Google Home Mini Review - I might finally buy a Smart Speaker...
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2017
- For your unrestricted 30 days free trial, go to www.freshbooks.com/techtips and enter in “Linus Tech Tips” in the how you heard about us section.
ZOTAC's ZBOX Mini PCs are great for gaming, streaming, or general use. Check them out here: geni.us/Z3cs
Smart speakers like Google Home and Amazon Echo haven't really seemed worth it to me..until now? My hands on review of Google Home Mini!
Buy Google Home Mini: geni.us/A2k4L
Buy Google Home on Newegg: geni.us/UpJd69a
Discuss on the forum: linustechtips.com/main/topic/...
Our Affiliates, Referral Programs, and Sponsors: linustechtips.com/main/topic/...
Linus Tech Tips merchandise at www.designbyhumans.com/shop/Li...
Linus Tech Tips posters at crowdmade.com/linustechtips
Our production gear: geni.us/cvOS
Twitter - / linustech
Facebook - / linustech
Instagram - / linustech
Twitch - / linustech
Intro Screen Music Credit:
Title: Laszlo - Supernova
Video Link: • [Electro] - Laszlo - S...
iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com/us/album/sup...
Artist Link: / laszlomusic
Outro Screen Music Credit: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High / approachingnirvana
Sound effects provided by www.freesfx.co.uk/sfx/ - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
For the people "saying product placement bla bla bla" I say if it is product placement. It's product placement done right. Great VID Linus
It's not, and there's no such thing as undisclosed product placement done right. If this was sponsored by Google, it would be obvious from the disclosure at the beginning of the video.
If you reply I will join float plane please
Salute from Mozambique.
Francisco Sousa Productplacements need to be marked as pp else it would be illegal
Linus Tech Tips please also mark it on youtube
I got my Home Mini a month ago and my 70-year-old mother keeps telling me it doesn't work. Turns out she keeps calling it Alexa. lol
Lol - Old People are awesome :) (PS Im Pretty Old myself!!)
😂
🤦♂️
So reprogram it to respond to that instead?
@@fredbloggs5902 That simply doesn't work
Well, I almost called my local Pizza Hut at 8:30 in the morning. Thanks Linus for that little heart attack
He should do a MKBHD approach.
Using asterisk when saying * *hey google* *
When I did call my local pizza place because of that
Just called my local pizza place, damnit
My minis voice recognition is setup so guests can't access my stuff (or so it thought) but apparently.. through the tv, Linus sounds exactly like an Australian 40yr old wanting asap pizza?!? Apologies to the pizza place for the confusing home mini call. Not cool.
As Google knows i was streaming the video, surely they could filter the audio commands of streaming (casted.. whatever) content??
Same thing just happened to me
6:59 you called my pizza place and you made it all awkward
I'm just lucky my closest pizza place was closed XD
Same here. Dammit Linus!
ME TOO
@Daniele Bonadeo hahaha
Me too
7:03 thanks for having my google home call papa johns pizza
Mine gave me info on the closest Pizza Hut.
6:59 forced me to run for my own Google Home to make it hang up a call to a local pizza place before anyone picked up. So thanks for that.
who's here with spotify / googles give away?
Zach Zeaman fr but I have an iPhone so that’s why I’m watching these
Bundle not giveaway and yes that me
Me.
Meeeee I was so happy mine’s only it’s way now
On lol
Who else came here after they got one of these for free? Like through Spotify premium or any other business promotion.
Me!!!!!!!!
Damn right
Here my child
exactly the reason i came here
me me. i use it as voice controlled music player for my bathroom.
1:00 "Ok Google... Set a reminder to fire Colton" lol
Mustafa Ahmed Thank you so much, I couldn’t read in the video but I could read your comment
If Linus tried to fire Colton. Would Colton get fired, or would fire get Coltoned?...Makes you think huh?
annoying eagle is returning to the nest
I repeat annoying eagle is returning to the nest
Siddhesh *hide pron*
Delete my browser history, I repeat delete my Browser history
Siddhesh thank you for the lyrics
Hey annoying eagle. have you seen Hatsune Miku dancing in a pc? Can you show me how to do that?
I see that you also watched the video as everyone else.
ok but when he said hey google call the nearest pizza place my google home mini actually started calling them... i panicked so hard
To make it portable: Plug it into a power bank.
G E N I U S
Wait your Soo smart
what will happen if we use 100 percent of our brain.......
You need wifi to use it so you cannot do anything
@@i_cant_think_of_a_good_nam5277 mobile hotspot.
I love the laid back style of the videos lately, it's like a 1 on 1 tech advise session. Keep it up LTT
I would LOVE to put my home full of microphones
Not that your phone which you have mostly nearby has a minimum of 2 microphones...
Aron Moll why would that matter when you already have one on you 24/7...
If you owe a smartphone, webcam or smart TV, you already have mate.
All it would hear is you whacking off in every room of your house
Yeah, there are some companies I wouldn't trust with audible access inside my house. Google is not one of those companies.
Technically, you can still plug in the Google Home Mini into a powerbank...
Nope. There's a special amount of voltage it needs
@@jjjoshiii6659 But What if the Powerbank had the minimal voltage... what if
@@jjjoshiii6659 uh....no....It works just fine off a power bank -- anything that can provide the USB standard max of 2.4A at 5V will be fine.
@@drumstyx tried it myself and it didn't work. Maybe the different region versions are different in what voltage they need.
@@jjjoshiii6659 You might have a lower quality power bank, if it can provide 2.4A it should work no problem. Perhaps a dodgy micro USB cable.
You can press and hold the volume buttons to play/pause.
This dude just called the nearest pizza place from my google home
mine did it to😂
3:24 ¡Escuché música de Banda!
Fierro Linus Pariente. 😂😂
Calibre 50
I just got Echo today and it's pretty cool being able to control lights and everything with my voice. I also set it up to control power to my 3D Printer as I don't like to leave that plugged in and it works great and well
And now the Google home mini is 20 dollars at target this black Friday hell of a deal
mkof I
I just got one for free today because of the Spotify family deal.
mkof Try FREE.
I just picked one up for 15 I can't wait to try it
Got two for free
I bought the regular one a few months ago but I returned it because I had barely anything to do with it. I might buy this
It's called Google home mini not Google work mini linus
Calendars aren't just for work. Doctor's appointments, family parties, dinner dates, upcoming TV shows, bills to pay, chores to get done, and holidays are only a few examples of how a calendar would be useful for home.
So?Adding some simple integration is a no-brainer. And who says work can't be done from home?
Actually its called “buy our NSA connected microphone device”
Steadfast Whiplash You can use the Reminder features
Steadfast Whiplash linus was complaining about the lack of work account integration. It would be surprising if it doesn't work with the normal calender, but linus doesn't have that type of account.
The thing that u touch on the top is dessabled, on the opaset side or the charging side, you hold it when ur playing a song of something and it will pause
You can play and pause audio by holding down one of the sides, where the volume rockers are actually located(not the top)
This thing is smarter than me...
That doesn't take much...
Well duh
But still can't send a simple text.
Zombysz u r right haha
Inajet yeah thats crap
Watched this on my Android tablet. When he said "Okay Google, start cooking", the video paused and suddenly my tablet was doing a google search for "start cooking" :'D
Matthew Piccolo same
Matthew Piccolo This also happened to me and I'm also using an android tablet that has Google assistant
My Google home mini chimed in asking me what I wanted to start cooking. It also started calling the local pizza place when Linus asked it to earlier in the video. A quick urgent request for it to cancel that solved the matter.
Same
Why does someone always have to post “OMG HE TRIGGERED MY GOOGLE!!”? Did you not know how it works? Only Siri has actual voice recognition AFAIK
This video made my Home Mini call my local Pizza hut!! 😂 Wow
Very annoying, my Google Home upstairs acted on it (rather than the one downstairs), and it was ringing before I could get upstairs to stop it :(
OMG no way!!!!....
Same
and a year later... it got me too
Got me too. Should have known better for a Google Mini review.
Who just got one for free with TH-cam premium and is now looking up reviews after ordering ?
me
Me too lol
Me. Got mine yesterday
They actually sent me two of those for free haha. I put one in the kitchen and one in the living room, actually kinda convenient, but not life changing really. Besides, they can't connect to wifi WPA2-ENTREPRISE (like in student residences and so on). I had to sacrifice an old computer and a secondary usb wifi card to create a WPA2 hotspot from the WPA2-ENTREPRISE...
But can it speak crysis?
lol
But can it bot Crysis?
Simon Röhrs ahahah
But can it shitpost Crysis?
Still a classic meme
But how will you mount this in your wall?
Jimmy Tries World double sided tape xD
Just put a bolt straight through the middle.
Double sided tape
*pushes up glasses* CARBON NANOTUBE TRANSISTORS
Jimmy Tries World You're not supposed to.
If it hasn't come up yet, you can send text through Google home but you have to use IFTTT.
Idk if they ever changed their enterprise integration, but one thing I did to get around it when I started was to create a google calendar and then use IFTTT to modify the enterprise one, then I connected the google calendar so one would update the other.
Is Linus wearing a Power Rangers Black Ranger hoodie? Mastodon!
Eddie Spaghetti Phew, this is in the top section of the comments.
No 3.5mm output jack. Why does Silicon Valley hate headphone jacks so much?
Myrmidon honestly almost everything I have at this point is Bluetooth. I know it's not for everyone but personally I hate wires.
It's not "completely useless", but man that's against common sense. Like, the audio jack is one of the few things we've kept over the years and still use in our everyday lives. It does the job. Replacing it with fancy wireless headphones or accessories just for the $$$ is not progress. Some things don't need to go, just for the sake of "innovation".
I have bluetooth earphones too but it's yet another device to keep charged so a phone with a headphone jack give me options.
But on the subject of Google Home it would make a lot more sense to plug it directly into my receiver than get a Chromecast device and provide it with power. It'll probably sit on my TV unit right next to my receiver and without an audio jack there are more cables, more clutter plus it costs more.
A line-out would only add pennies to the production cost of the unit so we all know the real reason they left it out was to sell Chromecase units.
Exactly. Remember that time PCs and laptops stopped shipping with floppy drives to force people to adopt USB flash storage? Or that time they removed optical drives to force people to get their media and software online? Nope, never happened. If the technology is truly superior people will adopt it organically.
Myrmidon, that's my thought on the problem, as well. Bluetooth is a pain in the ass to use because it doesn't work seamlessly all the time. There are many times where I have to troubleshoot my headphones. Like... I shouldn't have even had to have a reason to type that sentence. WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO TROUBLESHOOT HEADPHONES? Plug them in and be done with it.
Until we get to the point that I can press a button and say "pair" with no incident, give me my damn 3.5mm jack.
Linus, u can cast the audio to other speakers by Bluetooth as well. 3.5 mm jack not required lol
Snagged a home mini for $40 cad on Black Friday and I love it so far. Definitely recommend especially if you have Spotify or Google music.
Why would you want it to share the same cable as the phone? Are you going to unplug something that is meant to be on all the time to charge your phone ?
5:49
Dude.... WindowsXP? :D
m3w3k scrolled all the way down for this.
m3w3k it is the best one
I found that a very neat touch with XP installing updates.
More than likely one of the fake installing updates screens. Used the crap out of these in my high school tech classes.
What's wrong with windows xp.
I recently bought one on Black Friday sale, but I'm having trouble getting it to do simple things. A list of commands or ways to phase things so it can understand stand me better would be great. Also, if google could integrate more streaming services including it's new youtube tv would be great.
Besides Chromecast, you can also link a bluetooth speaker to it. I have mine linked to my JBL. Cool thing is it will still talk to you through the google home mini, but play music through the JBL
Dope Power Ranger Hoodie Linus
damit.. I thought I was the first to notice lol... Go Go Power Rangers. doo doo' doody doot doot
“Annoying eagle returning to nest” LOL
For some reason when you said "Introducing the Google home mini" I immediately thought of that scene in the Lego movie where Emmet was saying "Introducing the double decker couch"
Linus, you should check out the TicHome Mini from Mobvoi. It's pretty much a Google Home Mini but wireless.
Windows XP... That guy in 5:50 has got style.
retro gaming dood. some games only work on xp!
is it real xp tho?
I love how he says I may finally by a smart speaker he's holding three in his hand.
I recently set up a Logitech harmony hub in my living room, hid my cable box in a cabinet and use an echo dot for voice control to turn everything on and a very old iPad mini as a remote lol
Never watching TH-cam without headphones again. My mini just called a pizza place. Thanks Linus
Linus, you sounded a bit sad, and the music in the background reflected that. Why?
When some said "Ok Google" it activated my phone's search lol
i love how he always integrates the ads into the end of the video
you can hold both sides to pause and stuff. so it replaces the overhead tap
The google home mini is so cute
like a river stone
like a hotel soap.
JonatasAdoM you are right
Like a doughnut
Awwww someone's got a crush 😳
7:24, my Google home actually did what Linus said 😂😂😂
Jamil Ahmed mine too...
I got the mini as a present and so far I love it. I do wish it could send texts though. I use it a lot when I study to listen to spotify and look up all kinds of medical things. It's nice because I'm kind of an auditory learner and it helps to hear someone else say it instead of read it sometimes. It did take me a minute to figure out how to make it know my family and friends' phone numbers but once I got it up and running I really like it.
I just got one today for Christmas and it works well for texting. They have also changed quite a lot since this video. I love it so far :)But, the best application is when you have the full Nest set up. My buddy has the smart lights, thermostat, cameras, smart doorbell, etc. It saves a lot in electricity and adds a good bit of security
Adds a lot of vunlerability you mean. Many more access points a hacker could get into your network.
@@lm6036 Thats what AR-15s and shotguns are for
Why is that guy using windows xp when Linus come in to check on them?
It would be a skin for windows
You made my mini just called someone, they said "Hello" through the mini in my living room
I was like WTF??!!
On an entirely different topic, I am loving the Black Ranger sweater.
Great video Linus, love the production quality
Why does Linus look like a Power Ranger? XD
Jordan Brown or venom
Can that soap holder/box even do something more than smartphone?
Nope, it has the same google assistant as your smartphone except it doesn't have a screen.
5:55 the “Hey Google” activated my Home Mini 😂
Sonos speakers are the best for listening to music, I have the sub woofer and play bar set up in my living room along with one other speaker for surround sound. I only use google home for home interface such as turning lights off
I bought 1 echo dot thinking that it would be cool to check out. I now own 6, a smart things hub, a hue hub, door sensors, smoke alarms, about 50 lights, and my wallet has never been emptier LOL! With each DOT I got an Amazon Basics large bluetooth speaker and my wife and I use it constantly! There is nothing like walking into the bathroom and having the lights turn on automagically. Security gets enabled when our phones leave the house and disabled the same way. It's pretty amazing to be honest. However, it still requires a lot of research and the price.......the price is still pretty steep. We love it though and can't wait for Spotify to join amazon in "whole home music".
Automatically turning on and off a security system sounds great... But flipping a light switch for you is a line I would never cross. I cannot think of anything at all that is simpler than that.
So true. I got one google home mini. Then another now I'm addicted to smart things
So pretty much if someone steals your phone, they can go to your house and steal all your other stuff too...sounds great. I would never tie a home security system to that. I mean it takes a whole 5 seconds to shut off your alarm and you're really risking your entire home including everything you own to save 5 seconds? Really?
Yo, I own a business that does data/access control/surveillance in San Fran bay area. And those speakers and all your wireless everything including locks, Ill just say a very unsafe move. Not gonna go into detail, it's just some common sense. Hope nothing ever happens to ya, mean it.
The echo is a libralist nightmare
3:25 lol, is that mexican banda music?
it is, lol at that, hahaha
TecnoMercy hahah
loooooooooool
Lmao xD
Linus tech tips always surprises me thanks for the great music. Mexican fans rejoice!
The gen 2 mini is so goooood they also added the resume touch control
You can pause music by holding either the up or down volume button
Man! You convinced me to replace my two Echo and Echo Mini with A Home and a Home Mini all the way up until you told me it doesn't support G-Suite! WHAT!? Deal-breaker.
I've posted comments on every smart speaker review I've seen on TH-cam because by the fact that smart speakers are so popular, they clearly have SOME use. But for the life of me I can't figure out what they can do that the smart phones we all carry in our pockets can't. Seriously, every review and no-one ever responds. WHAT DO THEY DO?! WHO ARE THEY FOR?! Are they for people who can't figure out the hands free options on their phone? Do they have some functionality that I'm unaware of that can't be replicated on a smartphone? Do cheap phones suck at voice recognition? I NEED TO KNOW! I'm converting my home into a smart home and I feel like I must be stupid or missing something.
its more or less so you can leave your phone on your desk, and not be so reliant on it. Another AWESOME thing about them is you can play music through your whole house or across select speakers, or rooms! GREAT for say hosting. its also an impromptu phone in ever room you have one, so great for elderly and feeble folk. Its kinda for everyone man
Oh ok, that definitely clears things up, thank you!
@@coryzirk5299 also the voice recognition, though using the same software, is vastly superior on a dedicated Home or Echo due to the microphone array. I have both my phone can my Google Home Mini on my bed side table, and only the Mini will always hear me when I wake up and tell it to turn on the TV. Also the multiroom audio and idiot proof factor make it great for the rest of my family.
Omg, are you me? I have the exact same thoughts running through my head! I don't get it!
Don't know if this feature was added after these reviews since they are a year old, but mine will ring my android phone if I can't find it. Just say, "Hey Google, find my phone" and it will ring it at the highest setting.
For portable power. Beside those dedicated battery bases you can really just use your ordinary powerbank which you might already have. Just add a micro-USB cable and you're good to go.
Hey there's actually a portable battery pack enclosure for this. I'll find a link and post it.
before early 2000's everyone worried about there phones being tapped. people today amazon echo or google home tap my home and listen to everything in my home lol
The ignorance of your comment is astounding.
Okay.... Don't really care I'm not doing or saying anything that can get me in trouble and even if I was cool
What if they listen to everything you say and say the database gets hacked.You just broadcasted your whole personality to some hacker.Identity theft to a new level.
Hellblade is correct in thinking that. Let us suppose that Google IS a good guy compnay who doesn't sell your data to advertisers to make money off of your personal life,what if it gets hacked. All your data to some hacker sitting in Russia,free to do with whatever he wants.
Let's suppose the Government is here to help you. LOL.
7:00 my g-assistant enabled
That "Annoying Eagle" bit cracks me up every time!
Thanks, Linus. Already ordered a Home Mini. Shiuld be here any day now.
Sitting here, enjoying this review of a new christmas product setup next to me, and then at 6:59 in the video my mini calls my local Pizza place. Haven't learned how to stop it yet...You win this time @Linus Tech Tips
Any one else home mini got triggered at 6:59 and 7:25
Mines did
SAMe
When you unexpectedly start calling Pizza Hut
Most awkward phonecall ever lol
it’s 6:00am and my google home just called my local diner and THEY ANSWERED
I was like “OKAY GOOGLE STOP CALLING STOP CALLING!”
Unless thats what your going for ..... Im dead
I highly doubt you're dead
leaf16nut wtf it means that im laughing
9:22 Google assistent can actually "give a thumb up" on TH-cam videos. Didn't know that.
First I'd like to say that if you can take time to go over to the mini to press play/pause.. Then you can just play/pause on your phone quicker since if anything is being casted your phone gives you a notification bar anyways with those options and skipping.
Second. Please edit your videos to mute the trigger word. It almost tried to call someone from my phone.
Third. Many of these issues are things that Google has said they are working on but they want to make sure that it's fully functional before releasing so that all the 'bugs' won't cause as much of an issue. It's one of those things that I'm glad they aren't rushing. I hope to get a second mini soon and a chrome cast to have my basic set up complete.
Lastly, Googles search engine and other optimizations make it far more advanced than the echo, even with the mini's handicaps right now, which says a lot to me. My parents have the echo and the view or whatever but they are always complaining about it not being able to do certain things or not listening to them or giving up completely by dropping connections even when the internet hasn't gone out. But this is just my opinion with my personal experience with both devices.
You look as if you're just about to hit puberty there Linux! Great stuff!! Keep it up there buddy!!!
PARTY MUSIC ON ROIDS even after you edited your snarky comment you still couldn’t spell his name right...
Just like a lot of stuff that is new in tech these days : Has potential to be good in future,but as of today it is just another thing to blow off your money to and deny any cases of buyer's remorse by trying very hard to justify the purchase.
2:20 why are your plug sockets vertical lol. thats weird
Another year later, still can't send text. However, just got mine and I love it.
I'm here cause of Spotify lol. Who else :D
MR.dmz same I got mine for $1
@@Bruh-mg5ff that's an even a better deal
i got two for 2$ haha
did yall upgrade to family, order it, then cancel family? lol
@@xDyst that's exactly what I did lol
Bruh u made my google home call the closest pizza place
What I lack here is the Info on if you can control your Smarthome like lights or power outlets with the mini. The Echo Dot sadly doesnt support the Hub feature
I wouldn't generally recommend it to anyone quite yet until they support an easier to say activation phrase (as well as better context based command chaining), improved voice match (it fails to allow calendar or todo access as it doesn't recognize me specifically often enough to be annoying), and some more general usability and capability improvements. Great potential, to be sure, but it's just not there yet IMO unless you have a compelling use for one of the features it currently does well or can get it cheap to try out for fun (how I came to own one).
Lmao james listening to Calibre 50 🤣
Oh snap!! I also use G suite... not good :(
you can pause the music by holding one of the volume buttons
Oh BTW, if u want to pause the mini manually, just tap and hold on either one of the sides (the volume buttons) to do it.
We got ours for free through Spotify lol, just gonna spend 40 on 4 smart plugin things
When you said "ok google, start cooking" my google home mini asked me : " ok let's start, what are we cooking ?" And I didn't know what happened...
7:00 You made my google home mini to call a pizza place.
the beginning 36 seconds could have been used as a commercial for the google home mini
Im looking to dind a software to browse privately, any ideas???
But is it connected to the CIA??
to be honnest, why would they even bother. Your smartphone already is the wet dream of any spy, hacker or agency.
duh
No, it's connected to Google Ads
I would love to find out that my daily, trite activities were being monitored by the CIA. I would feel so important!
NSA
Just got google home mini smart light starter kit with two GE C-life smart bulb at kohls for 30 bucks ! Combo is on sale!
I got the Nest Mini 2nd gen as a free gift with a smart lock I bought and it is so AWESOME, I'm now developing apps for my Google Home