Google Nest Mini

I just about have a house full of Google speakers, and cameras. I've had nothing but issues over a long while and seemed worse with each update, including Gemini. We'll now, I had to reset the network and only Google speakers that are near new came onto the new network. I have 4x nest Mini's and 3x outdoor cameras that are useless. I've tried… Read more

everything suggested, I've reset the minis, they can't be found. Cams are the same, useless. I'm totally amazed and very disappointed too. What a total waste of money

When we first bought our Nest Mini many years ago, it worked as intended. It replied to questions, played radio and streamed Spotify without any issue, it was a great little helper to have in the house. After several years and updates, including the latest update to Gemini (which you'd think would make it smarter), it's about as useful as a… Read more

paper weight...then again, at least a paper weight is performing its job.

We have 2 speakers, both 2-3 years old as the original died on us. Both perform equally as terrible as each other. Radio will play for 5-10 minutes, if you're lucky, before stopping. It won't play what you ask it to and seems to respond differently to the same command depending on the day. It will randomly start operating even if you don't say 'Hey Google', and quite often it will plain ignore you.

Usually software updates improve a device, in this case, it appears that Google's aim is to force obsolescence, so we choose to upgrade to their new model. Sorry Google, if you can't make this device work, then there's no way I'm buying another one.

Avoid buying google home mini. Yes it works out of the box, but it is plaged by years of bugs - it disconnects from wifi several times a week and does not reconnect unless you disconnect / connect it again. Google knows about this issue for years, it has been reported in forums but it was left unanswered. This problem occured several times a week for the last 3 years. Show details

Has hearing problems and doesn't play what you want it to, just plays something completely random instead, you have to manually play what you want it to on your phone or other device, it's basically a glorified speaker. If I didn't hate the radio that I have, I would return it. Show details

Excellent for small rooms or creating groups! Underdog! But now below competition such as Amazon Echo Pop! – Excellent mini speakers. Nest Mini MUCH BETTER audio quality over the older Home Mini. Plus Nest Mini has added touch controls for pause/play and MUCH easier reset/wipe procedure to reset the device. 10/10 Audio Clarity in small rooms. 10/10 Google Assistant response to commands and questions. No misunderstanding. Show details

Disappointed – I bought a Google Home Nest Mini and was so happy with it that, a few weeks later, I bought another for a different room. It, too, worked perfectly. Suddenly they both stopped working, on the same day. One machine we'd had for about 2 months, the other for only a couple of weeks. Both Minis gave same response which is that something went wrong… Read more

or there's been a glitch and to try again after "a few seconds". They still didn't work. I unplugged both machines and waited for a few seconds, then plugged back in again. Still not working. So I removed both machines from the app then I uninstalled the app and and waited for about 30 minutes, then reinstalled the app and added both Nest Minis to it. Then gave a machine the "Hey Google" command asked for the time and the machine responded. I asked another question and the machine responded. Happy. So did the same for other machine and nothing happened then it responded saying that there's been a problem and try again. I then went back to other machine that had worked for me only minutes earlier. It had stopped working saying that there's a problem and to try again. Both machines are still not working after 6 days of trying. I filled in a feedback form to Google but have heard nothing from them.

Don’t waste your money – Setting up this device is so frustrating and time consuming. What a waste. It doesn’t connect to my NBN wifi. It has worked in the past. But after unplugging and relocating, it won’t connect!!!

Great value for money & more than enough sound – So we have 3 of these guys now, 1 outside on the patio, 2 in the kids bedrooms, the sound has to be well turned down its incredible what they can do these days.. I got 1 recently for $35 yikes.. There is sound up and down and stuff on it, but you'd normally do it via your app.. I feel like there is a different version concept out there that… Read more

combined this with the Nest Hub, sort of a dedicated music system without the need for a tablet/phone... and with its own independent spotify account, which leads me into my criticism, which is not the speaker itself, but Google Home:

I'm not in love with Google Home, at first it seemed good, but it ended up being a real pain because everyone needed their own home network in order to have their own spotify account linked (otherwise they end up using yours and only 1 speaker at a time can have access).. anyway that requires a google email for everyone.. but that email cant be someone under 13.. that email cant be a workgroup email (which all of ours were).. there was just some pain there.. but again, worth pushing through IMO.

Not a worth while purchase – Purchased 3 of these units to bring our turn of the century (19th-20th) into the 21st century. Boy was that a waste of money. At first they seemed to respond to our requests, no problem. Then after just a few weeks we began having problems like, I would ask it to turn on a particular item and it either does not respond, or it tells mean that the… Read more

device is not set up. Sometimes I even think to myself that the unit is either hard of hearing or completely deaf. The other major problem with the Google Home Nest is that the retailers don’t have a clue about how they work, and are definitely out of their league if you question them for trouble shooting purposes. The Google Corporation should be taking the time to familiarise the on sellers with the device itself, and it’s full operational capabilities. Definitely doesn’t work as well as it could.

Great little home automation and audio HMI – I have 4 of these throughout my home plus three google nest displays and together with my smart house lighting I have been able to fully automate my home. On their own they are a great little audio system. Linked up through the app, you can even get stereo sound with them and have music all through out your home without needing to drill any holes… Read more

or cut out plaster. As a personal assistant it is more than adequate with reminders, notifications and even a wireless, hands free phone when used with a mobile.

A barely sentient paperweight – For several months this device will respond to the wake command and then say “hmm… something went wrong” after any command. I don’t recall ever owning such an utterly useless device. In the bin it goes.

Good little speaker, but – Does what I want it to do and it works, great, but so it should! But... I do not understand how designers today still oversee the size of the wall plug! I can not get most wall plugs next to this Google wall plug unless I force it! I wouldn't think I'd have to choose between charging my phone or using the speaker. Show details

Glitches – It's a very glitchy product - as if it's a beta release. I have had problems with connectivity, volume control when pairing speakers and with microphone sensitivity. Google support is hopeless. Show details

Google Nest Mini is good as controller but not a worthwhile upgrade – Like many, I have a multitude of smart home devices and too many Google Home Mini. I already have this pre-conception that Google Nest Mini isn't a worthwhile upgrade if you already have a Google Home Mini and thinking of getting one as a upgrade, rather than as an addition unit. I made use of black Friday 50% off and bought one hoping to put my… Read more

bias to the test.

Unlike Amazon Echo Dot, which went from a puck to a ball, Nest Mini and Home Mini are identical, with the exception of a wall mounting hole and round power port over USB power port. There is no animal kid version or new colours.

Power supply is stronger which attributes to the deeper, strong bass of the Nest Mini. That said, if you listen as any significant distance, reflections from wall, placement, etc probably play a bigger role affecting sound. Home Mini as a result has arguably clearer mid and treble. I was hoping Nest Mini has less artefacts in the sound. Nop, they are pretty much the same. It is a tad louder. That's it.

Nest Mini apparently has one more mic but I see no discernible difference in performance. It does have two extra LEDs that helps to work out where to press to increase / decrease volume. However, they only light up when pressed. More importantly, there is a mute button in the centre of the Nest Mini. This is a good idea!

Like Echo Dot, you can only pair a Nest Mini with another Nest Mini. I frankly don't understand and don't agree why there is such a limitation imposed by both Google and Amazon.

Just for completeness, the Nest Mini box is rectangular rather than square like the Home Mini.

So, if you are after another mini for googling, home control or to spread sound around, Nest Mini is good and still much better than Amazon. If you are thinking Nest Mini will give you more capabilities or musical enjoyment. The latter you can do much better pairing with a serious bluetooth speaker. Why not have a clock in the middle or side like Echo Dot or have a ring of light around its circumference or a holographic light display like the Apple HomePod? It would have decisively killed its competitions imho.

Yippee, I found a way to mention about Apple in a home automation device review. Just managed to... It's been 5 years since original Home Mini was released and 2 years for Nest Mini. Amazon has come up with a raft of new products like dot / control / auto, etc and Echo Dot 4 looks and sound markedly different from Echo Dot 3. As a product, I feel Google has fallen behind, saved by the better Google search engine.

Total waste of money and time – Will not keep configuration. Requires full set-up every couple of days/weeks. Check other reviews with same issue.! I have tried one of my nest audio speakers in the same spot and it works fine. I see on the internet this is a very common fault with the mini speaker. Google has not taken responsibility for the faulty product. Google support never… Read more

gets back to you and this has been going on for over 12 months and it is now out of warranty. Typical big corporate ignoring it responsibility, or that's there plan ignore you untill you give up!! Do not buy this product. Mine is now in the bin as it has wasted so much of my time.

Google nest mini from Catch – Love the google nest mini, can send a message to son if have a fall, have added a Genio bulb so not in the dark brilliant for elderly.Have internet connection.

Doesn’t hold configuration – Holds configuration for less than a week, then needs to be totally setup again. Useless as any sort of household tool. When working tells the time and communicates with eg iPad to play Spotify  Show details

An impressive wee speaker – I originally bought this to bring a little more smart integration into my home. I always found Google Assistant useful on my phone, and it's great to have a dedicated speaker in my home. I never expected this tiny little speaker to be a wall-shaker, but despite its size, it is impressively loud. At just 50% volume, the sound of music fills my… Read more

bedroom, which isn't small by any measure.

The summon feature for GA is also very responsive, being able to hear my summon call from all the way across the room, and if my door is open, from down the hall.

Overall, if you're looking for smart integration for the home, with more than sufficient sound volume and quality, at a tidy price, I would look no further than the Nest Mini.

Premature full of bugs – I can't even snooze the alarm or get it to repeat the song that's playing. Rubbish. I would have smashed and set on fire both of them if my wife let me do it. Show details

The best device for controlling all devices – I bought this so I can control all my devices in my unit. This is for when I move into there in March 2021. The staff were kind to me and the service was amazing. Show details

It's OK – I purchased this for my father as a birthday present thinking he would be able to use it for music. Little did I know that he has to pay for a Youtube Premium subscription to access any music. Feel very disappointed with this purchase.

Needs WIFI connection – Did not realise that this product requires WIFI connection to use it, as someone who uses their phones data for everything this makes it pretty useless. Spoke the the people from google and they said i can connect through bluetooth for music but thats all i can use it for.

Useless Product - Can't even play a song on loop mode – This is a dud product and I regret buying it (I have the 2nd gen). It can't even put a song on loop mode with a youtube music premium subscription and you can't change the wake word. Playing a song on loop is one of the most basic functions of a music player and Google didn't even bother to program this in. What a joke! People have posted this… Read more

issue in the google forums for over 2 years and they still haven't implemented/fixed it even on new devices! This is embarrassing Google! Alexa/Amazon Music Unlimited and virtually every other music player can do loop mode. Time to catch up and stop lagging 3 decades behind on basic technology.

Biggest load of rubbish – worst money spent. Wouldn't connect to anything, eventually when it did it wouldn't play any music and pretty much useless piece of plastic. Actually its not even pretty. Don't buy Google.

Doesn’t stay connected to wifi , don’t buy – If the unit would stay connected to wifi for more than a few days it would be handy. But as it is , it needs reconfigurations every few days. So totally useless. Would make an expensive paperweight. Looks like the world is a beta site for google with no responsibility taken for releasing a subpar product Show details

0 stars would be more appropriate – We have 4 nest minis in the house and various smart power points and lights. It struggles to turn on/ off lights and switches, can barely perform the simplest of tasks like asking for a chemist near you that's open right now, and gives you results for chemists currently closed. We've reset, unlinked, rebooted and relinked these devices more times… Read more

than you've had hot dinners. They have more bugs than a truckers windshield, with it's most frequent response being " I'm sorry, I don't understand". It listens and turns itself on and replies and searches even when not spoken to or activated. If it worked as intended and you could set the schedules and all the features worked, it would be a great addition to a busy household with infants and arms full. Instead, it creates more stress than anything and its faster to do things yourself via the apps that say they work with Google assistant. Google assistant doesn't work well with anyone or anything. Honestly the list of issues with these could go on and on, and Google is no help at all with their submit feedback button and help centre. I've even had geeks2U come out to solve the issues, and shrug their shoulders. Everyone : AI is going to take over the world, like sky net in Terminator" Me: "Hey google, turn off the lights" Google assistant : " I'm sorry, I don't understand". It should really be thier slogan!

Good sound quality, but a bit useless – I find this product to be a bit gimicky. Initially, it took forever to set up and it didn't even work with my Samsung smart tv. It randomly started working one day. I find that I don't really have much use for it. Would only recommend to people who would use it with the bluetooth function to play music. The sound quality is great, I just don't feel that it is a necessity. Show details

Unreliable product with great sound – I'm not the one to usually leave a review. This product has given me headaches for the last few months since I bought it. I have to keep setting the device up through the home app almost every day. It's frustrating given the fact this device is designed for convenience. I really want to use this as this it sounds great, but due to technical errors, I have completely given up on it for now. Show details

Very Good – I had one but heard so many good things about two as a stereo pair for music streaming (first was sent free from Google). For my small study, I am blown away by how much the second one adds to the equation. A genuinely decent listen for that scenario whilst working, IMO. Google Voice help is also generally excellent through this as part of… Read more

Google Home, not sure it ever misses a beat for anything half reasonably expected.

As part of casting within the Google ecosystem in 2020 they disappoint for video. The lag is very apparent between sound and video and not worth the faff with trying to sort out via manual delay controls if you even have them, not for me anyway.

The Google Home app also has too basic an equaliser and using Bluetooth I find I can configure that side better with my phone's equaliser settings, and it's easy. Now that said it's super these little things can accept BT and work perfectly even paired in stereo (music alone).

In 2020 things should sync with a video, I think, through the GH App. These can't and so these are a for sound only extra.

One free and for $59 I am v happy

Perhaps harsh marking but a couple of glaring things not there yet stop a perfect 5 stars from me anyway.

I never tried PC only viewing through BT for sound but it's also not the point I made.

Hey Google! – After witnessing the fun at my mates place, after he gave one to his sister for her birthday, I had to get one! Plug it in, download the Google Home App, and presto, the little mini connects to your home wifi, authenticated through your phone....how easy is that! Right away, you can start asking questions..."what's the weather like?" Google will… Read more

give you a run down on current and forecast local conditions......"Play some music!", Google will play a selection from YouTube Music....this is too easy and too much fun! All commands start with "Hey Google"......then "Tell me a joke"...out comes the most corniest things you've never heard....Hahaha. Multiple units can be connected up and controlled individually, or on masse. It can be taught to recognise your voice......very creepy!! (When it responds to you by your name!!) I've connected it to my Google Play Music account......my fav tunes, all the time!

It's a useful little piece of tech that's for sure! – The sound is loud, the assistant is very useful, it has more touch options on it than previous models. It's great. It can hear you from a good distance away and even while you have a lot of sound going on. I don't have a smart home but I can imagine this would make it very useful if you do have one. Just buy one of these and set it down in your… Read more

living room or kitchen, anywhere you frequent, and have a very useful assistant. Set alarms for the morning, set timers for cooking. It is a google assistant in a speaker for a bargain price with great features that you don't have on your phone like ability to play music loud. Definitely recommend.

Apple fanboy is totally in love with the google nest mini! – From a many year apple fanboy, i would have never thought that i would own a google product. It wasn't until with some Telstra points I was able to redeem free google Nest Mini. I was open to see how they act. They are the best smart home equipment on the market for a fraction of the cost. While apple products range over $500+ these are worth… Read more

$79 each when they do the exact same job.

My whole house is now converted from Apple Homekit to Google home. With the help of the nest mini, my whole house is now automated.

I can't recommend these enough.