Google Home and Google Home Mini, Google's home assistants, are now also available in Italy, more than a year after they went on sale in the United States. They are also the first devices of this type to be put on sale in our country, where we talk about home automation and home automation much more than they are then used in practice. Google has invested heavily in its “smart speakers” but above all in the Google Assistant, the software that makes them work and that takes up – and in some cases extends – the features already available for some time on the most recent versions of Android, the operating system for smartphones made by the same company.
What is an automatic assistant
The first personal assistant to be noticed, already several years ago, was Siri on Apple's iPhones. The use of a system of this type on a category of highly sold and successful products has led many other companies to invest in the sector, offering more or less promising alternatives. While Siri was slow to make progress, competitors like Google Assistant and Alexa (Amazon) got a chance to make up for lost time and expand their capabilities.
Using voice recognition, a personal assistant responds to requests and questions, which can be formulated in normal conversational phrases, as if addressing a friend. The recognition is usually accurate, but the algorithms are not always able to correctly interpret the answer. You can ask for trivial information, such as the time or the weather forecast, or online searches or even to set alarms and reminders in your calendar. Personal assistants have had a first phase of diffusion and successes on smartphones, now the trend is to integrate them into other devices, such as those for the home, in order to use them independently of the phone.
Smart speaker
Simplifying, we can say that the automatic attendants are the software, while the devices are the place where they “live”. In the case of domestic ones, each company has built its own containers. Google has made Google Home, Amazon has instead produced Echo, while Apple has recently put its HomePod on sale. While Apple essentially keeps Siri for itself, Google and Amazon are interested in having their personal assistants installed in other devices built by third-party companies, such as those that make speakers for streaming music. Google and Amazon don't care so much about the physical product, when their assistants are used, or to use Google's online services and make money from advertising, or to get them to buy new products more easily through Amazon.
Google Home
Google Home aesthetically resembles one of those contraptions that spread aromas to perfume the house, so it fits easily into various types of furnishings: its goal is not getting noticed that much. It is a truncated cone with a rounded base and covered with a fabric grid, which allows the sound of the speakers to come out evenly into the environment. It has no obvious buttons, apart from a small button on the back to turn the microphone off if you want to temporarily disable it. At the top is a touch sensor, which can be tapped to activate the device or to pause music playback. It works via a cable connected to the electricity supply.
Google Home Mini
As the name suggests, Google Home Mini is a smaller and more compact version, suitable for keeping in the bedroom or smaller rooms compared to the living room. Its speaker still has a decent power to reproduce music, so for small rooms it can be used as an alternative to the classic model. It does the exact same thing as Google Home and has a button to mute the microphone, as well as a sensor on top to pause music or manually activate the device.
How to use Google Home
To work, Google Home must be connected to the Internet via WiFi and to your Google account. Install the “Google Home” application (available for both Android and iOS) and follow the instructions to configure it. On first use, you are asked to say a couple of times “OK Google” and “Hey Google”, the two phrases that can be used to activate the device without having to touch it. The system can be used by several people, because it knows how to distinguish the items associated with the various accounts, offering some more guarantees for privacy.
To activate Google Home it is therefore sufficient to start a sentence with “OK / Hey Google” that contains a request. The device is always listening, waiting to hear the two words that activate it. Recognition happens locally, so Google Home doesn't record everything you say or send it somewhere. The most suspicious can still choose to disable the device's microphone, and activate it only with the touch system, even if it becomes less practical.
Internet by voice
Google Home can be used for various purposes similar to those of the Google Assistant, but without having to have your smartphone around the house. You can ask them to read the weather forecast, to find out how long it will take to get to work or to get the latest world news and stock quotes.
By having access to your Google account, the system can also be used to access your calendar, have your appointments read for the day, add new ones and rearrange them. You can also set reminders, alarms or add notes to various types of lists, for example those of shopping.
Music and TV
Your streaming music accounts such as Spotify or Google Play Music can be linked to Google Home. The larger model offers good fidelity in reproduction, the Mini does quite well, with a quality comparable to mid-range bluetooth speakers (it's a good compromise, if you're not super audiophile). You can start the playback of a playlist, a specific song or play a musical genre by voice: the microphone also works during song playback, so you can send commands to pause, skip to the next song or stop playback. There is also the option to listen to the radio, through TuneIn.
Google Home can also be used together with Chromecast, the key that connects to the TV to watch streaming content, or to televisions that have the system directly integrated into them. With compatible devices, if you say, for example, the phrase “Show me the latest Stranger Things episode on Netflix”, Google Home turns on the TV and starts playback. The same can be done with YouTube and other compatible streaming apps.
Home automation
If you have other objects in the house that connect to the Internet and can be used remotely, Google Home gives you the possibility to manage them by voice. The WiFi bulbs, for example, can be turned on and off in the various rooms of the house simply by asking Google Home. The system will shortly also be used with Nest thermostats and other brands.
Android and iOS
Google Home offers some more features if you already use an Android smartphone, for example as regards the management of messages and other contents to voice. Even for streaming music it is more practical if you have a Spotify or Google Play Music account. Apple Music is not compatible, so you cannot send commands via Google Home to listen to its songs in streaming. On the other hand, you can connect your iPhone via Bluetooth to listen to music and have basic controls to turn the volume up and down, pause and skip to the next song.
Prices and availability
Google Home is available at a price of 129 euros, while Google Home Mini costs 44 euros: both can be purchased on the Google Store, while there I'm on Amazon.
The new devices are also available from authorized resellers. On the ePrice website, Google Home costs 152 euros, while Google Home Mini White and Google Home Mini Black cost 59 and 55 euros respectively.
On the Euronics website, Google Home Mini White is sold at a price of 59 euros. Unieuro sells Google Home White at a price of 149 euros, while for Google Home Mini White the price is 79 euros. On eBay you can find both Google Home and Google Home Mini at lower prices, but always make sure the retailer is trustworthy and check the shipping costs.
Apple TV, Chromecast and Fire Stick, compared
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