-to-day a lot easier, and as you've probably already gathered, it can do a lot. The wide range of features is therefore somewhat reflected in the price, as one voice assistant will set you back 1,590. While that may seem quite a lot to some, when you consider how much time and work it can take youe can potentially save you, this price is perfectly adequate from my point of view and I would definitely buy the Google Nest Mini again.
Isn't Alexa a better investment?
As promised, at the very end of the review we get to do a little comparison of the Google Nest Mini with the slightly more popular Alexa. And while I was excited about Google's smart assistant, it still falls short of Alexa in some aspects.
How is Alexa better?
Although much of the functionality is identical, Amazon's Echo Dot handles the volume significantly bettermusic, the sound is clearer, and the bass definitely sounds much better than Google Nest. Not to mention that the maximum volume itself is higher with Alexa. Of course, this problem can be solved by pairing both devicesto another speaker, but if you don't have one and still like louder music, Alexa is the obvious choice.
Also, when you want to connect the speaker externally, Alexa wins. On the back you'll find a 3.5mm jack in addition to the connection cable, which the Google Nest unfortunately doesn't have.
The third thing I would still like to highlight with the Echo Dot is the clearer notifications. Namely, it features an LED ring that when addressed: "Alexa" glows blue, when notified on the phone it glows orange, green appears whenWhen someone calls you, it glows green, and when there's a problem, it glows red. Definitely a clearer and more prominent way than the way Google Nest Mini alerts.
And the last benefit of Alexa is definitely the lower price, because the third generation Echo Dot is about cheaper than the second generation Google Nest Mini.
Where does Google Nest Mini win?
Where Google completely eludes Amazon is in design. The Nest Mini is significantly smaller than Alexa, and what's more, by building buttons underneath the fabric, it doesn't spoil the overall look of the smart assistant. Plus, you'll hopefully soon be able to choose from 4 nice colours, whereas the Echo Dot comes in dark grey, light grey and white, which definitely don't impress as much. So, I dare say that the good dimensions and monochrome all-over design make this thing a bit more practical.
The other benefit I definitely see is easier pairing with Google apps, whether it's calendar or music. If you buy an Alexa as your first device from Amazon, you probably won't have Amazon Music and other apps that the Echo Dot obviously prefers.
Where the Google Nest again excels in my experience is its greater responsiveness to address. You can safely just whisper and the device has no problem hearing you, which you can't quite say about Alexa.
The last major advantage is definitely the availability in multiple languages. Likewise, you can expect Google Nest Mini to have English support much sooner than Amazon, so if you have a phobia of speaking English, I would definitely prefer Google.
Final assessment
From my point of view, Google Nest Mini is a really great helper that will make your life easier in many ways and, more importantly, save you money.time for things that are certainly more fun than searching for weather forecasts on your phone or desktop computer.
While it still loses out to Alexa in some areas, it's certainly not a bad choice and everything here is compensated forby its premium design, practicality and connectivity to all the important apps Google has to offer.
