Is Google Nest Mini A Better Smart Speaker Than Amazon Echo Dot?

Amazon and Google have announced their products for the fall release season, which means we can now see their new smart speakers. Previously, Amazon announced its 3rd-gen Echo Dot that comes with an LED clock embedded in the speaker. Then, just a couple of days ago, Google announced the Nest Mini, which is a feature-updated, rebranded version of the Home Mini smart speaker.

The Echo Dot is priced at $60 while the Nest Mini is sold at $49. With these entry-level price tags, people can take a low risk of using smart speakers without worrying about wasting too much money.

However, which one between these should you buy? In this article, we will go through a few critical points that may help you make the decision.

Google Nest Mini

The Nest Mini looks and feels quite similar to the 2017 Google Home Mini, with a cloth-topped design but offers now colors. Rather than adding a 3.5mm audio jack, the company decided to make a few changes in the design and add some more power to the Nest Mini.

A bracket is integrated on its underside, making the speaker able to be mounted on the wall. While the feature may not be used by everyone, it adds more flexibility to the device, which the Echo Dot doesn’t have.

In addition, Google has given the Nest Mini an ultrasound sensor system to detect when users are standing close. It will then activate the LEDs to highlight its touch-based volume controls on the top. The Home Mini didn’t have this feature.

Plus, the Nest Mini’s speaker is more bass-heavy and it packs a chip as well as a learning machine that allows the device to learn your voice commands most frequently, processing them locally instead of sending them to Google servers. Hopefully, this will reduce the response time and improve its ability to conduct the tasks even if an internet connection is not available at the time.

Amazon Echo Dot

Echo Dot’s third iteration, in fact, came out last year. So, this one difference between the 2018 model and this 2019 one is the additional clock, nothing else.

Pause for a second before deciding that paying another $10 just for a clock is too much because now, instead of having to ask Alexa for the time, you can simply take a glance at the clock on the speaker. It can also act as an alarm clock, which you can snooze by tapping on the speaker. You can also turn the clock off it you don’t want it on all the time.

But the clock only seems really useful in places where you don’t have a clock yet.

Verdict

To make the ultimate decision on which smart speaker to buy, it comes down to the place and your intention of using it, as well as if you have already had a voice assistant yet.

There’s no denying that users can benefit from the new clock of the Echo Dot. The Nest Mini, on the other hand, with its machine learning capabilities and some extras such as the ability to be wall-mounted.

If you listen to music a lot, neither of these are good choices, but at this price range, any sound improvement is appreciated. In this case, the Nest Mini seems to have the advantage if it does offer 40 percent more bass output as Google promises.