The Google Home Mini is both affordable and capable -- for $49 it can pull up loads of information, control your music and videos and manage a wide variety of smarthome devices. Its tiny speaker sounds better than expected, though you probably won't want to play music on it.

Extremely affordable; Does everything the bigger Google Home can do; Manages many popular smarthome devices; Speaker sounds pretty decent for its tiny size

Microphones aren't very good for voice calling; Doesn't have as much third-party support as Amazon's Alexa; Somehow still doesn't support professional Google accounts

There is a smart speaker party going on in the tech world, and some of the major brands are already there. While Amazon may seem like a veteran in the game with its Echo range of smart speakers, Google has recently stepped in as well.

Compact Design; Good sound quality for the size; Good speed of response

Cloth covering the speaker gets cracked; Can be inconsistent sometimes

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.

If you want something from the internet, you Google it. We've been doing it for decades - more than a trillion searches per year by Google's own estimates. Google is so good at it that it gets to be its own verb.

The Google Home Mini is a stylish-looking speaker with surprisingly strong sound quality; The Google Assistant is a capable Alexa competitor, especially thanks to its ability to search out detailed answers to a wide variety of questions

There isn't much the Home Mini does that Alexa can't do, too; It also lacks a line out jack, and requires Chromecast Audio in order to connect with at external speaker setup

Compact, yet powerful, the Google Home Mini is the best-sounding miniature smart speaker yet.

Individual voice recognition gives tailored responses; Seamlessly integrates all the features of the Google platform; Affordable; Improved AI that responds quickly; Compact and attractive

Poor hands-free calling sound quality; Spanish-speaking feature needs improvement

The Google Home Mini is a no-brainer for anyone who's already enjoying a Google Home, but it's not the right smart home controller for everyone.

Pretty design; Google Assistant is more sophisticated than Amazon's Alexa; Low price makes it easy to deploy in multiples

Lousy for music reproduction; Compared to Amazon's Echos; Google Home devices aren't as broadly compatible with third-party products; Can be paired...

When it debuted last fall, the Echo Dot made big waves for its low price; it has never been easier to get Alexa in your home. The $49 Google Home Mini is poised to do just that for Google's Assistant. Not only is it inexpensive, but it also outperforms the Echo Dot in audio quality and design.

Attractive design; Inexpensive; Great audio quality for size; Can control Android TVs and Chromecast

Hard to see status lights from across room; Doesn't work with as many smart-home devices as Alexa; Can't pair with Bluetooth speakers and no line-out

The Google Home Mini isn't flawless, owing to a dearth of developer support compared to Amazon, the inability to drill down for hyper-specific commands and odd design choices (where's the headphone jack?). But for US$50 or less, it's an ideal introduction to the world of smart speakers.

For just $49 (£49, AU$79), the affordable Google Home Mini does something that the best Bluetooth speakers can't even fathom: it comes equipped with Google Assistant, which is always at the ready to help you find answers, turn on the tunes, dim the lights, start a TV show and more by using nothing...

Plays nicely with Google Cast products; Offers Bluetooth support; IoT-friendly; Incredible value

Sound performance is weak

While it's not quite the perfect experience, it's hard to complain too much about what the Home Mini does. It is primarily a good voice assistant, with the ability to control other devices.

Affordable Google Assistant; Chromecast compatibility; Fine sound for speech radio

Sound quality is average for music; No aux or Bluetooth output; Device support could be better