Google on Tuesday launched Google Home and Google Home Mini smart speakers in India.
The Home, which is slightly bigger, will sell at a price of Rs 9,999 whereas the donut size the Home Mini has a price tag of Rs 4,499. The two smart speakers compete with the Amazons Echo speakers in India. Online the two smart speakers will be exclusive to Flipkart but Google said that in offline retail stores the speakers will be available in over 750 stores.
Google Home specifications
The Google Home features a touch surface on top, which can be used to control playback, volume, and also activate the Google Assistant. Its mic – which offers far-field voice recognition and identifies different voices with Voice Match technology – is also located on the top panel, while its mic mute button and power status light are located at the back. The top panel also features the lights that change patterns and colours depending on the action being formed.
Google Home sports a high-excursion speaker with a 2-inch driver and dual 2-inch passive radiators. It will only be available with a White body, but come with different-coloured speaker material – the default it ships with is Slate fabric. It supports devices running Android 4.4 KitKat and higher, and iOS 9.1 and higher.
For connectivity, the Google Home offers just dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) Wi-Fi 802.11ac, and can only be used as a Wi-Fi connected speaker with no Bluetooth capabilities. It also needs to be powered by wall socket, and comes with an AC power adapter. As for supported audio formats, the Google Home supports HE-AAC, LC-AAC+, MP3, Vorbis, WAV (LPCM), and FLAC.
The speaker also supports Chromecast, letting users stream movies, shows, and music onto their connected TVs or Google Cast speakers. It also works with over 1,000 smart home devices from over 150 brands. It measures 142.8mm in height and has a diameter of 96.4mm. It has a weight of 477 grams, and its power cable measures 1.8 metres.
Google Home Mini specifications
The Google Home Mini has four lights on top, which show the speaker is working and turn orange when the mic is muted – there is a mic mute switch near the power (Micro-USB) port on the back. Control mechanisms are on the left and right of the Google Home Mini’s lights, which can be used to change volume and start or stop alarms, timers, and calls. The speaker is only available with fabric-based designs. It sports a non-skid silicone base. Its speaker is touted to deliver 360-degree sound and bears a 40mm driver, whilst it mic supports far-field voice recognition. It supports devices running Android 4.4 KitKat and higher, and iOS 9.1 and higher.
For connectivity, the Google Home Mini offers dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) Wi-Fi 802.11ac as well as Bluetooth v4.1, letting it be used as both a Wi-Fi connected speaker and a Bluetooth speaker. It also needs to be powered by wall socket, and comes with an AC power adapter. As for supported audio formats, the Google Home supports HE-AAC, LC-AAC+, MP3, Vorbis, WAV (LPCM), and FLAC.
The speaker also supports Chromecast, letting users stream movies, shows, and music onto their connected TVs or Google Cast speakers. It also works with over 1,000 smart home devices from over 150 brands. It measures 42mm in height and has a diameter of 98mm. It has a weight of 173 grams, and its power cable measures 1.5 metres.
