Google Home Mini news: Release date, price & features

Google Home Mini is, as the name suggests, a smaller version of the Google Home intended to serve as a rival to the Amazon Echo Dot. It's a compact smart speaker packed with the full power of Google Assistant, but small enough to fit almost anywhere in the home.
The Mini features less audio muscle-power than the full Home, but all the Google Assistant features we know and love, including recent additions such as Bluetooth audio, and support for multiple user accounts and Spotify Free.

When is the Google Home Mini release date?

The Google Home Mini will be on sale in the UK and US from 19 October, but you can pre-order it from the Google Store now.
Google announced the mini version of its Google Home speaker at its special event on 4 October 2017, alongside the larger Google Home Max, new Pixel 2 phones, the Pixelbook, and the Daydream View VR headset.
Read our Google Home Mini hands-on review.

How much will the Google Home Mini cost in the UK?

The Google Home Mini will cost £49 in the UK and $49 in the US. Conveniently, that's the exact same price as Amazon's Echo Dot, reinforcing the Home Mini's positioning as a direct rival to the Dot.

You can pre-order Home Mini from the Google Store, but it will also be sold by other retailers, including Currys, Argos, John Lewis, EE, Carphone Warehouse, and Very in the UK.
There is a way to get it for free though. Buy a Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL and you'll receive a free Google Home Mini.

What are the Google Home Mini's features?

The Google Home Mini is a powered box (rather than wireless), and will have integrated Google Assistant, just like the core Google Home, including recent features like Voice Match and hands-free calling, which is coming to the UK later in 2017.
That's about where the similarities end though, because the Mini has a very different design. Instead of just shrinking the Home down, Google has created a whole new design: a round disc, with no corners or edges, with the top half coated in a custom fabric mesh.
Impressively, that fabric cover is still actually touch-sensitive - so you can tap in various places to pause music, change the volume, or start talking to the Assistant. There are also four LEDs, which light up to indicate when the Assistant is listening to or answering a query.

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In terms of audio, the Home Mini offers 360-degree sound, though it's unlikely to rival the regular Home - or any decent speaker you have at home. Still, you can wirelessly link it to any Chromecast-enabled speaker to make the most of the best sound system you have around.
The Home Mini is available in three colours: Chalk, Charcoal and Coral.