The next-generation Google's mini speaker assistant is available in Singapore from 23 October. Called Nest Mini, it takes over the "Nest" sub-brand for home networking products. The launch retail price of S$79 is the same as the predecessor. The Nest Mini retail box is larger…

Purchased a large amount of these as a Company Holiday gift and it was a HIT! Many of my employees have made it a point to mention how awesome the Mini is. Would definitely recommend to anyone interested

ImageTagInstance gallery-187c452f-43f0-4c91-aa86-2ffe63d95951 When Wi-Fi speakers started infiltrating the market, we were eerily skeptical about them – mainly because we had grown accustomed to Bluetooth-enabled ones. Call it being complacent or whatever, Bluetooth speakers provided the convenience of allowing almost any device to connect to them without complication. So, when we started seeing a shift in the market to these Wi-Fi-connected ones, many of us wondered how much of a change in the product field they’d bring.Change they brought, in the most revolutionary way! Last year's Google Home helped to spark that shift, as it offered consumers more than just another speaker for music. Rather, it has integrated itself into the home in more ways than we could've imagined, and as time went on, its functions helped to solidify its importance in the evolving smart home.Having seen so much success in such a short period, Google introduced a smaller, more "mini" edition of its popular smar...

So, which mini smart speaker should you get – Google’s doughnut or Amazon’s hockey puck? It depends on a few things. Firstly, whether you’d prefer an friendly, engaging digital assistant (the Home Mini) or a more efficient, if slightly robotic one (the Echo Dot). But it also depends on what you’re going to use it for. The Home Mini does a lot right and is better than the Echo Dot in a few areas. It looks and sounds much better. It’s also far more likely to have a stab at answering random trivia questions, making it the best bet for young families with inquisitive kids. Another strength is controlling your smart home, with Google’s Home family supporting most major brands now (although it’s worth checking the compatibility list). Alexa certainly has more ‘skills’ for connecting to third party services, but it’s pretty close when it comes to smart lights and heating. If you and your family mostly use Google services (like Photos, Calendar and Chromecasts), the Home Mini is likely to be the better bet too. Unless you want to connect it to your work Gmail calendar, strangely. But for everyone else, the Echo Dot remains the best all-round mini smart speaker. Unlike the Home Mini, it has a line out and can play through Bluetooth speakers, making it the more versatile musical assistant. It’s also better for voice shopping (at least in the UK) and will support voice recognition soon. One thing’s for sure – at £49, both are bona fide tech bargains that are now better entrées to the glorious world of voice control than their bigger brothers. And with new features being added on a seemingly weekly basis, they’re only going to get better.

Fluffy, friendly design; Sounds better than an Echo Dot; Just as knowledgeable as bigger Home; Strong smart home support; Recognises the voices of up to six people and gives personalised replies; Good value;

Doesn't have a 3.5mm line-out or have Bluetooth out; Touch buttons on the top have been disabled; Still favours Google services over others; Echo still more versatile for music and shopping;

If it wasn't for the Amazon Echo Dot ($17 at Amazon), I'd recommend the Google Home Mini to everyone. Google successfully fit all of the smarts of the original Google Home into a fun-size package. You can give it voice commands, just like you can with the Google Home or any of Amazon's Echo line of products. Like Google Home, the Mini has Google's version of Alexa (called Google Assistant) built in, and Google Assistant is a great and well-rounded digital assistant.

The Google Home Mini stands tall as one of the best affordable smart speakers out there, along with the Amazon Echo Dot, but it doesn't do enough to supplant the Dot at the top of the list.

The Google Home Mini puts all of the smarts of Google Assistant into a small and affordable package; The Mini sounds surprisingly good for its size and features a colorful design that can blend into your home's decor.

The Mini's touch controls aren't intuitive; it doesn't have a line-out jack like the Amazon Echo Dot; and the built-in Google Assistant still doesn't have quite as many features as the Dot's built-in assistant; Alexa.

Google's cute $49 Home Mini, is a better standalone voice-activated speaker than the Amazon Echo Dot. That would be great, except for the fact that a lot of Echo Dot owners don't use their Dots alone—they connect them to bigger, better-sounding speakers using the audio-out port, which the Home Mini lacks. Google's demand that its speakers play only with other Google-compatible equipment continues to be the platform's weakest aspect, and the primary reason the Echo Dot remains our Editors' Choice. Design and Set Up Google's speakers are generally more attractive than Amazon's, although the new $99 fabric-covered Echo is a step in the right direction. Still, the Home Mini is super cute and measures 3.86 inches in diameter, 1.65 inches high, covered in chalk, charcoal, or coral fabric. There isn't much here in the way of ports. On the bottom, there's a microphone off switch. You can tap the sides of the speaker to change volume. You were initially able to play/pause music or activa...

The Google Home Mini smart speaker takes on Amazon's Echo Dot with a cute, fabric-covered design and Google Assistant smarts, but its lack of an audio out is a major bummer.

Inexpensive; Nice design; Better sound quality than the Echo Dot; Better at answering music-related queries than Alexa

Lacks audio out; Google Home still offers less support for third-party services than Alexa

A neat way to add smart home control where you need it, the Google Home Mini is a great-looking mini speaker with tonnes of features but it lacks some of its rival's flexibility

Good looks; Affordable;

No 3.5mm or Bluetooth audio output; No top touch controls besides volume;

Fluffy, friendly design; Sounds better than an Echo Dot; Just as knowledgeable as bigger Home; Strong smart home support; Recognises the voices of up to six people and gives personalised replies; Good value;

Doesn’t have a 3.5mm line-out or have Bluetooth out; Touch buttons on the top have been disabled; Still favours Google services over others; Echo still more versatile for music and shopping;